Sedimentary crisis at the global scale 2: deltas, a major environmental crisis

Cover......Page 1
Half-Title Page......Page 2
Dedication......Page 3
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright Page......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Introduction......Page 10
1. Deltas: Young, Fragile and Threatened Environments......Page 14
  1.1.2. Dynamics of construction and redistribution in progress......Page 15
  1.1.3. Young and unstable areas......Page 18
  1.2.1. The Lena Delta......Page 21
  1.2.2. The Mackenzie Delta......Page 22
  1.3.1. The rise in sea levels......Page 24
  1.3.2. Sedimentary exhaustion of continents......Page 26
  1.3.3. Extraction of resources and accelerated subsidence of deltas......Page 28
  1.4.2. Urbanized deltas in Southeast Asia......Page 29
 1.5. Conclusion......Page 38
 2.1. Some vulnerable deltas in the Holocene during the long and medium terms......Page 39
  2.1.1. The Nile Delta, a condensed version of the history of the African climate......Page 40
  2.1.2. The lower Huang-He and its delta: a Holocene metamorphosis under anthropological control......Page 41
  2.1.3. The Rhône Delta during the Holocene: fluvial branches and the coastline record the history of its climate and society......Page 47
  2.2.1. The fight against fluvial floods......Page 48
  2.2.2. Hydraulic works and environmental objectives in the dyked zone......Page 51
  2.2.3. What kind of compatibility or synergy takes place between fluvial restoration and protection against flooding?......Page 53
  2.2.4. Defense of the Netherlands against the sea......Page 54
  2.3.1. A delta with a reprieve: the Nile Delta......Page 59
  2.3.2. The Rhône Delta: changes in the basin and the delta......Page 64
  2.3.3. The Ebro Delta: alone against the sea......Page 66
  2.3.4. The delta of the Po plain: historical dispersion of weak points......Page 69
  2.3.5. The Danube Delta: still room for hope......Page 71
 2.4. Conclusion......Page 73
 3.1. A delta that is both open and alive: the Ganges and Brahmaputra Delta......Page 75
  3.1.1. Rivers and a delta......Page 76
  3.1.2. The Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna plain, the most populated and the poorest on Earth......Page 77
  3.2.1. A technical machine, constantly more complex......Page 90
  3.2.2. Extremely worrying emerging factors......Page 99
  3.2.3. What will be the management choices in the future? Giving preference to the scale of the basin......Page 107
  3.3.1. The deltaic zone......Page 109
  3.3.2. The effects of the extraction of hydrocarbons on the environment......Page 110
  3.3.3. Serious social and political stakes at play......Page 113
  3.4.2. The deleterious effects of dams on water and sediment fluxes......Page 115
  3.4.3. A serious environmental, economic and social crisis......Page 116
  3.5.1. Burma, a country on the cusp of development......Page 118
  3.5.3. The delta: crisis or stability?......Page 119
 3.6. Conclusion......Page 121
  4.1.1. “Discovering” the river......Page 123
  4.1.2. At the origins of New Orleans......Page 124
  4.1.3. An area with serious issues at stake......Page 125
  4.2.1. Initial protections......Page 128
  4.2.2. The beginning of generalized protections......Page 129
  4.2.3. The 1927 flood in the Mississippi valley......Page 130
  4.2.4. The Jadwin plan (1928)......Page 131
 4.3. The “deltas” in the lower Mississippi valley, from wilderness to the current crisis......Page 132
  4.4.1. Flow and landscape dynamics......Page 136
  4.4.2. The Atchafalaya and its deltaic lobes......Page 139
  4.4.3. The conversion of delta marshes into free water and coastal regression......Page 141
  4.5.1. Hurricane Katrina......Page 144
  4.5.2. What does the future hold for New Orleans?......Page 146
  4.6.1. Simply a reduction in inputs or a sediment deficit?......Page 149
  4.6.3. Reconstruction of the marshes......Page 150
  4.6.4. Sedimentary management of deltaic branches and the future of the marshes......Page 151
  4.6.5. Coastal protection plan......Page 152
 4.7. Conclusion......Page 153
  5.1.1. The progress of analytical approaches adds complexity to the understanding of deltas on a global scale......Page 155
  5.1.2. The unforeseen effects of scientific choices......Page 157
  5.1.3. Open, vulnerable systems......Page 159
  5.2.1. Situations involving crises and knowledge......Page 160
  5.2.2. Contemporary hydraulic engineering pitted against the dynamics of economic domination......Page 161
  5.2.3. Scientific knowledge at the service of policies on rivers and on their deltas: the case of the Mekong......Page 163
  5.2.4. Avatars and tribulations of geopolitics......Page 165
  5.2.5. Expert appraisal and conquest of engineering markets on deltaic land......Page 166
  5.3.1. The typology of deltas as a function of the changes expected in the risk profile......Page 170
  5.3.2. Typology of deltas as a function of their energy consumption......Page 171
  5.3.3. The degree of vulnerability or the relative vulnerability of deltas to current changes......Page 172
  5.3.4. The notion of the tipping point of a delta and of the socioeconomic system......Page 173
  5.4.1. Implementation of actions of sedimentary management......Page 174
  5.4.2. Establishment of current and future sediment budgets......Page 177
  5.5.1. Structural solutions: dykes and fluvial levees......Page 178
  5.5.2. Some solutions for correction of the sedimentary deficit of deltaic plains......Page 181
  5.5.3. The sustainable solutions......Page 183
Conclusion......Page 188
Glossary......Page 190
References......Page 195
Index of Place Names......Page 215
Index of Common Words......Page 220
Other titles from iSTE......Page 223