Research article
Texture and mineralogy of
sediments from the
Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river
system in the Bengal Basin,
Bangladesh and their
environmental implications
D. K. Datta 7 V. Subramanian
Abstract The Bengal basin, Bangladesh, represents
one of the most densely populated recent flood-
plains of the world. The sediment flux through the
basin is one of the highest on a global scale. A sig-
nificant portion of this sediment load find its sink
in the basin itself because of its lower elevation and
frequent flooding. The textural, mineralogical and
chemical nature of the sediments thus have an im-
portant bearing on the environmental quality of the
basin as well as for the Bay of Bengal.
The sediment load of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-
Meghna (GBM) river system consists exclusively of
fine sand, silt and clay at their lower reaches within
the Bengal basin, Bangladesh, and is deposited un-
der uniformly fluctuating, unidirectional energy
conditions. The sediments have a close simitarity in
grain size with the sediments of the surrounding
floodplain. The mineral assemblage is dominated
by quartz and feldspars. Illite and kaolinite are the
major clay minerals, and occur in almost equal
proportion in bed sediments. The heavy mineral
assemblage is dominated by unstable minerals
which are mostly derived from high-rank meta-
morphic rocks. The characteristic smaller grain-
size, i.e. having large surface-to-mass ratios, and
the mineralogy of sediments suggests that they are
susceptible to large chemical adsorptive reactions
and thus could serve as a potential trap for con-
taminants. However, the sediments of the GBM riv-
er system in the Bengal basin, Bangladesh, shows
lower concentration of Pb, Hg and As, and a mar-
ginally higher value for Cd as compared to that of
standard shale. Considering population density and
Received: 9 November 1994 7 Accepted: 18 June 1996
D. K. Datta 7 V. Subramanian (Y)
School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, The Bengal basin is bordered on the west by the Indian
New Delhi 110 067, India
extensive agricultural practice in the basin, the se-
diments can in the long run become contaminated.
Key words Grain size distribution 7 Mineralogy 7
Bengal basin 7 Bangladesh
Introduction
The Bengal basin is one of the most important alluvial
basins of the world because of its size and location, den-
sity of population, catastrophic deposition of sediments,
increased flooding and lower elevation above mean sea
level. The basin includes one of the largest deltas of the
world (Coleman 1981), the Bengal delta, and is situated at
the confluence of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna
(GBM) river system (the Bangladesh part of the Ganges
and Brahmaputra are called the Padma and Jamuna, re-
spectively) – the world’s largest sediment dispersal sys-
tem (Kuehl and others 1989) – encompassing its total
lower drainage. It accounts for about 9.2% (Rasid and
Paul 1987) of the total drainage area of the GBM system
(about 1.64!10 6 km 2; Milliman and others 1995). The
GBM river system offers the passage of an estimated se-
diment load of more than 1060 million tons annually to
the Bay of Bengal, which ranks first in sediment flux to
the oceans on a global scale (Milliman and others 1995).
The river system supplies sediments through the Garo-
Rajmahal Gap (Niyogi 1981) to the Bengal shelf (Emmel
and Curray 1985; Barua and others 1994; Sinha and
Friend 1994) and thereby to the biggest submarine fan
known – the Bengal Fan (Kuehl and others 1989; Rea
1992) – via the Bengal basin. Thus, the GBM river system
has the potential to influence the tropical marine system
because of its deep-sea connection (Ittekkot and others
1986). A geological map of the total drainage basin of the
GBM river system is presented in Sarin and others
(1989).
shield, on the north by the Shillong shield, on the east by
Environmental Geology 30 (3/4) April 1997 7 Q Springer-Verlag 181
 Research article
Fig. 1
Location of the Bengal basin and sampling stations
the Naga-Lusai orogenic belt and is open to the Bay of
Bengal on the south (Sengupta 1966; Fig. 1). It is located
in a zone of intense neotectonic activity (Morgan and
McIntire 1959; Valdiya 1984; Agarwal and Mitra 1991;
Singh and Bhardwaj 1991; Pant and Sharma 1993). Be-
cause of its low elevation (between 5 and 6 m above
mean sea level), frequent flooding (Rasid and Paul 1987)
and Holocene sea level changes (Umitsu 1993), the Ben-
gal basin also serves as a reservoir for the enormous se-
diment load carried down by the GBM river system.
More than 86% of the basin are composed of recent
floodplain alluvium, where the density of population
ranges from 400 to over 1200 people per km 2 (Milliman
and others 1989). It represents a scarcely industrialized
but intensively cultivated region of the subcontinent.
Although more than 6% of the total alluvial flux to the
world oceans takes place annually through the Bengal ba-
sin (Milliman and others 1989), studies on grain size dis-
tribution, mineralogy and sediment chemistry have so far
not been carried out in detail. Brief reports on grain size
distribution and mineralogy on very localized areas may
be seen in Morgan and McIntire (1959), Coleman (1969),
Subramanian and Jha (1988), Sarin and others (1989), Ja-
han and others (1990), Kranck and others (1993) etc.
The particle size distribution of sediments and their mi-
neralogical and chemical characteristics are the major
variables to consider in any kind of study related to the
182 Environmental Geology 30 (3/4) April 1997 7 Q Springer-Verlag
sediment and their environmental implications. In the
present paper, the grain size distribution, mineralogy and
trace metal concentration of some elements of the sedi-
ments have been studied as a starting point to elucidate
the environmental quality of the basin.
Methodology
The bed sediments were collected from the top few centi-
meters of the river channel, and the suspended sediments
were collected with a plastic bucket at a depth of 50–
100 cm from the water surface during Dec.-Jan. 1991–92,
Aug.-Sept. 1992 and April-May 1993 at various pre-deter-
mined locations (Fig. 1). The water with the suspended
sediments was kept undisturbed for a week at a tempera-
ture below 4 7C and the settled sediments were decanted.
The grain size distribution was determined by sieve shak-
er (Fritsch Analysette 03.502) and by laser particle sizer
(Fritsch Analysette 22). Mineralogical analyses of the bulk
sediments, fraction ~4 mm and the heavy minerals were
done by X-ray diffractometer (Phillips PW 1130) after
glycolation and using Cu Ka radiation and a Ni filter fol-
lowing Lindholm (1987) and Gibbs (1965). The minerals
were identified according to Carroll (1970) and Lindholm
(1987) and a semiquantitative estimate was made accord-
ing to Schultz (1964). Trace elements have been deter-
mined following the procedure of Loring and Rantala
(1992), using an AAS (GBC 902) fitted with HG, and ICP-
MS with the Canadian Soil Samples SO-1, SO-2, SO-3 and
SO-4 as reference materials.
 Research article

Results and Discussion
Grain size distribution
The statistical parameters of grain size distribution is
presented in Table 1. More than 76% of the bed sediment
samples of the studied segments of the GBM river system
are within the fine-to-very-fine category of the sand class
and have a mean grain size between 2.5 and 4 phi. The
remaining samples were dominated by the silt fraction.
The grain size decreases gradually from the upper to low-
er reaches of the Ganges. More than 66% of the bed sedi-
ment samples are moderately to well sorted (according to
the scale of Folk and Ward 1957). The dominance of silt
and clay is responsible for the poor sorting in the re-
maining samples. The bed sediments of the Meghna main
channel are better sorted than those in the other main
channels and tributaries. All the bed sediments are posi-
tively skewed, which indicates an abundance of finer
grained sediments relative to the mean size. Similar ob-
servations have been made by Goswami (1985), Choudhri
(1987), Subramanian and Jha (1988) and Singh and Bard-
waj (1991) in the Indian sector and by Jahan and others
(1990) in the Bangladesh part of the GBM drainage basin.
The mean size of 95% of the suspended sediment sam-
ples lies above 6 phi (Table 1) and they have a relatively
well sorted distribution. The skewness and kurtosis val-
ues are indicative of an enrichment of finer grained sedi-
ments with respect to mean size. The Jamuna suspended
sediments are rich in larger particles relative to those in
other main channels. The river may have collected the
coarse-grained sediments during its passage through the
granite- and gneiss-rich Shillong shield at the entry to the
Bengal basin. The sediments from the Shillong shield
which enters the Meghna river via its tributary Surma
have a major sink in the Sylhet trough where the relative-
ly coarser particles settle and give passage only to the
finer ones to the lower Meghna. This may be the reason
for more fine-grained sediments in the suspended load of
the Meghna as compared to other main channels.

Table 1
Statistical parameters of grain-size distribution of the bed and suspended sediments from the GBM river system in the Bengal
basin, Bangladesh

Location Bed sediments a Suspended sediments b

Station (*)
Median Mean St. Dev. Skewness Kurtosis Median Mean Std. Dev. Skewness Kurtosis

Meghna and its tributaries

Kushiara
Seola (*01) 3.0 3.2 0.49 0.56 1.11 7.4 7.5 1.65 P0.08 2.45
Sherpur (02) 4.5 4.8 1.72 0.30 1.30 7.4 7.6 1.41 0.28 2.43
Surma
Sylhet (*03) 4.4 5.0 2.11 0.45 1.09 6.6 6.8 1.68 0.28 2.44
Sunamganj (*04) 3.7 3.8 0.61 0.24 1.37
Meghna main channel
Ashuganj (*06) 2.9 3.0 0.37 0.37 1.15 7.9 8.0 1.36 0.21 1.85
Meghna Ghat (*07) 3.0 3.1 0.33 0.42 0.97 6.9 7.0 1.85 0.16 2.40
Chandpur (*08) 3.2 3.3 0.42 0.32 0.74 6.9 7.1 1.64 0.30 2.26
Ganges (Padma) main channel
Rajshahi (*09) 2.5 2.5 0.12 0.00 1.00 6.2 6.5 1.56 0.60 2.90
Pakshi (*10) 3.0 3.4 0.94 0.59 0.83 6.5 6.7 1.88 0.37 2.86
Daulatdia (*11) 3.0 3.1 0.53 0.43 1.10
Maoa (*12) 4.7 4.9 1.52 0.25 1.23 7.9 7.9 1.61 0.19 2.75
Brahmaputra (Jamuna) and its tributaries
Tista
Tista Bridge (*13) 3.6 3.7 0.79 0.20 1.18
Jamuna (Brahmaputra) main channel
Dubri (*14) 2.5 2.5 0.21 0.14 1.25 4.9 5.2 1.88 0.65 3.46
Chilmari (*15) 4.2 4.4 1.17 0.26 0.98 6.5 6.5 2.01 0.06 2.94
Phoolchari (*16) 6.1 6.3 1.75 0.57 3.27
Bahadurabad
Ghat (*17) 2.9 3.0 0.41 0.43 1.34 5.9 6.1 1.83 0.39 3.14
Sirajganj (*19) 2.9 3.0 0.43 0.36 1.31 6.4 6.6 1.88 0.47 2.92
Nagarbari (*20) 3.8 4.0 1.34 0.10 1.52 7.0 7.1 1.91 0.28 2.63
Aricha (*21) 3.9 3.9 1.12 0.08 1.22 6.2 6.5 1.74 0.59 2.91
a
Statistical parameters obtained by Folk and Ward’s (1957) equations
b
Statistical parameters obtained by the method of moments (Lindholm 1987)
The median, mean and the standard deviation values are in phi (f)

Environmental Geology 30 (3/4) April 1997 7 Q Springer-Verlag 183

 Research article

Mineralogy
The GBM river system has its source in one of the
youngest mountain ranges in the world and traverses a
drainage area rich in Quaternary floodplain deposits. The
abundance of detrital minerals (quartzcfeldspar) in the
sediment composition clearly reflects this fact (Fig. 2).
Also, the relatively high quartz and low feldspar content
is indicative of the low relief tropical weathering condi-
tion in the basin (Potter 1978). The higher clay mineral
content in the suspended sediments (17–37%) as com-
pared to the bed sediments (3–32%) is due to the grain
size effect on the mineral composition. The insignificant
occurrence of carbonate minerals in the Bengal basin
may be related to the differential settling of detrital car-
bonates in the upper reaches during transportation.
The relative clay mineral content in the fraction ~4 mm
of the bed sediment is shown in Fig. 3. Illite and kaolin-
ite constitute 90% of the total clay minerals and occur in
almost equal amount in most samples. The chlorite con-
tent is less than 10% in most of the samples (~80%) and
the amount of montmorillonite is insignificant.
The average illite content of the world river bed sedi-
ments is between 45% and 60% (Irion 1991), similar to
that in the Bengal basin sediments. The richness of illite
is related to the dominance of its precursor, the musco-
vite type mica, in the source rock (Griffin and others
1968; Segall and Kuehl 1992) and the neotectonic activity
(Irion 1991) the basin is experiencing (Morgan and McIn-
tire 1959; Valdiya 1984; Pant and Sharma 1993). Kaolinite
occurs next to illite, and the vast floodplain providing the
major sediment load to the rivers can be a source of it
(Brinkman 1977; Islam and Lotse 1986), which indicates
intense soil-forming processes (kaolinization) in the basin
(Griffin and others 1968). The low content of chlorite in
the basin is related to the lesser stability of the mineral
in river sediments draining exclusively lowland tropical
areas (Irion 1991). The negligible amount of montmoril-
lonite is related to the scarcity of eruptive igneous rocks
in the drainage basin.
Naidu and others (1985) observed 73–78% illite and 27–
22% chlorite in the bed sediments of the Ganges, with no
kaolinite and montmorillonite at its upper and middle
course, while Subramanian (1980) recorded 46% illite,
28.7% kaolinite, 22.8% chlorite and 2.5% montmorillonite
in the suspended sediments of the Ganges (Hoogly) at
Calcutta. In the suspended sediments of the Brahmaputra
at Gauhati, Subramanian observed 31.5% illite, 36.8%
kaolinite, 31.5% chlorite and no montmorillonite. On the
other hand, Sarin and others (1989) reported 31.9% illite,
5.4% kaolinite, 7% chlorite and 56.2% smectite in the bed
Fig. 2a, b
sediments of the Ganges (Padma) at Aricha (Station 11, Major minerals in (a) the bed and (b) suspended sediment of
Fig. 1). In the bed sediments of the Brahmaputra (Jamu- the GBM river system in the Bengal basin, Bangladesh. (Station
na) at Aricha (Station 21, Fig. 1), Sarin and others re- numbers correspond to sampling stations in Fig. 1)
corded 61.7% illite, 12.3% kaolinite, 10.9% chlorite and
15.2% smectite. Our results on clay mineralogy differ
considerably, particularly in smectite/montmorillonite matic conditions and enriched with eruptive igneous
values, from those of Sarin and others (1989). Smectite is rocks. Rao and others (1988), Kolla and Rao (1990), Se-
a characteristic clay mineral of the peninsular rivers gall and Kuehl (1992) and Wijayananda and Cronan
which drain extensive areas under arid-to-semi-arid cli- (1994) cited several references on the transport path,

184 Environmental Geology 30 (3/4) April 1997 7 Q Springer-Verlag

 Research article

malayan sedimentary rocks. They also observed that

there is a relatively high amount of smectite in sediments
derived from the crystalline rocks of peninsular India,
and its abundance increases gradually from the Bay of
Bengal towards peninsular India. However, our results
are from samples distributed uniformly throughout the
basin and have a close proximity to Subramanian (1980)
and Naidu and others (1985). These results correspond to
the clay mineralogy of the sediments at their sink in the
Bay of Bengal. It is most likely that the conflicting data
on clay mineralogy among different authors are the result
of differences in the method of sampling, separation of
grain size fractions, frequency and timing (season) of
sampling and identification and estimation of the respec-
tive clay minerals.
On average the Meghna, Padma and Jamuna river bed se-
diments contain 13.5, 7.7 and 14.7%, respectively, of hea-
vy minerals in the size fraction between 200 mm and
63 mm. Amphibole is the most abundant heavy mineral,
Fig. 3 followed by garnet and epidote (Table 2). The relatively
Clay minerals in the bed sediment (Station numbers correspond
to the sampling stations in Fig. 1) high concentration of heavy minerals at stations 8 and 17
(Fig. 1 and Table 2) may be explained by the differential
settling of the mineral grains during their transportation.
grain size distribution, mineralogy, chemistry and source The Padma bed sediments show a higher (pyrope)-garnet
of sediments to the Bay of Bengal. They reported that il- content. This indicates the presence of mafic igneous
lite is the dominant clay mineral in the northeast Bay of rocks in their provenance.
Bengal, where the Ganges-Brahmaputra river system dis- The heavy mineral assemblage is dominated by unstable
charges its total sediment load carried down from the Hi- minerals (viz., garnet, magnetite, ilmenite, hornblende,

Table 2
Relative percentage of heavy minerals in the bed sediments

River Amphibole Pyroxene Epidote Garnet Apatite Topaz Megnetite Minerals identified but % heavy
Location a occurring in trace minerals

Meghna main channel

Ashuganj (6) 51 1 8 19 9 6 3 Rutile, kyanite, 13
ilmenite
Meghna Ghat (6) 62 2 8 13 9 2 1 Tourmaline, zircon, 12
rutile, kyanite, hematite
ilmanite, staurolite
Chandpur (8) 72 2 6 10 6 Trace 1 Tourmaline, zircon, 18
rutile, kyanite, hematite,
ilmanite, staurolite
Ganges (Padma) main channel
Rajshahi (9) 33 1 14 42 4 3 Trace Zircon, rutile, ilmanite 7
kyanite, hematite,
sphene
Pakshi (10) 29 3 16 42 5 1 2 Zircon, rutile, ilmanite, 9
sphene
Daulatdia (11) 41 2 30 11 11 2 2 Zircon, rutile, ilmanite 7
Brahmaputra (Jamuna) main channel
Dubri (14) 62 3 6 11 11 4 Trace Tourmaline, zircon, 9
rutile, kyanite, hematite,
ilmanite, sphene
Bahadurabad (17) 47 3 8 22 9 6 3 Tourmaline, ilmanite 24
Sirajganj (19) 54 5 10 10 12 6 1 Zircon, tourmaline 11
rutile, ilmanite
a
correspond to the sampling locations in Fig. 1
Values are rounded to the nearest whole number

Environmental Geology 30 (3/4) April 1997 7 Q Springer-Verlag 185

 Research article
augite; for details see Hubert 1971) followed by semista-
ble minerals (viz., apatite, staurolite, kyanite, epidote)
(Fig. 4). The content of stable and ultrastable minerals is
insignificant. The relatively high amount of unstable and
semistable heavy minerals in the sediment indicates in-
significant chemical alteration during transportation (Ku-
mar and Singh 1978). The majority of the heavy minerals
are supplied by high-rank metamorphic (40–46%) and
mafic igneous rocks (21–29%) (Fig. 4). The heavy mineral
assemblage shows no major variation in source rock of
the sediments in the three main river channels.
Human Impact on the nature of sediments
The sediments on the banks and the floodplain of the
GBM rivers in the Bengal basin, Bangladesh, are com-
posed dominantly of fine sand and silt (Morgan and
McIntire 1959; FAO 1977; Alam and others 1990; Umitsu
1993) and are similar in size to the river bed sediments
of the basin. The bank and floodplain sediments can
therefore be a major short-term source of river sedi-
ments. Meade and Parker (1985) reported that the major
source of sediment supplied to the United States rivers
are the sediments occurring in the floodplain. This grain
size category is similar to that observed in the inner Ben-
gal Shelf which ultimately feeds the Bengal Fan via ‘the
Swatch of No Ground’, a major conduit for the seaward
transport of sediments from the Bengal Shelf (Kuehl and
others 1989). Moreover, the distribution spectrum of
sand, silt and clay in the bed sediments overlaps the dis-
Fig. 4
Heavy minerals in different stability and source categories
expressed in percent (Station numbers correspond to sampling
stations in Fig. 1)
186 Environmental Geology 30 (3/4) April 1997 7 Q Springer-Verlag
tribution of the majority of the suspended sediment sam-
ples by more than 50%. This suggests that most of the
bed sediments are capable of remobilization, particularly
during high flow. This fine sand, silt and clay size class,
as suggested by Mantei and Foster (1991), is fine enough
to accumulate higher quantities of metals, as well as large
enough to resist transport and have longer residence
times in the stream channel.
The common trace metal contamination in a floodplain
with extensive agricultural practice occurs from As, Pb,
Cd, Hg and Se through the use of fertilizers (e.g. phos-
phates), lime, pesticides, sewage sludge, irrigation and
manure (Aswathanarayana 1995). The arithmetic average
and the range of concentration of Pb, Cd, Hg and As of
the GBM river bed sediments in the Bengal basin, Bang-
ladesh, is presented in Table 3. The trace metals, viz Pb,
Hg and As, are less in concentration in the Bengal basin,
Bangladesh, as compared to standard shale and clays.
Cadmium shows a slight enrichment. Muller (1979) for-
mulated an ‘Index of Geoaccumulation’ (Igeo) as a means
to quantify metal pollution in aquatic systems. The Igeo
has a scale of seven grades (0–6), where grade 6 corre-
sponds to about 100 times more than the normal concen-
tration level. The sediments of the GBM system have ne-
gative Igeo for Pb, Hg and As. Cadmium in the Brahma-
putra (Jamuna) and Meghna sediments has positive Igeo
values and shows a slight enrichment as compared to the
normal concentration level. Thus, although the sediments
of the GBM river system in the Bengal basin, Bangladesh,
has the potential to trap contaminants because of their
grain size and mineralogy, they are not contaminated at
the present stage, but, considering the population density
and fertilizer input, they can in the future become con-
taminated.
There is no clear cut relationship among the variables,
viz. population density, mineral stability, terrain topogra-
phy and textural properties of the sediments in the Ben-
gal basin. However, to attain a ‘dynamic metastable
equilibrium’ (Schumm 1975) the tectonic nature of the
drainage basin of the GBM system can be one of the ma-
jor factor to consider (Barua 1994).
Umitsu (1993) observed that the uppermost sedimentary
unit of the Ganges delta and the surrounding region con-
sists of silts and clay deposited in poorly drained low-
lands. These lowlands are a zone of subsidence in the
Bengal basin where 40–60% of the sediment load of the
Ganges-Brahmaputra river system finds their sink (Milli-
man and Syvitski 1992). The influence of changes in the
land and water management pattern at the upper reaches
of the drainage basin, although known only qualitatively
(Bowonder 1986; Bhargava 1987; Hasan and Mulamoottil
1994), obviously affects the sediment characteristics in
the lower basin. The dynamic metastable equilibrium of
the river system – in the absence of any short-term tec-
tonic activity – is very likely to collapse with the anthro-
pogenic sediment load, thus masking the natural textural
and mineralogical features of the sediments. Furthermore,
a negative balance may develop because of the water
management practices upstream. Thus, the human im-
 Research article

Table 3
Concentration of Pb, Cd, Hg and As in the bed sediments of the GBM river system in the Bengal basin, Bangladesh (in mg/g)

Rivers Pb Cd f Hg As f

Ganges (Padma) a 8–16 0.23–0.26 0.016–0.099 1.18–2.61

(11.6) (0.243) (0.047) (2.03)
Brahmaputra (Jamuna) a 6–16 0.14–1.35 0.014–0.048 1.41–5.93
(10.67) (0.504) (0.028) (2.79)
Meghna a 6–12 0.06–0.95 0.016–0.062 1.30–5.55
(8.86) (0.448) (0.035) (3.49)
Shale and Clays b 20 0.20 0.20 13*
World Soils c 10–20 0.10–1.00 0.010–0.060 5–10
Soils USA d 19 P 0.09 7.2
Igeo e Padma P1.37 P0.30 P2.67 P3.26
Igeo Jamuna P1.49 0.75 P3.42 P2.81
Igeo Meghna P1.76 0.58 P3.10 P2.48
a
This study; b Salomons and Förstner (1984); c Fergusson (1990) quoted in Aswathanarayana (1995); d Shacklette and Boerngen
(1984) as quoted in Dobrovolsky (1994); * Förstner (1981); e IgeopLog2 (Cn/1.5 Bn) where Cn is the measured concentration and
Bn is the geochemical background value in standard shale (Muller 1979); f unpublished data of R. Ramesh, Department of Earth
and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, USA

pact factor on the textural properties are more physical
(“hazardous”) than chemical in nature. The signature of
selective sedimentation at the water management sites
upstream is quite evident by the fineness of the sedi-
ments and their moderate-to-well-sorted nature in the
basin.
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