Is the ocean deepest farther from land?

Question

Is the ocean deepest farther from land?

Answer 1

Not always, but most of the time.

Answer 2

Not necessarily.  Some of the deepest points in the oceans are actually fairly close to land.  And there is a ridge in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean that causes depths to be less there than in other locations.

The deepest points in the oceans occur in what are called trenches.  These trenches are often associated with places where two tectonic plates of the earth's crust come together, and usually where one plate is being forced down underneath the other.  These trenches are also often associated with areas of high volcanic activity, which is likewise caused by the forces generated by the two plates colliding with one another.  A good example of this would be the very deep trenches in Indonesia, and the nearby volcanic activity on some of the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java.

Answer 3

Land extends into the ocean as a fairly shallow continental shelf.  The ocean floor then has a cliff-like drop off and becomes very deep. Some of the deepest parts of the ocean are close to these drop offs.  The Puerto Rican Trench is the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean but it is closer to land than the middle of the of the ocean.  The answer is no, the ocean is not deepest the farther from land.