152 THE DEPTH AND MARINE DEPOSITS OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
tions, maximum depths, and approximate areas of the deeps in the Pacific, 
arranged according to their superficial area. 
As will be seen from the foregoing table in only eight of these Deeps 
have depths exceeding 4000 fathoms (7316 metres) been taken, and in 
only two have depths exceeding 5000 fathoms (9144 metres) been re- 
corded. The deepest sounding known at the present time is one of 
5269 fathoms in the Challenger Deep, obtained by the U.S. 8. “Nero” 
near Guam Island, one of the Ladrone group in the North Pacific, in 
November, 1899. Previously, the deepest sounding known was one of 
5155 fathoms in the Aldrich Deep in the South Pacific. These are the 
only places on the surface of the globe where depths of 5000 fathoms 
have been recorded. 
