Delta, low-lying plain that is composed of stream-borne sediments deposited by a river at its mouth. a lake or sea), resulting in the reduction in the river’s capacity to transport sediment. In A delta plain generally can be subdivided into physiographic settings. A delta landform is a sophisticated depositional feature that typically occurs at the mouth of a river. Deltas have a fairly flat section called a delta plain that is above water. Of that, only about 1.2 percent can be used as drinking water; the rest is locked up in glaciers, ice caps, and permafrost, or buried deep in the ground. 3. A delta is a deposit of sediment at the mouth of a river that accumulates as the river flows into a standing body of water such as a lake or ocean. Then, answer the question. First identify which definition of delta is needed. Waves dominate riverine deposits in coastal areas where wave energy is high. Deltas are usually highly fertile areas and support extensive crop cultivation. A DELTA IS AN AREA of land that has been built up at the mouth of a river, where it flows into a quiet body of water, such as a lake or an ocean. These channels are called distributaries. ... the movement of the Earth’s crust, and basin and coastline geography. Only about three percent of Earth’s water is freshwater. An example of such a delta is the one formed by the Sacramento-San Joaquin River in northern California . A brief treatment of deltas follows. Deltas. The river cuts many small channels through the delta plain. Sand and gravel are also quarried from deltas and are utilized for a variety of purposes like road and building construction. One of the first texts to describe deltas was History, written during the 5th century bce by Greek historian Herodotus. Find the slope m between the points (3, 5) and (8, -2) using the formula . The inverted delta is another type of delta based on the shape of deltas. The largest delta draining into a freshwater body is the St. Clair River delta which drains into the Lake St. Clair. For full treatment, see river: Deltas. How to use delta in a sentence. Deltas are landforms formed at the mouth of a river, where the river meets a body of water with a lower velocity than the river (e.g. Every delta plain consists of a subaerial and subaqueous component. Importance Of Deltas. The subaerial component is often divided into upper and lower delta plains (), the upper plain normally being the older part of the subaerial delta and existing above the area of significant tidal or marine influences. The rest of the delta is under water. Such systems, exemplified by the Mississippi River delta, are called river-dominated deltas. New sections of delta build up at the mouths of the distributaries. As the name suggests, an inverted delta’s distributary network faces inland while a single stream leads to the sea. Aerial photo: River delta. 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