Rhone delta golden nuggets Flashcards
Location of the delta
Southern France, along the Mediterranean. To the west of Marseilles. Lies between the Grande and Petit rhone.
Length of coastline and overall area that the delta covers
90km and 1740km squared
Annual deposition (1900), metres cubed
17 million metres cubed
Tidal range
0.3m
Sediment carried per year (2000) Tonnes
1.5 million tonnes
Wave heights (SW)
0.5-1m
Frequency of waves from SSE and ESE and height of waves
16% and 11% 2m
Name of spits at the Rhone delta
Spit du Graciuese, Spit du Beauduc
Key reasons the delta has formed
Carries large volume of sediment.
The river meets the sea causing a loss of velocity and a loss of sediment.
The salinity in the sea allows for flocculation
There are no strong currents and a small tidal range
% that has management
85%
River flow in the summer compared to in the spring/winter mcubed per second
1500mcubed per second in the summer
6000m cubed per second in the winter
Human impact upon the river
Has been managed to prevent flooding and is also used for hydro-electricity production. Has caused less sediment to be carried leading Rhone to shrink
% of waves coming from the SW
30
Plant species that lives on the delta
Marram grass
Reasons for coastal erosion exceeding deposition
Has been a reduction of the load to the river, Petit Rhone brings very little to the river, beach river is made of fine sand, large waves generated during storms,
When was the Rhone delta formed?
7,000 years ago
Where is most of the sediment collected from?
The Alps
What is the prevailing wind direction?
Southwest to northeast
What are bottom set beds?
The part where the fine material is cried furthest into the sea.
What are the fore set beds?
Area where coarser material is deposited over the bottom set beds.
What are the Top-set beds?
They make up the floodplain and rivers throw through them and form distributaries.
What landforms are there on a delta?
Sand dunes, lagoons, spits, bars salt pans, salt marshes.
