What is the abyssal plain on the floor of the Bay of Bengal?

The deep floor of the Bay of Bengal is occupied by a vast abyssal plain that slopes toward the south. This seafloor area is characterized by its significant accumulation of sediments, most notably the fan of the Ganges River, which is recognized as the thickest and widest in the world.1

Abyssal plains generally consist of land-derived sediments that settle in deep-sea depressions, smoothing out irregular topography. In the case of the Bay of Bengal, these bottom deposits are dominated by terrigenous material—sediment derived primarily from the Himalayas and the Indian subcontinent—brought into the bay by major rivers.23