Editing Bay of Bengal (section)

=== Geology ===
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==== Lithosphere and plate tectonics ====
The [[lithosphere]] of the earth is broken up into what are called [[Plate tectonics|tectonic plates]]. Underneath the Bay of Bengal, which is part of the great [[Indo-Australian Plate]] and is slowly moving north east. This plate meets the [[Burma Plate|Burma Microplate]] at the [[Sunda Trench]]. The [[Nicobar Islands]] and the [[Andaman Islands]] are part of the Burma Microplate. The India Plate subducts beneath the Burma Plate at the Sunda Trench or Java Trench. Here, the pressure of the two plates on each other increase pressure and temperature resulting in the formation of volcanoes such as the [[List of volcanoes in Myanmar|volcanoes in Myanmar]], and a [[volcanic arc]] called the [[Sunda Arc]]. The [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and Asian tsunami]] was a result of the pressure at this zone causing a [[submarine earthquake]] which then resulted in a destructive tsunami.<ref>[http://www.idiom.com/~garcia/tsunami.html Tsunami] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927031947/http://www.idiom.com/~garcia/tsunami.html |date=27 September 2007 }} URL access 21 January 2007</ref>

==== Marine geology ====
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[[File:Bay of Bengal and Beach from Tenneti park.jpg|thumb|Bay of Bengal near [[Tenneti Park]], [[Visakhapatnam]].]]
A zone 50 m wide extending from the island of Sri Lanka and the Coromandel coast to the head of the bay, and thence southwards through a strip embracing the Andaman and Nicobar islands, is bounded by the 100 fathom line of sea bottom; some 50 m. beyond this lies the 500-fathom limit. Opposite the mouth of the Ganges, however, the intervals between these depths are very much extended by deltaic influence.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|wstitle=Bengal, Bay of|inline=1}}</ref>

[[Swatch of No Ground]] is a 14&nbsp;km-wide deep sea canyon of the Bay of Bengal. The deepest recorded area of this valley is about 1340 m.<ref>[http://drs.nio.org/drs/bitstream/2264/449/1/J_Indian_Geophys_Union_4_185.pdf Morphological features in the Bay of Bengal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614214602/http://drs.nio.org/drs/bitstream/2264/449/1/J_Indian_Geophys_Union_4_185.pdf |date=14 June 2007 }} URL accessed 21 January 2007</ref> The submarine canyon is part of the [[Bengal Fan]], the largest submarine fan in the world.<ref name=mpgCurray>{{cite journal|last=Curray|first=Joseph R.|author2=Frans J. Emmel|author3=David G. Moore|title=The Bengal Fan: morphology, geometry, stratigraphy, history and processes|journal=[[Marine and Petroleum Geology]]|date=December 2002|volume=19|issue=10|pages=1191–1223|doi=10.1016/S0264-8172(03)00035-7|publisher=Elsevier Science Ltd|bibcode=2002MarPG..19.1191C }}</ref><ref name="whoi-bf-mar2000">{{cite web|last=France-Lanord|first=Christian|title=Summary on the Bengal Fan: An introduction to a drilling proposal|url=http://www.whoi.edu/pclift/BengalSummary.pdf|publisher=Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution|author2=Volkhard Spiess|author3=Peter Molnar|author4=Joseph R. Curray|date=March 2000|access-date=16 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005095805/http://www.whoi.edu/pclift/BengalSummary.pdf|archive-date=5 October 2011}}</ref>

==== Submarine fans ====
Submarine fan is also known as [[abyssal fan]]. Bay of Bengal fan, known as '''Bengal Fan''', also known as the '''Ganges Fan''' is world's largest abyssal fan, also known as deep-sea fans, underwater deltas, and submarine fans. The fan is about {{convert|3000|km|mi|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|1430|km|mi|abbr=on}} wide with a maximum thickness of {{convert|16.5|km|mi|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Shanmugam, G. | title=Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950–2015) | year=2016 | journal=Journal of Palaeogeography | volume=5 | issue=2 | pages=110–184 | doi=10.1016/j.jop.2015.08.011 | bibcode=2016JPalG...5..110S | doi-access=free }}</ref> The fan resulted from the uplift and erosion of the [[Himalayas]] and the [[Tibetan Plateau]] produced by the collision between the [[Indian Plate]] and the [[Eurasian Plate]]. Most of the sediment is supplied by the [[Ganges]] and [[Brahmaputra]] rivers which supply the Lower [[Meghna River|Meghna]] [[Ganges Delta|delta]] in Bangladesh and the [[Hooghly River|Hoogly]] delta in [[West Bengal]] (India). Several other large rivers in Bangladesh and India provide smaller contributions.<ref name=mpgCurray/> [[Turbidity current]]s have transported the sediment through a series of [[submarine canyons]], some of which are more than {{convert|2400|km}} in length, to be deposited in the Bay of Bengal up to 30 degrees [[latitude]] from where it began. To date, the oldest sediments recovered from the Bengal fan are from [[Early Miocene]] age.<ref name=mpgCochran>{{cite journal|last=Cochran|first=J.R.|author2=Stow, D.A.V.|editor2-first=D.A.V|editor2-last=Stow|editor1-first=J.R|editor1-last=Cochran|title=116 Initial Reports Table of Contents|journal=Proc. ODP, Init. Repts.|year=1989|volume=116|doi=10.2973/odp.proc.ir.116.1989|publisher=Ocean Drilling Program College Station, TX |display-authors=etal|series=Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program}}</ref> Their mineralogical and geochemical characteristics allow to identify their Himalayan origin and demonstrate that the [[Himalaya]] was already a major mountain range 20&nbsp;million years ago.<ref name=mpgFrance-Lanord>{{cite journal|last=France-Lanord|first=Christian|author2=Derry L.|author3=Michard A.|title=Evolution of the Himalaya since Miocene time: isotopic and sedimentological evidence from the Bengal Fan|journal=Geological Society Special Publication|year=1993|volume=74|issue=1|pages=603–621|doi=10.1144/GSL.SP.1993.074.01.40|bibcode=1993GSLSP..74..603F|s2cid=85506590|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02153142/file/Oxford%202.0%20complete%20rev.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200312191351/https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02153142/file/Oxford%202.0%20complete%20rev.pdf |archive-date=2020-03-12 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The fan completely covers the floor of the Bay of Bengal.<ref name=sepm92/> It is bordered to the west by the continental slope of eastern India, to the north by the continental slope of Bangladesh and to east by the northern part of [[Sunda Trench]] off Myanmar and the [[Andaman Islands]], the [[accretionary wedge]] associated with [[subduction]] of the [[Indo-Australian Plate]] beneath the [[Sunda Plate]] and continues along the west side of the [[Ninety East Ridge]].<ref name=sepm92>{{cite book|title=SEPM Special Publication, No. 92. External Controls on Deep-Water Depositional Systems|year=2009|publisher=SEPM ([[Society for Sedimentary Geology]])|isbn=978-1-56576-136-0|pages=107–131|author=Tilmann Schwenk|author2=Volkhard Spiess|chapter=Architecture and Stratigraphy of the Bengal Fan as Response to Tectonic and Climate Revealed from High-Resolution Seismic Data}}</ref><ref name="whoi-bf-mar2000"/> The Nicobar Fan, another lobe of the fan, lies east of the Ninety East Ridge.<ref name="whoi-bf-mar2000"/>

The fan is now being explored as a possible source of [[fossil fuels]] for the surrounding [[developing nation]]s.

The fan was first identified by bathymetric survey in the sixties by Bruce C. Heezen and Marie Tharp which identified the abyssal cone and canyon structures. It was delineated and named by Joseph Curray and David Moore following a geological and geophysical survey in 1968.<ref name="whoi-bf-mar2000"/><ref name=curray1971>{{cite journal|last=Curray|first=Joseph R.|author2=David G. Moore|title=Growth of the Bengal Deep-Sea Fan and Denudation in the Himalayas|journal=Geological Society of America Bulletin|date=March 1971|volume=82|issue=3|pages=563–572|doi=10.1130/0016-7606(1971)82[563:GOTBDF]2.0.CO;2|bibcode=1971GSAB...82..563C}}</ref>