ENERGY CONDITION OF DEPOSITION AND SOURCE OF SEDIMENTS IN  THE BENGAL BASIN FROM GRAIN SIZE ANALYSIS

Dilip K.  Datta; V.  Subramanian

doi:10.53808/KUS.2000.2.1.63-70-ls

Authors

Dilip K. Datta Environmental Science Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh
V. Subramanian School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53808/KUS.2000.2.1.63-70-ls

Keywords:

Grain size analysis; Energy condition of deposition; Bengal basin; Bangladesh

Abstract

The annual sediment discharge of the Ganges-Brahmaputra–Meghna (G-B-M) river system– estimated in the Bengal basin–is one of the highest globally, and more than 60% of this sediment load is delivered in the delta itself. The sediments typically consist of fine to very fine sand, silt and clay. The sediments are poorly sort ed and positively skewed suggesting dominance of the finer grained portion relative to the mean size. The distribution is mostly leptokurtic. A relatively high-energy hydraulic environment affects their deposition which takes place mostly under a graded (for bed sediments) and uniform suspension (for suspended sediments) condition. The riverbank and flood plain sediments show close similarity in size with the riverine sediments of the Bengal drainage basin, and could be a major source of river sediments. Sediments transported by the Himalayan rivers are relatively fine grained compared with that of the sediments transported by the Peninsular rivers to the Bay of Bengal

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