[3] The trench is 840 km (520 mi) long,[2] curved around the south of New Britain and west of Bougainville Island in the northern Solomon Sea.
[4] It is possible that the collision to the west of the 30–35 km (19–22 mi) thick Ontong Java Plateau with the Vitiaz Trench from about 25 million years ago initiated this polarity reversal.
[6] The New Britain subduction zone is extremely seismically active and has had more than 22 earthquakes with magnitudes equal to or larger than 7.5 since 1990.
[12] Species observed at 1 km (0.62 mi) depth included a free swimming Teuthidodrilus (squidworm).
At 8.7 km (5.4 mi) depth starfish and shrimps believed to be either of the family Penaeidae or the order Mysida were observed.