Chapter 4 - Sedimentation History and Development of Fan System Along the Continental Margins of India

Abstract

Abstract Submarine fan systems are known to be potential areas of hydrocarbon exploration (Lopez, 2001) as they form the largest deep-water sediment bodies near continental margins. During the past three decades, extensive studies were undertaken by researchers throughout the world to understand the depositional processes as well as their hydrocarbon exploration potential along some of the major fans such as the Amazon, Mississippi, Congo, Bengal, and Indus Fans. The northern Indian Ocean has two world's major submarine fans, the Bengal Fan and the Indus Fan. The Bengal Fan in the Bay of Bengal is the largest deep-sea fan in the world covering an area of ~ 3.0 × 10 6 km 2 and the Indus Fan covering an area of ~ 1.1 × 10 6 km 2 is the second largest (Clift et al., 2002; Curray et al., 2003). The sediments of these fans are largely eroded from the Himalayas and transported by the Indus river system into the Arabian Sea and the Ganga–Brahmaputra river system into the Bay of Bengal. In this chapter, a detailed account of sediment depositional history of these two fans is presented in order to understand the collision history, different phases of Himalayan uplift, and the architectural development of the submarine fan systems. This further helps to understand the deep-water hydrocarbon exploration potential along the Indian margins.