Nile Delta Explained

The Nile Delta (Arabic: دلتا النيل, or simply Arabic: الدلتا,

) is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea.[1] It is one of the world's larger deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east; it covers of the Mediterranean coastline and is a rich agricultural region.[2] From north to south the delta is approximately in length. The Delta begins slightly down-river from Cairo.

Geography

From north to south, the delta is approximately in length. From west to east, it covers some of coastline. The delta is sometimes divided into sections, with the Nile dividing into two main distributaries, the Damietta and the Rosetta,[3] flowing into the Mediterranean at port cities with the same name. In the past, the delta had several distributaries, but these have been lost due to flood control, silting and changing relief. One such defunct distributary is Wadi Tumilat.

The Suez Canal is east of the delta and enters the coastal Lake Manzala in the north-east of the delta. To the north-west are three other coastal lakes or lagoons: Lake Burullus, Lake Idku and Lake Mariout.

The Nile is considered to be an "arcuate" delta (arc-shaped), as it resembles a triangle or flower when seen from above. Some scholars such as Aristotle have written that the delta was constructed for agricultural purposes due to the drying of the region of Egypt.[4]

In modern day, the outer edges of the delta are eroding, and some coastal lagoons have seen increasing salinity levels as their connection to the Mediterranean Sea increases. Since the delta no longer receives an annual supply of nutrients and sediments from upstream due to the construction of the Aswan Dam, the soils of the floodplains have become poorer, and large amounts of fertilizers are now used. Topsoil in the delta can be as much as in depth.

History

People have lived in the Nile Delta region for thousands of years, and it has been intensively farmed for at least the last five thousand years. The delta was a major constituent of Lower Egypt, and there are many archaeological sites in and around the delta.[5] Artifacts belonging to ancient sites have been found on the delta's coast. The Rosetta Stone was found in the delta in 1799 in the port city of Rosetta (an anglicized version of the name Rashid). In July 2019 a small Greek temple, ancient granite columns, treasure-carrying ships, and bronze coins from the reign of Ptolemy II, dating back to the third and fourth centuries BC, were found at the sunken city of Heracleion, colloquially known as Egypt's Atlantis. The investigations were conducted by Egyptian and European divers led by the underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio. They also uncovered a devastated historic temple (the city's main temple) underwater off Egypt's north coast.[6] [7] [8] [9]

In January 2019 archaeologists led by Mostafa Waziri working in the Kom Al-Khelgan area of the Nile Delta discovered tombs from the Second Intermediate Period and burials from the Naqada II era. The burial site contained the remains of animals, amulets and scarabs carved from faience, round and oval pots with handles, flint knives, broken and burned pottery. All burials included skulls and skeletons in the bending position and were not very well-preserved.[10] [11]

Ancient branches of the Nile

Records from ancient times (such as by Ptolemy) reported that the delta had seven distributaries or branches, (from east to west):

George of Cyprus list[14]

Modern Egyptologists suggest that in the Pharaonic era there were at a time five main branches:[15] [16]

The first three have dried up over the centuries due to flood control, silting and changing relief, while the last two still exist today. The Delta used to flood annually, but this ended with the construction of the Aswan Dam.

Population

About 39 million people live in the Delta region. Outside of major cities, population density in the delta averages or more. Alexandria is the largest city in the delta with an estimated population of more than 4.5 million. Other large cities in the delta include Shubra El Kheima, Port Said, El Mahalla El Kubra, Mansura, Tanta, and Zagazig.[17]

Wildlife

During autumn, parts of the Nile River are red with lotus flowers. The Lower Nile (North) and the Upper Nile (South) have plants that grow in abundance. The Upper Nile plant is the Egyptian lotus, and the Lower Nile plant is the Papyrus Sedge (Cyperus papyrus), although it is not nearly as plentiful as it once was, and is becoming quite rare.[18]

Several hundred thousand water birds winter in the delta, including the world's largest concentrations of little gulls and whiskered terns. Other birds making their homes in the delta include grey herons, Kentish plovers, shovelers, cormorants, egrets and ibises.

Other animals found in the delta include frogs, turtles, tortoises, mongooses, and the Nile monitor. Nile crocodiles and hippopotamus, two animals which were widespread in the delta during antiquity, are no longer found there. Fish found in the delta include the flathead grey mullet and soles.

Climate

See also: Climate of Egypt and northern coast of Egypt.

The Delta has a hot desert climate (Köppen: BWh) as the rest of Egypt, but its northernmost part, as is the case with the rest of the northern coast of Egypt which is the wettest region in the country, has relatively moderate temperatures, with highs usually not surpassing in the summer. Only of rain falls on the delta area during an average year, and most of this falls in the winter months. The delta experiences its hottest temperatures in July and August, with a maximum average of . Winter temperatures normally range from at nights to in the daytime. With cooler temperatures and some rain, the Nile Delta region becomes quite humid during the winter months.

Sea level rise

See also: Climate change in Egypt. Egypt's Mediterranean coastline experiences significant loss of land to the sea, in some places amounting to a year. The low-lying Nile Delta area in particular is vulnerable to sea level rise associated with global warming.[19] This effect is exacerbated by the lack of sediments being deposited since the construction of the Aswan Dam. If the polar ice caps were to melt, much of the northern delta, including the ancient port city of Alexandria, could disappear under the Mediterranean. A rise in sea level could affect about 6.6% of the total land cover area in the Nile Delta region. At sea level rise, an estimated 887 thousand people could be at risk of flooding and displacement and about of vegetation, wetland, cropland, and of urban area land could be destroyed,[20] flooding approximately .[21] Some areas of the Nile Delta's agricultural land have been rendered saline as a result of sea level rise; farming has been abandoned in some places, while in others sand has been brought in from elsewhere to reduce the effect. In addition to agriculture, the delta's ecosystems and tourist industry could be negatively affected by global warming. Food shortages resulting from climate change could lead to seven million "climate refugees" by the end of the 21st century. Nevertheless, environmental damage to the delta is not currently one of Egypt's priorities.[22]

The delta's coastline has also undergone significant changes in geomorphology as a result of the reclamation of coastal dunes and lagoons to form new agricultural land and fish farms as well as the expansion of coastal urban areas.[23]

Governorates and large cities

The Nile Delta forms part of these 10 governorates:

Large cities located in the Nile Delta:

External links

30.9°N 38°W

Notes and References

  1. Book: Dumont, Henri J.. The Nile: Origin, Environments, Limnology and Human Use. 2009-05-06. Springer Science & Business Media. 978-1-4020-9726-3. 88. en.
  2. Book: Negm, Abdelazim M.. The Nile Delta. 2017-05-25. Springer. 978-3-319-56124-0. 36. en.
  3. Book: John Cooper. The Medieval Nile: Route, Navigation, and Landscape in Islamic Egypt. 30 September 2014. The American University in Cairo Press. 978-977-416-614-3. 76.
  4. Book: Holz . Robert K . Man-made landforms in the Nile delta . 1969 . American Geographical Society . 38826202 . en.
  5. http://www.e-c-h-o.org/khd/location.html Location of the site
  6. Web site: Mysterious temple discovered in the ruins of sunken ancient city. www.9news.com.au. 26 July 2019 . 2019-08-17.
  7. Web site: Divers Find Remains of Ancient Temple in Sunken Egyptian City. History. Laura Geggel 2019-07-29T10:37:58Z. livescience.com. 29 July 2019. en. 2019-08-17.
  8. Web site: Archaeologists discover a sunken ancient settlement underwater. Santos. Edwin. 2019-07-28. Nosy Media. en-US. 2019-08-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20190817155916/https://nosymedia.info/archaeologists-discover-a-sunken-ancient-settlement-underwater/1410/. 17 August 2019. dead.
  9. Web site: Ancient Egypt: Underwater archaeologists uncover destroyed temple in the sunken city of Heracleion. EDT. Katherine Hignett On 7/23/19 at 11:06 AM. 2019-07-23. Newsweek. en. 2019-08-17.
  10. Web site: 3,500-Year-Old Tombs Unearthed in Egypt's Nile Delta - Archaeology Magazine. 2020-09-11. www.archaeology.org.
  11. Web site: Ancient tombs and prehistoric burials found in Nile Delta - Ancient Egypt - Heritage. 2020-09-11. Ahram Online. en.
  12. Hayes, W. 'Most Ancient Egypt', p. 87, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 23 (1964), 73–114.
  13. e.g. at Callisthenes Alexander 1.31.
  14. Book: Cooper, John Peter . The Medieval Nile: Route, navigation and landscape in Islamic Egypt . 2008 . 34.
  15. Book: Shaw . Ian . Nicholson . Paul . The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt . London . . 1995 . 83.
  16. Margaret Bunson, Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Infobase Publishing, 2009,, p. 98.
  17. http://www.citypopulation.de/Egypt.html City Population website
  18. Beentje, H.J. . Lansdown, R.V. . 2018 . Cyperus papyrus . 2018 . e.T164158A120152171 . 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T164158A120152171.en . 11 November 2021.
  19. Web site: Global Warming Threatens Egypt's Coastlines and the Nile Delta. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110929143417/http://www.ecoworld.com/global-warming/global-warming-egypt.html. 29 September 2011. 25 September 2009. EcoWorld. 22 August 2019.
  20. 10.1007/s10661-015-4868-9 . 26410824 . Investigation of potential sea level rise impact on the Nile Delta, Egypt using digital elevation models . Environmental Monitoring and Assessment . 187 . 10 . 649 . 2015 . Hasan . Emad . Khan . Sadiq Ibrahim . Hong . Yang . 207139887 .
  21. Web site: Egypt's Nile Delta falls prey to climate change. 28 January 2010.
  22. News: Egypt fertile Nile Delta falls prey to climate change. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110209093815/http://news.egypt.com/en/201001288902/news/-egypt-news/egypt-fertile-nile-delta-falls-prey-to-climate-change.html. 9 February 2011. Egypt News. 28 January 2010. 22 August 2019.
  23. 10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.06.025 . Human-induced changes in the geomorphology of the northeastern coast of the Nile delta, Egypt . Geomorphology . 107 . 1 . 72–78 . 2009 . El Banna . Mahmoud M. . Frihy . Omran E. . 2009Geomo.107...72E .