How did the Indus River create a submarine canyon and the Indus Cone?

The Indus River has played a primary role in shaping the seafloor of the Arabian Sea through the transport of massive sediment loads.1

Formation of the Submarine Canyon

The Indus River has carved a large submarine canyon that indents the continental slope. While some submarine canyons were initially formed by subaerial erosion during periods of lower sea levels in the Pleistocene Epoch, their continued maintenance and deepening are largely attributed to marine processes. Specifically, turbidity currents—dense, avalanche-like slurries of water and sediment—funnel through these canyons, eroding the seafloor and transporting material from the continental margin to the deep sea.1234

The Indus Cone

As these turbidity currents exit the mouth of the submarine canyon, the sudden loss of confinement and gradient causes the sediment to drop out of suspension. Over time, this accumulation of land-derived sediment has formed the Indus Cone, a vast submarine fan that covers much of the floor of the Arabian Basin. This feature serves as a major sedimentary deposit, with its thickness gradually diminishing toward the south.45