Rhone Delta

• The River Rhone flows into the Mediterranean Sea just to the west of Marseilles in South France
• The delta lies between the two main destributries of the River Rhone: the Grande Rhone and the Petit Rhone
• In the 30km stretch between the city of Arles and the sea, the Rhone splits into many further distributies to form the delta 
• the East branch, the Grande Rhone, is the biggest of the two branches and carries 85% of the rivers water into the Mediterranean sea 

• The Rhone delta formed over the last 7000 years since the sea level rise at the end of the last ice age
• The current shoreline began to take shape when a flood moved the course of the Rhone to where it is now
• This lead to the material at the mouth of the abandoned channel to form the Beaudic Spit
• In the 19th centurary, human managment cause a change in the shape going from  3 channels to one

There are a set of conditions needed for a delta to form:

• low tidal range
• low wind speeds
• low wave action
• high levels of sediment

the source of sediment for the Rhone is the Alps

The low energy conditions mean that deposition occurs creating:

• beaches
• spits
• bars
• saltmarshes
• lagoons
• beaches
• sand dunes

• Climate change and increase in temperatures are having an impact on the Mediterranean.
• sea levels rose by 2mm per yeaar since 1950 and increased storm activity have affected the delta leading to increased rates of erosion
• winds from the SE can result in large wave surges
• these are all eroding the delta

Managment 

• Authoritied have spent €15 million on coastal protection
• this incudes:
• groynes
• rip rap
• sea walls

this is to try and restore the equilibrium in the system.