Clay mineral compositions in surface sediments of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river system of Bengal Basin, Bangladesh

Clay minerals are significant indicators that can be used to identify sources and transport patterns of both fluvial and marine sediments. The Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Surma-Meghna (SM) rivers are the most important rivers of the Bengal Basin (BB), loading a large amount of sediments from the Himalayas into the Bay of Bengal. Clay minerals of 132 surface sediment samples from the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) river system have been analyzed with X-ray diffraction (XRD) to show the variation of clay mineral assemblages in the sediments from upstream to downstream for the major rivers of the BB and to verify the validity of clay minerals as an important index for sediment provenance in the Bay of Bengal after these sediments are discharged into…