Nile Delta #1 background

Question 1

how long is the Nile?

Answer 1

6650km long (one of the longest in the world.

Question 2

What is the catchment area?

Answer 2

3 million km

Question 3

Average rainfall and discharge

Answer 3

average rainfall is 600mm in catchment area but discharge is very low at less than 3000m3/s

Question 4

Where is Nile’s flow orientated?

Answer 4

From Ethiopia’s summer monsoon rains, the rest from Central Africa as far South as Rwanda.

Question 5

What is the sediment load?

Answer 5

Massive sediment load despite low discharge (30% clay,40% silt, 30% fine sand).

Question 6

Total sediment yield?

Answer 6

91.3 million tonnes in the whole Blue Nile Basin, in Ethiopia.

Question 7

What happened to the Nile before the Aswan dam was built?

Answer 7

The Nile flooded almost the entire delta briefly every year. This has left deposits of sediment-9.6m deep in Cairo and even deeper in the delta itself.

Question 8

What does wave action do in the Mediterranean?

Answer 8

Redistributes sediment deposits into a series of curved barrier bars. These close off segments of the sea to form lagoons-These soon fill with sediment.