The hadal zone is the deepest region of the ocean lying within oceanic trenches. The hadal zone is found from a depth of around 20,000 to 36,000 feet to the bottom of the ocean, and exists in long but narrow topographic V-shaped depressions. The cumulative area occupied by the 46 individual hadal habitats worldwide is less than 0.25 percent of the world’s seafloor, yet trenches account for over 40 percent of the ocean’s depth range. Most hadal habitat is found in the Pacific Ocean.

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