How can we conclude that “Challenger Deep” is the deepest part of the ocean. Does that mean we have explored all parts of the ocean?
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I believe that comprehensive soundings have been taken all over the world’s oceans. So, knowing the depth isn’t that difficult and, as long as all the ocean floor has been covered, we know all there is to know about that much.
Edit: plus, if you know where the world’s tectonic plates meet, and thus the subduction zones at plate edges, you can extrapolate that the deepest points will likely be around there.
Scientists have used downward-facing radar for decades, doing a rough mapping of the ocean floor. So, they have a ‘general’ idea of what the deepest parts of the ocean are.
It’s the deepest point we have found. We have been looking, but we are not even close to fully mapping ocean floor.
If you find anything deeper we will change what the deepest point is
It pretty much means that we just haven’t found anything deeper. The ocean floor is roughly mapped with enough precision that it’s unlikely for there to be a deeper spot, but it’s not impossible.
It’s a question of feature size. Different technologies are used for viewing the ocean floor, with some able to get better coverage at lower resolutions, and some with less coverage but at higher resolutions. Most of the seafloor has been mapped to a low resolution (several kilometers) which is useful for finding the deepest spot. Theoretically there could be a crack that’s only a few meters wide and deeper than challenger deep and we wouldn’t know about it.
Vast majority of the ocean is 4km with some areas to 6km deep. Like 98% ballpark.
To get deeper, like Marianas ~11km mark, you’ll be looking into trenches/canyons. That means you’re already narrowing your target incredibly as to where to look.
From there you do soundings and similar analysis to determine deepest spot.
Worth noting Victor Vescovo’s team is still updating deepest point in many areas, the Five Deeps Expedition incorporated depth locating as part of it’s mission and updated Man’s awareness quite recently.
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