Puerto Rico Trench
Oceanic trench on a transform boundary between the Caribbean and North American Plates / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Puerto Rico Trench?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The Puerto Rico Trench is located on the boundary between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The oceanic trench, the deepest in the Atlantic, is associated with a complex transition between the Lesser Antilles subduction zone to the south and the major transform fault zone or plate boundary, which extends west between Cuba and Hispaniola through the Cayman Trough to the coast of Central America.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2019) |
The trench is 800 kilometres (497 mi) long[1] and has a maximum depth of 8,376 metres (27,480 ft)[2] or 5.20 miles. This constitutes the single deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean. This point is commonly referred to as the Milwaukee Deep, with the Brownson Deep naming the seabed surrounding it.[3] However, more recently, the latter term has also been used interchangeably with the former to refer to this point.[4][5][6] The exact point was identified by the DSSV Pressure Drop using a state-of-the-art Kongsberg EM124 multibeam sonar in 2018, and then directly visited and its depth verified by the crewed submersible Deep-Submergence Vehicle DSV Limiting Factor (a Triton 36000/2 model submersible) piloted by Victor Vescovo.[7][8][9]
Scientific studies have concluded that an earthquake occurring along this fault zone could generate a significant tsunami.[10] The island of Puerto Rico, which lies immediately to the south of the fault zone and the trench, suffered a destructive tsunami soon after the 1918 San Fermín earthquake.