River Deltas

River Deltas

A delta is a landform that is created at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river. Over long periods of time, this deposition builds the characteristic geographic pattern of a river delta. This book presents current research on river deltas from across a broad spectrum including such topics as the current carbon source in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California; limnology of the Nile Delta Lakes; soil fertility changes of the Yangtze River Delta region; the Ebro Delta on the Spanish Northeast Mediterranean coast and a political and ecological perspective on the Pearl River Delta of China.

River Deltas

Deltas are amongst the most environmentally and economically important coastal sedimentary environments. Studies of deltas lag behind research in both fluvial and deep-water depositional systems, as well as more geomorphologically oriented land studies. This knowledge lag reflects both a reorientation of the petroleum industry in the last two decades toward deep-water systems, as well as the difficulty of working across the shoreline with the traditional tools used for oceanographic or land-based work. However, deltaic studies are experiencing a renewed focus, because of their global importance in environmental and other societal concerns. This volume stems from a special session: "Deltas: Old and New", held at the Annual Geological Society of America conference in October 2002, that was convened to highlight these new directions in deltaic research.

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