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Download a zip file that includes all the web pages and downloadable files from the student materialsFor the Instructor
These student materials complement the Coastal Processes, Hazards and Society Instructor Materials. If you would like your students to have access to the student materials, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing InTeGrate teaching materials.Niger and Ganges-Brahmaputra River Deltas
Using Google Earth complete the following questions:
1. Find the Niger River Delta (04 º 23' 30" N 06 º 00' 00" E) and examine the shoreline at an eye altitude of ~150 km. Do you think this is a wave-dominated or tide-dominated coastline?
2. Now, find the shoreline of the Ganges-Brahmaputra River Delta (21 º 45' 00" N 89 º 15' 00" E) and view it from an eye altitude of ~300 km. Do you think this is a wave-dominated or tide-dominated coastline?
3. Go back to the Niger River Delta, and fly out to an eye altitude of approximately 1000 km. Notice how the shoreline in the area of the Niger delta protrudes into the Atlantic Ocean. Also, examine the bathymetry in front of the subaerial part of the delta. Integrating your new-found knowledge of plate tectonics and observations of this stretch of coastline, identify the plate tectonic setting.
4. Now, go back to the Ganges-Brahmaputra River delta and fly out to an eye altitude of approximately 1500 km. Examine the configuration of the many rivers and drainage networks delivering sediment to the delta. Where do these rivers originate?
5. What type of plate tectonic setting was responsible for creating the interior landform from which the Ganges (to the east) and Brahmaputra (to the west) rivers originate?
