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Does anybody have a good basic explanation of the geological History of the Indus fan? I primarily would like info on sedimentary development in relation to Climate changes and development of the Himalaya. I might also be able to extract all this from a variety of online resources, but I can also try here, right?

... it worked the last time (basin-analysis-f26/petroleum-geology-potwar-plateau-t203.html)!

thanks already!

Well I guess, your in luck again! I have quite a database on reports from India and Pakistan... I hope you're not directly copying this stuff and placing your name below it.

This may be what you're looking for!

Geology of the Indus Fan

The Indus Fan is known as the second largest deep-sea fan in the world. With a length of 1500 km it covers an area of over a million square kilometers and the thickest part is more than 9 km thick (Clift et al., 2001). The fan principally comprises material eroded from the western Himalaya, Karakoram and Hindu Kush (Clift et al., 2002) transported by the Indus River.
The fan is deposited on the western passive margin of the Indian subcontinent during the separation of India from the Seychelle platform (Clift, 2002). It is bounded by the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge in the east, by the Owen-Murray Ridges in the west, and by the Carlsberg Ridge in the south.

The uplift of the high Himalayan mountain region is an explanation for the origin of the Indus Fan. The Indus River has its origin in western Tibet and dissects the high terrain of the Karakoram and Kohistan. The Indus River used to be one of the most important sediment-producing rivers in the world that built one of the largest submarine fans (Giosan et al., 2006). Differences in sedimentation rate are suggested to be controlled by tectonic events or could be triggered by monsoon intensification (Clift et al., 2002). Data collected from the Indus Fan sediments should therefore be helpful to reconstruct tectonic activity, climate changes and differences in erosion rates of the Himalayas, Karakoram and the Tibetan Plateau (Clift et al., 2002).

Dating of the Indus Fan has been a debating issue for a long time but it must have occurred during Eocene-Oligocene time (24-56Ma). The India-Asia collision started during the late Paleocene and the Indus sedimentation is dated shortly after that event (Clift et al., 2001). Although the Indus Fan Megasequence is dated middle Miocene (23 Ma) to recent, the underlying units consist of fan turbidites. Large thicknesses of the Indus Fan are of Paleogene age (65-23Ma) (Clift et al., 2002).

References:

Clift et al., 2001; Development of the Indus Fan and its significance for the erosional
history of the Western Himalaya and Karakoram. GSA Bulletin, v113, pp1039-1051

Clift et al., 2002; The stratigraphic evolution of the Indus Fan and the history of sedimentation in the Arabian Sea. Marine Geophysical Researches 23, pp 223-245

Giosan et al., 2006; Recent morphodynamics of the Indus delta shore and shelf. Continental Shelf Research 26, pp 1668-1684.

Pastriagunar, thank you so much again!!!!

this is great information. I am not copying it, just just using it to get a basic overview of the basin. May I ask what you do that you have all this info?

Glad I could help.

I work as a geology lecturer in the region so I have most of these resource for my students. I have always believed that making my own abstracts provides the best way to remember...