Submarine fan

A submarine fan is a fan-shaped accumulation of sediment on the seafloor, commonly built by sediment-laden flows emerging from submarine canyons.

Turbidity current: A sediment-laden density current that flows downslope through water under gravity. These currents commonly carry sediment from submarine canyons onto the fan.
Deep-sea fan: A large sedimentary system built on the deep seafloor by gravity-driven transport from continental margins. Submarine fans are deep-sea fan systems formed offshore.
Deepwater oil reservoir: A petroleum reservoir held in sedimentary rocks deposited in deep-marine settings. Porous fan sandstones can store hydrocarbons beneath sealing mudstones.
Bengal Fan: The world’s largest submarine fan, built from sediment delivered mainly by the Ganges and Brahmaputra river systems. Its exceptional size illustrates how sustained river sediment supply can build a vast fan.
Submarine canyon: A steep-sided valley cut into the continental shelf and slope beneath the sea. Canyons funnel sediment-laden flows toward submarine fans.
Submarine fan lobe: A lobe-shaped sediment body deposited where a submarine channel disperses onto the seafloor. Lobes form major depositional units at the ends of fan channels.
Sequence stratigraphy: The study of sedimentary strata as packages shaped by changes in accommodation and sediment supply. Fan deposits help reconstruct how sea level and sediment supply shaped basins.
Indus Fan: A large submarine fan in the Arabian Sea, supplied chiefly by sediment from the Indus River system. It provides a major example of a river-fed fan in an ocean basin.
Submarine channel: A channel on the seafloor that conveys sediment-laden flows across a continental slope or deep-sea plain. Channels route flows across the fan and build its sedimentary architecture.
Graded bedding: A sedimentary layer in which grain size changes systematically from bottom to top. Normal grading commonly records waning flow within fan turbidites.

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