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How deep is the ocean?

The average ocean depth is 3,682 meters (12,080 feet).

Active "smoker" hydrothermal vent chimneys about 9 meters tall are found deep in the Mariana Arc region in the Western Pacific Ocean. Credit: Pacific Ring of Fire 2004 Expedition. NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration; Dr. Bob Embley, NOAA PMEL, Chief Scientist.

The average depth of the ocean is about 3,682 meters (12,080 feet). The deepest part of the ocean is called the Challenger Deep and is located beneath the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench, which runs several hundred kilometers southwest of the U.S. territorial island of Guam. Challenger Deep is approximately 10,935 meters (35,876 feet) deep. It is named after the HMS Challenger, whose crew first sounded the depths of the trench in 1875.