The nile delta Eygpt

Question 1

what type of case study

Answer 1

a low energy environment with rates of fluvial deposition having exceeded rates of marine erosion for over 3000 years

Question 2

how long is the river nile

Answer 2

6650km
one of the longest rivers in the world
catchemnet area - more then 3million km2

Question 3

annual rainfall

Answer 3

600mm per year yet its average discharge is less then 3000m3/s
- this is among the lowest out of the worlds rivers

Question 4

what sediment load does the river carry

Answer 4

huge sediment load

Question 5

whats the sediment load distribution

Answer 5

30% clay
40% silt
30% fine sand

Question 6

what are the three distinct subunits of the costal plain

Answer 6

1. the foreshore plain
2. the frontal plain
3. the sandy zone

Question 7

characteristics of the foreshore plain

Answer 7

elongated ridges running almost parellel to the present shoreline alternating with lagoons, salt marshes and alluvial deposits in the depression between them

Question 8

characteristics of the frontal plain

Answer 8

located in the south of the foreshore plain and has scattered eroded limestone outcrops and clay deposits

Question 9

characteristics of the sandy zone

Answer 9

composed of a variety of diffrent sand formations such as sand sheets, dunes and hummocks.

Question 10

the split

Answer 10

• the delata begins to slipt in to distributaiarys at cairo more then 160km in land which fan out over the entire area of delta.
  -before the construction of teh Aswan high Dam in 1964 the niles annual flood breify coverd much of the delta each year are disposted a thick layer of silty mud.

Question 11

impact of wave action in the Mediterranean

Answer 11

redistributes sediment at the front of the delta, this sediment forms a serious of curved bars which close of segments of the meditrainian sea to form lagoons

Question 12

costal landforms

Answer 12

prevalence of the northwesterly winds over the meditaraninan sea enhances the constant inwards movement of water and sediment this leads to waves coming from the west, northwest and north

Question 13

the resultant nearshore features along the coastline of the nile delta

Answer 13

underwater sandbars, typical of tideless seas.

Question 14

how are the parlelle bar systems along the nile delta generated?

Answer 14

they are generated by the dominent eastward longshore current and the associated longshore drift of sediment

Question 15

changes to the sediment budget?

Answer 15

since building the Aswan high Dam and imbalance has been created between two of the major forces that are effcting the Delta, thease are erosion and accretion, there has been a rapid decline in the amount of sediment accreted from 120 million tonnes a year to only trace amounts today

Question 16

what changes have the reduction of sediment caused?

Answer 16

this has caused significant changes to the shoreline of the northwest, nile delta with accelerated erosion and rates of costal retrete as high as 148m a year
-rising sea levels in the Mediterranean of 1.2mm/year have also contributed to higher erosion rates and deeper water produces larger waves with higher amounts of energy and these reached further inland.