Editing Challenger Deep (section)

==Topography==
[[File:Challenger Deep EM124 Sonar Map and Diving History 101119.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Sonar mapping of the Challenger Deep by the [[USNS Indomitable (T-AGOS-7)|DSSV ''Pressure Drop'']] employing a Kongsberg SIMRAD EM124 multibeam echosounder system (26 April – 4 May 2019)]]

The Challenger Deep is a relatively small slot-shaped depression in the bottom of a considerably larger crescent-shaped [[oceanic trench]], which itself is an unusually [[Hadal zone|deep feature]] in the ocean floor. The Challenger Deep consists of three basins, each {{convert|6|to|10|km|mi|1|abbr=on|lk=on}} long, {{convert|2|km|mi|1|abbr=on}} wide, and over {{convert|10850|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} in depth, oriented in echelon from west to east, separated by mounds between the basins {{convert|200|to|300|m|ft|abbr=on}} higher. The three basins feature extends about {{convert|48|km|mi|abbr=on}} west to east if measured at the {{convert|10650|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} [[isobath]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=A precise bathymetric map of the world's deepest seafloor, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench |first1=Masao |last1=Nakanishi |first2=Jun |last2=Hashimoto |journal=Marine Geophysical Research |date=December 2011 |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=455–63 |doi=10.1007/s11001-011-9134-0|bibcode=2011MarGR..32..455N |s2cid=55042876 |hdl=10069/25460 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> Both the western and eastern basins have recorded depths (by sonar bathymetry) in excess of {{convert|10920|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, while the center basin is slightly less deep.<ref name="Stewart, Heather & Jamieson, Alan. (2019)"/> The closest land to the Challenger Deep is [[Fais Island]] (one of the outer islands of [[Yap]]), {{convert|287|km|mi|abbr=on}} southwest, and [[Guam]], {{convert|304|km|mi|abbr=on}} to the northeast.<ref>''[[The Colbert Report]]'', airdate 12 April 2012, interview with [[James Cameron]]</ref>
Detailed sonar mapping of the western, center and eastern basins in June 2020 by the [[USNS Indomitable (T-AGOS-7)|DSSV ''Pressure Drop'']] combined with manned descents revealed that they undulate with slopes and piles of rocks above a bed of [[pelagic sediment#Oozes|pelagic ooze]]. This conforms with the description of Challenger Deep as consisting of an elongated seabed section with distinct sub-basins or sediment-filled pools.<ref name="20211021ORP"/>