Editing Bay of Bengal (section)

==== 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>