how are deltas formed
Answers
Answer:
A delta is a land form comprised of sediments found at the mouth of the river. A delta can only form when river channels carry sediments into another body of water.
Herodotus, a Greek historian, first used the term "delta" for the Nile River in Egypt.
This is because the sediment land mass developed at mouth of this river formed a triangular shape that looks like the upper case Greek letter delta.
Formation
Unlike other landforms affected by water current, a delta is not mainly created because of erosion of land surface caused by the force of wind and water.
As the river channel flows over the ground and makes contact with soil, it carries with it sediments like gravel, sand, silt and clay.
When a river channel encounters another body of water, it loses it speed and deposits such sediments onto a flat area.
The sediment deposited by this running water is called Alluvium.
These sediments pile up into several layers called beds. The delta becomes a main channel that divides substantial land masses into various streams called distributaries.
These distributaries appear like a maze of water channels.
Factors
The river’s depth, width and velocity determine how much and how big the sediments it can carry.
A fast and turbulent river transports larger sediments in size and amount. When the river’s flow slows down, the size of the particles decreases because larger particles are deposited first.
This cycle continues producing beds with alternating layers of fine and course sediments.
The battle between the river’s flow and the amount of sediments it carries, and the strength of the tidal waves of the body of water, determines the delta’s shape.
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✨ HERE'S YOUR ANSWER ✨
When a river reaches a lake to the sea the water slows down and loses the power to carry sediment.