User:Sophiaschortmann/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Mariana Trench

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I was interested in this article is about the Mariana Trench because we have discussed this Trench in class before as the location of the incredibly important deep dive site Challenger Deep. In addition, some species of deep-sea snailfishes can be found here. This is the deepest part of the ocean, in which organisms exhibit unique deep sea adaptations due to its extreme abiotic features. The article appears detailed and developed with a few sections and subsections, a substantial amount of internal links, and about 50 citations. It is also aesthetically well organized and utilizes images.

Evaluate the article
The article has a strong lead section which clearly defines the Mariana Trench and highlights some of its key features in a clear concise way, with the help of an image. The content itself is relevant and up to date, although they do not mention every dive to the site. I think that this makes sense because the reference the Challenger Deep article instead. I think that there is room to add more details regarding underrepresented topics such as the inaccessibility and politics regarding the trench. Is is significant that there is mention of environmental factors regarding pollution and waste in the trench.

The tone of the article is very neutral and factual. It is well written, well organized, and aided by the use of images with clear descriptive captions. This article uses a range of sources from highly reliable peer-reviewed articles to less reliable online news sources. The authors come from many nations including the UK, Japan, China and the United States, so I would say that there is a variety but there is a lack of underrepresented scientists. I would also note a heavy reliance on American and British sources. The external links provide interesting information about deep sea dives.

The talk page does not have many discussions, they are mostly about the discrepancies between the page in different languages. This article is included in 5 Wikiprojects!

Overall, this page is well-developed and strong because it discusess many topics thorughout its sections ranging from geology to ocean exploration to biology to environmental factors. There article could surely be improved with the use of more diverse sources and discussion about historical inequities regarding access to the trench.