In geology, a trough is a linear
structural depression that extends laterally over a distance. Although it is less steep than a
trench
A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit).
In geology, trenches result from ero ...
, a trough can be a narrow
basin or a geologic
rift. These features often form at the rim of
tectonic plates.
There are various oceanic troughs on the
ocean
The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wor ...
floors.
Examples of oceanic troughs
*
Benue Trough
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Cayman Trough
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Kings Trough
*
Hesperides Trough
*
Nankai Trough
The is a submarine trough located south of the Nankaidō region of Japan's island of Honshu, extending approximately offshore. The underlying fault, the ''Nankai megathrust,'' is the source of the devastating Nankai megathrust earthquakes, wh ...
*
Northumberland Trough
*
Okinawa Trough in the East China Sea
*
Rockall Trough and others along the rift of the
mid-oceanic ridge
*
Salton Trough
The Salton Trough is an active tectonic pull-apart basin, or graben. It lies within the Imperial, Riverside, and San Diego counties of southeastern California, United States and extends south of the Mexico–United States border into the sta ...
*
South Shetland Trough
* Suakin Trough
[Dinwiddie, Robert et al. (2008) ''Ocean: The World's Last Wilderness Revealed'', London, Dorling Kindersley, page 452.] in the Red Sea
*
Timor Trough
See also
*
Walker Lane
*
Oceanic basin
References
Depressions (geology)
Structural geology
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