Mineralogy of northern Indian Ocean surface sediments and of suspended sediments of Indian rivers (Table 2 and 5)

However, their contributions to the sediments are insignificant.The eastern sector of the Arabian Sea receives major contributions of continental debris from the rivers and the high montmorillonite levels clearly indicate a source in the Indian Peninsula. The rest of the Sea appears to receive most of its land-derived materials from the north, perhaps the desert regions of northern India and West Pakistan, and they are wind-borne.

These materials are also transported to the equatorial regions of the Indian Ocean.A gradient in attapulgite, just north of the equator, may indicate an eolian contribution to the Arabian Sea from the African continent.The halogenated hydrocarbon pesticides were assayed in the southwest monsoon winds and enter the Bay of Bengal at levels of a half ton per month, an amount comparable to those introduced by other wind and river systems to the marine environment.