Bounty Trough, Submarine trough off the east coast of New Zealand's South Island

The Bounty Trough is a deep-sea trench in the South Pacific that extends roughly 800 kilometers eastward from South Island's coast. The channel reaches depths between 2,000 and 3,000 meters in most areas.

The underwater trench was first comprehensively explored when the research vessel RV Tangaroa conducted a mapping mission in 2012. This expedition discovered nine submarine canyons within the formation.

The trough takes its name from the nearby Bounty Islands, which themselves were named after the HMS Bounty ship from the 18th century. This naming connects the underwater feature to the maritime history of the region.

Exploring this deep-sea zone requires specialized equipment and is conducted mainly by scientific missions. Visitors cannot directly access the area, but information about discoveries is available through research institutions and oceanographic museums.

In July 2012 the NIWA research ship RV Tangaroa mapped nine canyons ending in a large apron-shaped sediment deposit, and found pock marks about 20 m deep and 200 m across on the trough's margins, possibly signs of methane seepage. The same survey was meant to support a biodiversity assessment for future oil-drilling guidelines.