The depth of the ocean is not uniform. It varies a great deal on the basis of geography.

海洋的深度并不均匀。它因地理位置而异。

To know the ocean is to know some mind-boggling numbers.

了解海洋就是去了解一些令人难以置信的数字。

About 71 percent of Earth's surface is covered by seawater. All that liquid takes up more than 332,519,000 cubic miles — or 1,386,000,000 cubic kilometers — of space in total.

大约71%的地球表面被海水覆盖。所有这些液体总共占据了332519000立方英里（1386000000立方千米）的空间。

The official website of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there's enough water in the ocean to "fill about 352,670,000,000,000,000,000 gallon-sized milk containers!"

美国国家海洋和大气管理局官方网站表示，海洋中的水足以“装满352670000000000000000加仑大小的牛奶容器！”

Now let's go out on a limb and assume you don't have that many spare milk jugs lying around. Here's another crazy visual: In theory, you could use the ocean to cover the entirety of the United States (yes, that includes Alaska and Hawaii) in a column of water measuring over 82 miles (i.e., 132 kilometers) tall.

现在让我们冒险一下，假设你身边没有那么多备用的牛奶罐。这是另一个疯狂的视觉效果：理论上，你可以用海洋覆盖整个美国（是的，包括阿拉斯加和夏威夷），形成一条超过82英里（即132公里）高的水柱。

It's no surprise that some of the most frequently asked questions about our ocean involve its depth. How deep is the ocean? Where's the very deepest part of it? And what's the ocean's average depth?

You'll learn the answers to those inquiries about the deep sea today, and as a bonus, you won't even need to pack your scuba gear.

毫不奇怪，关于海洋的一些最常被问到的问题涉及到它的深度。海洋有多深？最深处在哪里？海洋的平均深度是多少？今天，你将了解有关深海的问题的答案，作为奖励，你甚至不需要带上潜水装备。

The Average Depth of the Ocean 海洋的平均深度

Strictly speaking, Earth's only got one ocean. So it's a little confusing that the five major regions within this giant body of water are all called "oceans" in their own right: there's the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean.

严格来说，地球只有一个海洋。因此，这个巨大水体中的五个主要区域都被称为“海洋”，这有点令人困惑：太平洋、大西洋、印度洋、北冰洋和南大洋。

Together, they make up what's known as the "global ocean." That's what people usually mean when they start talking about "the ocean" as a whole. (It's also what we were referring to in both of the hypothetical scenarios described earlier.)

它们共同构成了所谓的“全球海洋”。当人们开始谈论“海洋”作为一个整体时，这通常意味着什么。（这也是我们在前面描述的两种假设场景中所指的。）

Of course, the depth of the ocean is not uniform. It varies a great deal on the basis of geography. At any random spot on the map, the distance between the ocean floor and the water's surface up above may be influenced by canyons, undersea mountain ranges or a host of other features.

当然，海洋的深度并不均匀。它因地理位置而异。在地图上的任意位置，海底和水面之间的距离可能会受到峡谷、海底山脉或许多其他特征的影响。

Using such tools as sonar, radar and satellite technology, scientists have calculated that the global ocean has an average (mean) depth of approximately 12,785 feet (3,897 meters). That works out to around 2.4 miles, or 3.8 kilometers.

利用声纳、雷达和卫星技术等工具，科学家们计算出全球海洋的平均深度约为12785英尺（3897米）。这相当于约2.4英里，即3.8公里。

The Deepest Parts of the Ocean

海洋最深处

The Mariana Trench is even deeper than Mount Everest is tall. The deepest spot is called "Challenger Deep" after the HMS Challenger, a British Navy ship that found the Mariana Trench in 1875.

马里亚纳海沟比珠穆朗玛峰还要深。最深的地方被称为“挑战者号”（Challenger Deep），得名于1875年发现马里亚纳海沟的英国海军军舰“挑战者”号。

We can also compare different sites. A 2019 study published in the journal Earth-Science Reviews used the available data and research to break down the deepest points in each of the global ocean's five subregions. Here's what the authors found:

我们还可以比较不同的网站。2019年发表在《地球科学评论》（Earth Science Reviews）杂志上的一项研究利用现有数据和研究，对全球海洋五个次区域的最深处进行了细分。以下是作者的发现：

• The deepest spot in the Arctic Ocean is a place called Molloy Hole. It's located 18,599 feet (5,669 meters) below the surface. 北冰洋最深的地方是一个叫莫洛伊洞的地方。它位于地表以下18599英尺（5669米）。

• The deepest part of the Indian Ocean? According to the study's authors, that's probably an unnamed part of the Java Trench situated 23,917 feet (7,290 meters) underwater. 印度洋最深处？根据该研究的作者，这可能是爪哇海沟的一个未命名部分，位于水下23917英尺（7290米）。

• As for the Southern Ocean, which encircles Antarctica, its deepest locality can be found within the South Sandwich Trench, at a depth of 24,229 feet (7,385 meters). 至于环绕南极洲的南大洋，其最深处可以在南桑威奇海沟内找到，深度为24229英尺（7385米）。

• With a depth of 27,585 feet (8,408 meters), a Puerto Rico Trench site known as Milwaukee Deep is the deepest part of the mighty Atlantic Ocean. 波多黎各海沟的深度为27585英尺（8408米），被称为密尔沃基海沟，是大西洋最深处。

"But wait!" you say. "What about the Pacific Ocean?" Fear not, we've saved the best for last. East of the Mariana Islands, a Pacific archipelago, there's a yawning underwater chasm that adventurers and science fiction writers can't get enough of.

Its name is the Mariana Trench and it contains the very deepest place in not only the Pacific, but in the entire global ocean as well, a site that's labeled on our maps as "Challenger Deep." The trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean.

你会说“等一会！那太平洋怎么样？”不用担心，我们把最好的留到最后。在太平洋群岛马里亚纳群岛的东部，有一个巨大的水下峡谷，探险家和科幻小说作家们对此无法忘怀。它的名字是马里亚纳海沟，它不仅是太平洋，也是整个全球海洋中最深的地方，在我们的地图上被标记为“挑战者深海”。海沟位于西太平洋。

Measuring its exact depth has proven tricky, but by a rather conservative estimate the 2019 study endorses, the seabed here rests an incredible 35,843 feet (10,925 meters) below the water's surface.

测量其准确深度已被证明是困难的，但根据2019年研究所认可的相当保守的估计，这里的海床位于水面以下35843英尺（10925米）。

How deep is Challenger Deep? Plenty deep. Indeed, this Pacific point is even deeper than Mount Everest is tall. The peak of that Himalayan landmark is only around 29,026 feet (8,848 meters) above sea level. It's the movements and interactions of Earth's tectonic plates that form these extreme trenches, as well as the tallest mountains.

挑战者深渊有多深？非常深。事实上，这个太平洋点比珠穆朗玛峰的高度还要深。这座喜马拉雅山地标的山峰海拔仅29026英尺（8848米）。正是地球构造板块的运动和相互作用形成了这些极端的海沟，以及最高的山脉。