Dilip K. Dattaa
and V. Subramanian
Khulna University Studies 2(1): 63-70
 
Manuscript received: May 02, 2000; Accepted: July 25, 2000  

Summary:

  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.