The United States could create this monument under international law because the maritime exclusive economic zones of the adjacent Northern Mariana Islands and Guam fall within its jurisdiction.

In the Islands Unit, unique reef habitats support marine biological communities dependent on basalt rock foundations, unlike those throughout the remainder of the Pacific.

Hydrothermal vents at about 475 feet in depth along the northeast side of the dome spew acidic water at scalding temperatures near the coral reef that quickly ascends to the sea surface.

The Challenger Deep, located just outside the Trench Unit, is the deepest point in the Earth's oceans, deeper than the height of Mount Everest above sea level.

[3] Both NOAA and FWS websites call it Mariana Trench Marine National Monument, though older documents retain the plural spelling.