Nobody has walked on the bottom of the Mariana trench, but six people have descended to it in submersibles. The onboard systems indicated a depth of 37,800 feet (11,521 m; 6,300 fathoms), but this was later revised to 35,814 feet (10,916 m; 5,969 fathoms).

However, the narrow trench averages only 43 miles (69 km) wide. Because Guam is a United States territory and the 15 Northern Mariana Islands are governed by a U.S. Commonwealth, the U.S. has jurisdiction over the Mariana Trench. In 2009, former President George W.

Perhaps the most intriguing of these features is the Mariana Trench — a chasm in the western Pacific Ocean that spans more than 1,580 miles (2,540 kilometers) and is home to the Challenger Deep, the deepest known point on Earth's surface that plunges more than 36,000 feet (about 11,000 meters) underwater.