Morphology of submarine channel-levee systems in the eastern Bay of Bengal near Andaman region

Jena, Babula; Kurian, P. John; Kumar, Avinash

doi:10.1007/s11852-016-0431-2

Cited by 4 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…The former hypothesis was proposed in the earliest exploration stages of the BNFS (Curray & Moore, 1974), subsequently endorsed by seismic stratigraphy (Curray et al, 2003;Schwenk & Spiess, 2009) and drilling results that provided continuous sedimentary records since the middle Eocene (Cochran et al, 1989(Cochran et al, , 1990Peirce et al, 1989;Stow et al, 1990;France-Lanord et al, 2016). The latter hypothesis is supported by the timing of activity within the E6 and E7 channels and their connection to the Nicobar Fan, as demonstrated by recent drilling (McNeill et al, 2017a,b; this study) and bathymetry results (Jena et al, 2016) in the hitherto poorly studied Nicobar Fan. Therefore, the combined effects of both allogenic (collision of the Ninetyeast Ridge) and autogenic factors (late Quaternary avulsion in the upper Bengal Fan) may have both contributed to the abandonment of the Nicobar Fan.…”

Section: Abandonment Of the Nicobar Fansupporting

confidence: 60%

“…Top right inset is a bathymetric map of the seafloor around IODP Expedition 362 sites (modified from Geersen et al, 2015); note the presence of the well-identified NC continuing south of the IODP 362 sites (dashed arrows). The black box at ca 10°N shows the study area of Jena et al (2016) who showed the connection between channel E7 in the Bengal Fan (and possibly E6) and the NC. Red dots in the enlarged seafloor image show location IODP sites U1480 and U1481.…”

Section: International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1). Its northern termination is unclear, although the recent efforts of Jena et al (2016) to synthesize and refine available bathymetry data in the eastern side of the Bengal Fan show that channels E6 and E7 of Curray et al (2003), that flow south-east on the upper and middle Bengal Fan, merge at 10.64°N. They form a channel flowing southward east of the Ninetyeast Ridge that likely becomes the Nicobar Channel in the Nicobar Fan ( Fig.…”

Section: Provenancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…They form a channel flowing southward east of the Ninetyeast Ridge that likely becomes the Nicobar Channel in the Nicobar Fan ( Fig. 1; Jena et al, 2016). Channels E6 and E7 were active in the Pleistocene (Curray et al, 2003), which means that the Ganges-Brahmaputra River system directly supplied the Nicobar Fan in the Quaternary.…”

Section: Provenancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…SU1; Figs 6 and 12) that may represent extensive axial channel systems in the past. The location of the most recent Nicobar Channel away from the trench may be explained by local topography driving avulsion (Jena et al, 2016).…”

Section: Seismic Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Sedimentology, stratigraphy and architecture of the Nicobar Fan (Bengal–Nicobar Fan System), Indian Ocean: Results from International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362

et al. 2020

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Drill sites in the southern Bay of Bengal at 3°N 91°E (International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362) have sampled for the first time a complete section of the Nicobar Fan and below to the oceanic crust. This generally overlooked part of the Bengal–Nicobar Fan System may provide new insights into uplift and denudation rates of the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau. The Nicobar Fan comprises sediment gravity‐flow deposits, mostly turbidites, that alternate with hemipelagite drapes and pelagite intervals of varying thicknesses. The decimetre‐thick to metre‐thick oldest pre‐fan sediments (limestones/chalks) dated at 69 Ma are overlain by volcanic material and slowly accumulated pelagites (0.5 g cm−2 kyr−1). At Expedition 362 Site U1480, terrigenous input began in the early Miocene at ca 22.5 Ma as muds, overlain by very thin‐bedded and thin‐bedded muddy turbidites at ca 19.5 Ma. From 9.5 Ma, sand content and sediment supply sharply increase (from 1–5 to 10–50 g cm−2 kyr−1). Despite the abundant normal faulting in the Nicobar Fan compared with the Bengal Fan, it offers a better‐preserved and more homogeneous sedimentary record with fewer unconformities. The persistent connection between the two fans ceased at 0.28 Ma when the Nicobar Fan became inactive. The Nicobar Fan is a major sink for Himalaya‐derived material. This study presents integrated results of International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362 with older Deep Sea Drilling Project/Ocean Drilling Program/International Ocean Discovery Program sites that show that the Bengal–Nicobar Fan System experienced successive large‐scale avulsion processes that switched sediment supply between the Bengal Fan (middle Miocene and late Pleistocene) and the Nicobar Fan (late Miocene to early Pleistocene). A quantitative analysis of the submarine channels of the Nicobar Fan is also presented, including their stratigraphic frequency, showing that channel size/area and abundance peaked at ca 2 to 3 Ma, but with a distinct low at 3 to 7 Ma: the intervening stratigraphic [sub]unit was a time of reduced sediment accumulation rates.

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Section: Abandonment Of the Nicobar Fansupporting

confidence: 60%

Section: International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Provenancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Provenancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Seismic Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Sedimentology, stratigraphy and architecture of the Nicobar Fan (Bengal–Nicobar Fan System), Indian Ocean: Results from International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362

et al. 2020

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Deciphering relationships between the Nicobar and Bengal submarine fans, Indian Ocean

Pickering

Carter

Andó

et al. 2020

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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The Nicobar Fan and Bengal fans can be considered as the eastern and western parts, respectively, of the largest submarine-fan system in the world. This study presents the integrated results of petrographic and provenance studies from the Nicobar Fan and evaluates these in the context of controls on sedimentation. Both fans were predominantly supplied by Himalayaderived material from the main tectono-stratigraphic sequences as well as the Gangdese arc. A lack of volcanic material in the Nicobar Fan rules out sources from the Sumatra magmatic arc.Overall, the petrographic data shows a progressive decrease in sedimentary detritus and corresponding increase of higher-grade metamorphic detritus up-section. Changes in sediment provenance and exhumation rates in the Himalaya are seen to track changes in sediment accumulation rates. High sediment accumulation rates in the Bengal Fan occurred at ~13.5-8.3 Ma, and in the Nicobar Fan from ~9.5-5 Ma. Both fans show peak accumulation rates at 9.5-8.3 Ma (but with the Nicobar Fan being about twice as high), and both record a sharp drop from ~5.5-5.2 Ma, that coincided with a change in river drainage associated with the Brahmaputra River diverting west of the uplifting Shillong Plateau. At ~5 Ma, the Nicobar Fan was supplied by an eastern drainage route that finally closed at ~2 Ma, when sediment accumulation rates in the Nicobar Fan significantly decreased. Sediment provenance record these changes in routing whereby Bengal Fan deposits include granitoid sources from the Namche Barwa massif in the eastern syntaxis that are not seen in the Nicobar Fan, likely due to a more localised eastern drainage that included material from the Indo-Burman wedge. Prior to ~3 Ma, source exhumation rates were rapid and constant and the short lag-time rules out significant intermediate storage and mixing. In terms of climate versus tectonic controls, tectonically driven changes in the river network have had most influence on fan sedimentation.

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Sedimentary provenance of the Plio-Pleistocene Nicobar Fan: Complex sourcing revealed through Raman spectroscopy heavy mineral analysis

Webb

Gough

Vannucchi

et al. 2021

Marine and Petroleum Geology

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The Nicobar Fan lies within the north-eastern Indian Ocean between the Ninety-East Ridge and Sunda Arc. The fan forms part of the Bengal-Nicobar Fan System and is among the oldest and largest submarine fans on Earth. Previous U-Pb zircon studies of the Nicobar and Bengal fans indicate the Himalaya as the dominate sediment source, making these fans a major Cenozoic sink for uplifted Himalayan sediment. However, the northwards moving Indian Plate, coupled with mid-Pleistocene collision of the Ninety-East Ridge with the Sunda Arc, has shutdown many sediment pathways linking the Himalaya and Nicobar Fan. Here we use big data Raman spectroscopy heavy mineral analysis along with U-Pb zircon data to better define sediment source regions for the Nicobar Fan during the Plio-Pleistocene following the shutdown of sediment delivery. The detrital zircon spectra for the Plio-Pleistocene Nicobar Fan from this study are consistent with previous work indicating that the original sources of these zircons can be found within both the Greater and Tethyan Himalaya, the Gangdese Arc, and the Indo-Myanmar Ranges. However, the heavy mineral data indicate that a large proportion of sediment has been derived from a more complex array of sources. This is coupled with an abundance of low-and moderate-stability minerals (e.g., amphibole, apatite, clinopyroxene), which are unlikely to have been transported large distances. Suggesting that proximal sources have delivered the majority of lower-stability heavy minerals into the Plio-Pleistocene Nicobar Fan. We show that from the Pleistocene onwards direct sediment delivery into the Nicobar Fan from the Himalaya was largely shutdown, with sediment instead shedding off the uplifting Indo-Myanmar Ranges, the Andaman-Nicobar Accretionary Ridge, and the westwards propagating Ayeyarwady River. This study shows that extensive uplift along the northern Sunda Arc is recorded in the Nicobar Fan alongside the previously reported Himalayan record.

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Morphology of submarine channel-levee systems in the eastern Bay of Bengal near Andaman region

Cited by 4 publications

References 43 publications

Sedimentology, stratigraphy and architecture of the Nicobar Fan (Bengal–Nicobar Fan System), Indian Ocean: Results from International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362

Sedimentology, stratigraphy and architecture of the Nicobar Fan (Bengal–Nicobar Fan System), Indian Ocean: Results from International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362

Deciphering relationships between the Nicobar and Bengal submarine fans, Indian Ocean

Sedimentary provenance of the Plio-Pleistocene Nicobar Fan: Complex sourcing revealed through Raman spectroscopy heavy mineral analysis

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