Which ocean basin is both the largest and the deepest on Earth?
- The Pacific Ocean
- The Atlantic Ocean
- The Indian Ocean
- The Arctic Ocean
Why A? And why not the others?
Correct answer: A. The Pacific Ocean
The Pacific is the giant of the world ocean: NOAA describes it as by far the largest and deepest of the ocean basins, covering approximately 63 million square miles and holding more than half of the free water on Earth. The scale is genuinely hard to picture — all of the world's continents could fit inside the Pacific basin. The Atlantic is the tempting runner-up because it borders so many familiar coastlines and carries so much shipping, but it is only about half the Pacific's size. The Indian Ocean ranks third, and the Arctic — the smallest and shallowest of the major basins — trails far behind. Fittingly, the deepest single point on the planet, the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, also belongs to the Pacific.
Source: NOAA Ocean Service: 'What is the largest ocean basin on Earth?' (oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/biggestocean.html)