Surendra at 23:01, 28 November 2025

2025-11-28T23:01:46Z

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{{Short description|Depositional feature of the Indus river}}
[[File:Indus Fan.jpg|thumb|Geological Map of the Indus Fan]]
The '''Indus Fan''' is one of the most significant depositional feature of the offshore Indus basin. It is the second largest fan system in the world after the [[Bengal Fan]] between India, [[Bangladesh]] and the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands|Andaman Islands]].<ref name="Deptuck2">{{cite journal|last1=Deptuck|first1=M.E.|last2=Steffens|first2=G.S.|last3=Barton|first3=M.|last4=Pirmez|first4=C.|date=2003|title=Architecture and evolution of upper fan channel-belts on the Niger Delta slope and in the Arabian Sea|journal=[[Marine and Petroleum Geology]]|volume=20|issue=6–8|pages=649–676|doi=10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2003.01.004|bibcode=2003MarPG..20..649D }}</ref> The Indus fan was deposited in an unconfined setting on the continental slope, rise and basin floor, covering much of the [[Arabian Sea]]. The entire fan extends over an area of 110,000 square kilometers with greater than 9 km of sediment accumulating near the toe-of-slope.<ref name="Clift 2001">{{cite journal|last1=Clift|first1=P.D.|last2=Shimizu|first2=N.|last3=Layne|first3=G.|last4=Gaedicke|first4=C.|last5=Schlüter|first5=H.U.|last6=Clark|first6=M.|last7=Amjad|first7=S.|date=2001|title=Development of the Indus Fan and its significance for the erosional history of the western Himalaya and Karakoram|journal=Geological Society of America Bulletin|volume=113|issue=8|pages=1039–1051|bibcode=2001GSAB..113.1039C|doi=10.1130/0016-7606(2001)113<1039:dotifa>2.0.co;2}}</ref><ref name="Kolla">{{cite journal|last1=Kolla|first1=V.|last2=Coumes|first2=F.|date=1987|title=Morphology, internal structure, seismic stratigraphy, and sedimentation of Indus Fan|journal=AAPG Bulletin|volume=71|pages=650–677|doi=10.1306/94887889-1704-11d7-8645000102c1865d}}</ref>

== History ==
The Indus Basin was created through the erosion of [[Karakoram]] and the [[Western Himalaya]]s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Clift|first1=Peter|last2=Gaedicke|first2=Christoph|last3=Edwards|first3=Rosemary|last4=Il Lee|first4=Jae|last5=Hildebrand|first5=Peter|last6=Amjad|first6=Shahid|last7=White|first7=Robert S.|last8=Schlüter|first8=Hans-Ulrich|date=2002-05-01|title=The stratigraphic evolution of the Indus Fan and the history of sedimentation in the Arabian Sea|journal=Marine Geophysical Researches|language=en|volume=23|issue=3|pages=223–245|doi=10.1023/A:1023627123093|bibcode=2002MarGR..23..223C |s2cid=129735252|issn=1573-0581}}</ref> Fan sedimentation is estimated to have begun at the end of the Oligocene or beginning of the [[Miocene]], during a period of faster Himalayan exhumation, possibly linked to [[Monsoon]] intensification.<ref name="Clift 2001" /><ref name="Kolla" /><ref name="McHargue">{{cite book|last1=McHargue|first1=T.R.|title=Seismic facies, processes, and evolution of Miocene inner fan channels, Indus submarine fan. in Weimer, P. and Link, M. H. (eds.), Seismic facies and sedimentary processes of submarine fans and turbidite systems|date=1991|publisher=Springer-Verlag|location=New York, NY|pages=403–413}}</ref>
The fan rapidly gained sediment during the middle Miocene.<ref name=":0" /> The upper Indus Fan, both ancient and recent, consists some of the largest [[Channel levee systems|channel-levee systems]] (CLS).<ref name="Deptuck2"/> These channel-levee systems act as conduits for carrying and depositing sediments into the deeper part of the basin. The coarser grained sediments are deposited in the channel belts whereas the finer grained silts and clays are deposited along the levees. This arrangement of sediments is ideal for [[Stratigraphy|stratigraphic]] plays and is why these channel-levee systems are important to the petroleum industry.<ref name="Deptuck2"/>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Abyssal fans]]
[[Category:River deltas of Asia]]

Indus Fan - Revision history

Surendra at 23:01, 28 November 2025