Coastal landscape case studies- Nile delta

Low energy coastal environment- Nile Delta

over the last 3000 years, fluvial deposition have exceeded erosion, however, this is changing

Background

• Length: 6650km
• Catchment area: 3milliom km squared
• mean annual rainfall: 600mm 
• Discharge: <3000m squared
• Carries huge sediment load (suspended material is 30% clay, 40% silt, and 30% fine sand
• annual average sediment yield: 4.26 t/ha/yr

3 distinct subunits 

Foreshore plain- elongated ridges, running almost parallel to the present shoreline, alternating with lagoons, salt marshes and alluvial deposits in depressions between them

Frontal plain- South of the foreshore plain, has scattered eroded limestone outcrops and clay deposits

Sandy Zone- composed of a variety of different sand formations, such as sheets, dunes, and hammocks

Distributaries occur at Cairo

Before the construction of the Aswan High Dam (1964) annual floods briefly covered much of the delta each year and deposited a thick layer of silty mud

Two of the distributaries, Rosetta and Damietta have built major lobes extending beyond the general front…