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Which ocean is deeper: The Atlantic or the Pacific?
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Underwater canyon with rocky walls and coral, sunlight streaming through the water, and small fish swimming near the surface off Huahine island, French Polynesia. Dive deep into the depths of the ocean.
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Underwater canyon with rocky walls and coral, sunlight streaming through the water, and small fish swimming near the surface off Huahine island, French Polynesia.
Underwater canyon Sunlight filtering down into an underwater canyon, Huahine, French Polynesia, in the Pacific Ocean.

Which ocean is deeper: The Atlantic or the Pacific?

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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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The Pacific Ocean is deeper than the Atlantic Ocean, both in terms of average depth and deepest point. The Pacific Ocean has a mean depth of approximately 14,040 feet (4,280 meters), and it boasts the deepest known point in the world’s oceans, the Challenger Deep, located in the Mariana Trench, which i about 36,070 feet (10,994 meters) below sea level.

In comparison, the Atlantic Ocean, while still impressively profound, does not reach the same depths as the Pacific. The Atlantic’s average depth is about 11,962 feet (3,646 meters). Its deepest point is the Milwaukee Depth, in the Puerto Rico Trench, which lies 27,493 feet (8,380 meters) below sea level.

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