The Earth Contents

2. Plate Tectonics

Plate tectonics determine the bottom topography of the world's oceans

The bottom topography, or bathymetry, of the world's oceans is created by plate tectonic processes. The deepest parts of the oceans occur where ocean crust is subducting beneath a continent. A good example of this is found at the Marianas Trench, about 200km off the north Marianas Islands in the western Pacific.

What is bathymetry and how does it develop?