Why is the Mississippi Delta so big?

For 7,000 years, the Mississippi River has snaked across southern Louisiana, depositing sediment from 31 states and 2 Canadian provinces across its delta. As sediment accumulated under water, plant communities began to develop, trapping more sediment and building land.



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The Delta forms the most important bird and waterfowl migration corridor on the continent and supports North America's largest wetland area and bottomland hardwood forest. The Delta's cultural traditions are as rich and diverse as its natural resources.

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Geography. The Ganges Delta has the shape of a triangle and is considered to be an arcuate (arc-shaped) delta. It covers more than 105,000 km2 (41,000 sq mi) and lies mostly in Bangladesh and India, with rivers from Bhutan, Tibet, and Nepal draining into it from the north.

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On average, the Mississippi River Delta loses one football field of land per hour and has shrunk by 5,000 square miles in the last 80 years. To understand more about why some parts of the delta are disappearing due to sea-level rise, a team of NASA scientists will begin collecting data this spring.

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The soils maintain their fertility because the Mississippi River and its tributaries have often flooded, depositing new sediment and replenishing the topsoil. The diverse plants that grow in the Delta are recycled into the soil as a mulch and benefit the soil as natural fertilizer.

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Land loss crisis Every 100 minutes, a football field of land disappears into open water. Leveeing of the Mississippi River in the early 20th century severed the tie between the river and its surrounding wetlands, cutting off the Mississippi River Delta from its life-giving river and the sediment it carries.

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The Delta was swampland, with rivers and streams flowing through it and the Mississippi River flooding each spring. Wetlands in the Delta offer extensive water resources and a natural river pathway to support an “avian superhighway” for countless migrating birds.

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The largest inland delta in the world, the Okavango Delta is the most unexpected wonder – water present in a desert. The broad Okavango River sinks into the dry sands of the Kalahari Desert, creating a lush and waterlogged oasis with crystal clear lagoons and channels, reeded islands and fertile floodplains.

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The Sundarban delta is formed by the super confluence of the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers. It derives its name from the Sundari tree which grows in marshland. It is the world's largest and fastest growing delta.

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