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The Peru–Chile Trench, also known as the Atacama Trench, is an oceanic trench in the eastern Pacific Ocean, about off the coast of Peru and Chile. It reaches a maximum depth of below sea level in Richards Deep () and is approximately long; its mean width is and it covers an expanse of some .

The trench delineates the boundary between the subducting Nazca plate and the overriding South American plate.

Geology

The trench is a result of a convergent plate boundary, where the eastern edge of the oceanic Nazca plate is being subducted beneath the continental South American plate. At times, El Niño disrupts the usual wind pattern and lessens the upwelling. The consequent loss of nutrient causes fish kills.

Biology

In 2018, three new species of snailfish were discovered thriving in the depths of the Atacama Trench.

In 2023, a predatory crustacean was discovered in the Atacama Trench.

Associated seismicity

thumb|Significant Earthquake Faults and damaging earthquakes over the past century along the South American Subduction Zone

thumb|South America showing 100-year earthquake shaking projections. [[Moment magnitude scale|M<sub>w</sub> ~8.3

  • 1906 Valparaíso earthquake
  • 1942 Peru earthquake: M<sub>w</sub> 8.2 event associated with a tsunami, the rupture dimensions and epicenter are similar to those of a 1996 earthquake
  • 1960 Valdivia earthquake: At M<sub>w</sub> 9.5, the largest earthquake ever recorded on the earth
  • November 1960 Peru earthquake: This event had a long source duration, leading to a significant discrepancy between different moment calculation methods ( 6.75 vs 7.8)
  • 1970 Ancash earthquake: This M<sub>w</sub>7.9 event triggered a landslide with large snow and ice components, killing ~68,000 people
  • 2001 southern Peru earthquake: M<sub>w</sub> 8.4
  • 2005 Tarapacá earthquake
  • 2007 Tocopilla earthquake
  • 2007 Peru earthquake: M<sub>w</sub> 8.0
  • 2010 Chile earthquake: M<sub>w</sub> 8.8 event associated with a tsunami
  • 2010 Pichilemu earthquakes
  • 2014 Iquique earthquake
  • 2015 Illapel earthquake

See also

  • Oceanic trench
  • Pacific Ring of Fire

References

Further reading