Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 9.1
Delta class for the 16 largest rivers with annual sediment load larger than 100 million tons (based on data of Milliman
and Syvitski
19
92
)
Sediment load
(million tons/year)
Spring tidal
range (m)
Rank
River
Country
Delta class
1
Amazon
Brazil
1,200
4.9
T
2
Huanghe (Yellow)
China
1,100
1.13
R to R/W
3
Ganges-Brahmaputra
Bangladesh
1,060
3.63
T
4
Changjiang (Yangtze)
China
480
3.66
T
5
Mississippi
USA
400(210)
a
0.43 (M)
R to R/W
6
Irrawaddy
Burma
260
2.71
T
7
Indus
Pakistan
250(59)
a
2.62
T/W
8
Magdalena
Colombia
220
1.1
R/W
9
Godavari
India
170
1.2
W
10
Mekong
Vietnam
160
3.2
T/W
11
Orinoco
Venezuela
150
1.77
W/R/T
12
Song Hong (Red)
Vietnam
130
3.2
T-W
13
Narmada
India
125
9.0 (Max)
T
14
Colorado
USA
120(0.1)
a
8.0 (Max)
T
15
Nile
Egypt
120(0)
a
0.43
W
16
Fly
PNG
115
3.8
T
a
400(210): sediment load before and after river damming
M
mean tidal range,
Max
maximum tidal range,
R
river-dominated,
T
tide-dominated,
W
wave-dominated,
T-W
subequal wave and
tidal domination,
R/W
river-dominated and wave-modified,
PNG
Papua New Guinea
Fig. 9.7
Distribution patterns
of mean tidal range, major
tidal flow tracts
in the Qiangtangjiang
Estuary-Hangzhou Bay
In some dry regions, the higher part of tidal flats
support only scant vegetation where salt pans can be
well developed with sediment having higher concen-
tration of evaporate minerals, like the Colorado Delta
in the Northern Gulf of California (Thompson
1968,
1975
; Meckel
1975
). The vegetated flats usually grade
landward into deltaic/chenier plains with little relief,
which range from a few 100 m to over tens of kilometers
in width, depending on the sediment supply. For example,
the Holocene North Jiangsu coastal plain is more than