JAVA TRENCH

also called Sunda Double Trench, deep submarine depression in the eastern Indian Ocean, located generally 190 miles (305 km) off the southwestern coasts of the islands of Sumatra and Java, Indonesia. The trench extends for more than 1,600 miles (2,600 km) from northwest to southeast. Its slopes exceed 10 and descend to a maximum depth of 24,440 feet (7,450 m), the deepest point in the Indian Ocean. Much of the Java Trench is at least partially filled by sediments, particularly the section paralleling the Sunda Island arc, a group of islands in an active volcanic zone. For about one-half its length, south of Sumatra, the trench is divided into two parallel troughs by an underwater ridge. To the northwest the Java Trench merges with a system of islands and continental shelves that eventually extend into the Ganges River delta.