Atacama Trench

E54806

oceanic trench subduction zone

The Atacama Trench is a deep oceanic trench in the southeastern Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Peru and Chile, formed by the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate.

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Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form	Occurrences
Peru–Chile Trench	16
Peru-Chile Trench	1

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	oceanic trench ⓘ subduction zone ⓘ
adjacentTo	Peru–Chile Trench region ⓘ surface form: Peru–Chile coastal margin
alsoKnownAs	Atacama Trench ⓘ surface form: Peru-Chile Trench Atacama Trench ⓘ surface form: Peru–Chile Trench
associatedWith	Andean orogeny ⓘ Nazca Plate ⓘ South American Plate ⓘ megathrust earthquakes ⓘ seismic activity ⓘ tsunami generation ⓘ
beneathTectonicPlate	South American Plate ⓘ
continentMargin	South America ⓘ
countryBordering	Chile ⓘ Peru ⓘ
depthClass	hadal trench ⓘ
extendsFrom	offshore Ecuador region ⓘ
extendsTo	offshore southern Chile region ⓘ
featureOf	Peru–Chile Trench region ⓘ surface form: Nazca-South America plate margin
formedBySubductionOf	Nazca Plate ⓘ
geologicalProcess	oceanic-continental subduction ⓘ
hasEnvironment	hadal zone ⓘ
influences	Andean seismicity ⓘ Andean volcanism ⓘ
knownFor	great depth ⓘ high seismic hazard ⓘ
lengthApprox	5900 km ⓘ
locatedIn	Southeastern Pacific Ocean ⓘ surface form: southeastern Pacific Ocean
locatedOffCoastOf	Chile ⓘ Peru ⓘ
lowestPointDepthApprox	8065 m ⓘ
lowestPointName	Richards Deep ⓘ
maximumDepthApprox	8065 m ⓘ about 8 km ⓘ
near	Atacama Desert ⓘ
oceanBasin	Southeastern Pacific Ocean ⓘ surface form: Southeast Pacific Basin
oceanRegion	Southeastern Pacific Ocean ⓘ surface form: Southeast Pacific
overridingPlate	South American Plate ⓘ
parallelTo	Andes ⓘ surface form: Andes Mountains Pacific coast of South America ⓘ surface form: Peru–Chile coast
partOf	Pacific Ocean ⓘ Pacific Ring of Fire ⓘ global deep-sea trench system ⓘ
subductingPlate	Nazca Plate ⓘ
tectonicSetting	convergent plate boundary ⓘ
typeOfBoundary	oceanic-continental convergent boundary ⓘ