Why Do Rivers Have Deltas?
Ғылым және технология
Where rivers meet the ocean, coastlines tend to bend either inward or outward, creating estuaries and deltas. But how do they get those shapes?
A huge thank-you to the following organizations, all working toward sustainable deltas, for sponsoring this video: the Belmont Forum, the Sustainable Deltas Initiative, the National Center for Earth-Surface Dynamics, the St Anthony Falls Laboratory of the University of Minnesota, and the DELTAS project. These organizations study deltas around the world, in particular how they’re threatened by human activities such as building dams, channelizing rivers, and climate change-induced sea-level rise. If we don’t pay attention, we might lose the landform that allowed us to become civilized in the first place.
Thanks also to our Patreon patrons:
- Today I Found Out
- Jeff Straathof
- Mark Roth
- Maarten Bremer
- Tony Fadell
- Antoine Coeur
- Nicholas Buckendorf
- Alberto Bortoni
- Valentin
- Muhammad Shifaz
___________________________________________
Want to learn more about the topic in this week’s video? Here are some keywords/phrases to get your googling started:
- delta: the piled-up sediment (typically triangular, or greek-letter-delta-shaped) deposited by a river as it flows into a larger body of water
- estuary: a partially enclosed body of brackish (part salt, part fresh) water that connects one or more ocean-bound streams/rivers to the open sea. Geologists classify estuaries into four basic types (bar-built, coastal plain/drowned river, tectonic, and fjord), based on the geologic processes that formed them.
- ice age: this is a term that geologists use a little differently than non-scientists. Geologically speaking, an ice age is a fairly long period (~100-300 million years) of relatively cold temperatures on Earth. Within these long periods of time, the climate warms and cools lots of times, causing the ice sheets to retreat and advance; geologists refer to the colder time intervals as "glacials" and the warmer periods as "interglacials". We are currently in an "interglacial" phase (that started ~15,000 years ago) of an ice age that started ~2.6 million years ago, but because that's kind of complicated, we just say "the end of the last ice age" when what we really mean is "the end of the last 'glacial' cycle of the current ice age."
- marine transgression / marine regression: on the surface, these are just fancy ways of talking about sea level going up and down. But for geologists, "transgression" and "regression" are more useful, because land sometimes goes up and down too. For example, if movement along a tectonic fault causes part of the coast to drop below sea level, it might get flooded, but it wouldn't be accurate to attribute the flooding to sea level rise. So geologists describe the situation as "marine transgression" instead. These terms comes in handy when we're talking about deltas and estuaries: deltas are formed by marine regression, and estuaries by marine transgression.
___________________________________________
Credits (and Twitter handles):
Script Writer: Emily Elert (@eelert)
Script Editor: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida)
Video Illustrator: Omkar Bhagat (@TheCuriousEnggr)
Video Director: Emily Elert (@eelert)
With Contributions From: Alex Reich (@alexhreich), Henry Reich (@minutephysics) and Ever Salazar (@eversalazar)
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: / drschroeder
_________________________________________
Like our videos?
Subscribe to MinuteEarth on KZread: goo.gl/EpIDGd
And for exclusive early access to all our videos, sign up with Vessel: goo.gl/hgD1iJ
Already subscribed?
Help us keep making MinuteEarth by supporting us on Patreon: goo.gl/ZVgLQZ
Also, say hello on:
Facebook: goo.gl/FpAvo6
Twitter: goo.gl/Y1aWVC
And find us on itunes: goo.gl/sfwS6n
________________________
References:
Bhattacharya, J.P. (2003) Deltas and Estuaries, In: Middleton G.V. (editor) Encyclopedia of Sedimentology, Kluwer Academic 145-152. www.geosc.uh.edu/docs/geos/fac...
Day, J., Gunn, J., Folan, W., Yáñez-Arancibia, A., & Horton, B. (2007). Emergence of complex societies after sea level stabilized. Eos Trans. AGU Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 88(15), 169-170.
Giosan, L., Goodbred, S.L. (2006) Deltaic Environments. Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science. www.whoi.edu/science/GG/coast...
Gupta, A. (2007). Large rivers: Geomorphology and management. Chichester, England: John Wiley.
Russell, R.J. (1967) Aspects of Coastal Morphology. Geografiska Annaler. Series A, Physical Geography 49: 299-309. (Abstract) www.jstor.org/stable/520896?se...
Wright, L.D. (1977) Sediment transport and deposition at river mouths: A synthesis. Geological Society of America Bulletin 88:857-868.
Пікірлер: 1 000
Rivers are like belly buttons...said no one ever besides minute earth. very creative
@ffccardoso
4 жыл бұрын
make sense, since the cord is like a bloody river
@Ro_Gaming
2 жыл бұрын
@@ffccardoso *where's the plug? I'm definitely not cutting your internet.*
@koharumi1
6 ай бұрын
So why does the Congo River have no delta despite emptying into the ocean?
@callmevbuck4054
28 күн бұрын
@@koharumi1 The St. Lawrence river in Canada doesn’t really have a delta either, and yet it empties into the ocean.
"Sir, the ground is frozen sir, the sea is getting back at us" "NONSENSE!!! Get the sendiments, pile them all up and see who'll be laughing now!!"
@rogerwilco2
3 жыл бұрын
That's how we Dutch think.
@melon7514
3 жыл бұрын
Lol
@milidevasia5533
3 жыл бұрын
So far the sea is winning. Cuz 71% water
@Rabiyakhatoon-tt7po
2 ай бұрын
Lol there is land in the bed of oceans land won by 100%
@44Hd22
Ай бұрын
The land might learn to melt earth so hard the water melts.
Good ol' MinuteEarth. Answering questions that I didn't even know I had.
@Kartoffelkamm
8 жыл бұрын
+Deadeyes Yeah, thats my favourite type of questions :)
@THTerra
8 жыл бұрын
+Deadeyes xD
@Timmering
7 жыл бұрын
Lol
@adamraiyan
3 жыл бұрын
Damn still live huh
This was a surprisingly easy explanation! Great work!
the real question is why do adam and eve have belly buttons in all their paintings
@vrabiealexandru2755
5 жыл бұрын
Lmao got me weak
@Luka1180
4 жыл бұрын
Because they were made to be like or look like any other human in the future? I don't believe in Good though.
@centauria9122
4 жыл бұрын
Maybe religion is made up and many believed in it?
@centauria9122
4 жыл бұрын
@Farm of Potatoes That's one of the many problems humanity has going on...
@amyablett3439
4 жыл бұрын
Harsh Dhakad yeah but they weren’t birthed out by a woman they were put on earth by god (well if you believe in god that is)
I was taught at school, that river deltas form where is a little variation between high and low tide, so the sediment doesn't get washed off. You can notice that most rivers that flow into open ocean have wide estuaries, and those which flow to closed seas (i.e. Caspian, Mediterranean), tend to have branchy deltas. Exception would be Ganges - Brahmaputra, which has huge delta, but empties basically into open ocean.
I feel like videos like these, and learning these kinds of things are important, even though the specific information it will most likely not be important to anyone watching unless they're a geologist, I think this kind of opening your mind and looking at things is important for people to watch because while the information about rivers cannot be applied to other areas of life, I think the understanding of logic from watching this does.
@sprintershepherd4359
Жыл бұрын
its fun to know how things are formed and work instead of wondering how and why. I love looking at nature and understanding how it was formed its like looking back at time ,its amazing how ones imagination can visualise what happened in the past with a little understanding
There are three kinds of people on earth: the people that can count, and those who can't.
@muhteyy3595
8 жыл бұрын
There are 2 types of people: Grammar Nazis Neo-Nazis Hitler
@elsam8340
8 жыл бұрын
+Zonneschijn where did the third type go!
@Zonneschijno
8 жыл бұрын
el sam I think that I'm the second type of people and you're the first :D
@elsam8340
8 жыл бұрын
Zonneschijn LOL
@muhteyy3595
8 жыл бұрын
+Zonneschijn r u grammar nazi, neo nazi or hitler?
Okay, but now answer why people have innies and outies.
@ARP2wefightforyou
8 жыл бұрын
I was thinking the same thing. Outies ftw!!!!!
@DavijiWeirdo
8 жыл бұрын
+No Bueno When the umbilical cord falls out, sometimes it pulls the skin, and sometimes it doesn't. That's quite simple.
@ARP2wefightforyou
8 жыл бұрын
Daviji Weirdo but why are there innies as opposed to bellybutton-less people.
@tammymac6067
8 жыл бұрын
Belly buttons are scars from your umbilical cord. Where the midwife puts the peg to close the cord determines whether you develop an innie or outie. If the peg is further away, you get an outie, if it's closer, you get an innie. Some people don't have belly buttons because the doctor had to sew the umbilical chord shut.
@Titanic-wo6bq
6 жыл бұрын
How the umbilical cord is cut.
Δ's?
@astavie2920
8 жыл бұрын
+Dark Rush Yes, Δ's
@m-yday
8 жыл бұрын
You on a Mac?
@thez28camaroman
8 жыл бұрын
+Shvet Maharaj No, I'm on my HTC A9. If you're wondering how I made the Δ, I used a Greek keyboard you can download from the Play Store or change in your keyboard settings.
@YourMJK
8 жыл бұрын
Or maybe δ's?
@user-ht3tp3uj4v
8 жыл бұрын
+Dark Rush Ναι , Δέλτα -.- It's pronounsed Thelta not Delta.
Because Epsilons are too expensive...
@djow314
8 жыл бұрын
+TheyCallMeGawd Only for non-continuous functions. With continuous functions for every epsilon you get a delta; it's like two for one!
@Rhekon
8 жыл бұрын
Because delta was lonely and all the other Greek letters were taken
@ARP2wefightforyou
8 жыл бұрын
+istari314 Ha!
@bl-rp
8 жыл бұрын
+William White Ϟ is still waiting...
@joelshewmaker3567
7 жыл бұрын
Eh, it's all Greek to me.
when a 2 minute video teaches you more than a 2 hour class
@jyotisrivastava1122
3 жыл бұрын
lmao
Nice explanation of a tide dominated delta! You could go beyond and explain about types of estuaries and other deltas. Thank you!
OUTIE BELLY BUTTONS ARE SO FUCKING WEIRD
@ubermarkmc
7 жыл бұрын
yes !
@byefelicia1921
7 жыл бұрын
what did the dinosaurs know about hillary clinton -why would you say that ._.
@chrisgodliker
6 жыл бұрын
SHUT UP
@casonkm9030
6 жыл бұрын
Ikr
@qwertytypewriter2013
Ай бұрын
I have a kink for them, but yes.
Thank you, for another wonderful, and amazing video!
I... I didn't know outies existed...
@toastom
8 жыл бұрын
+Melanie Trotochaud lol
@adamkilam
8 жыл бұрын
+Melanie Trotochaud same here
@theexcruciator8664
8 жыл бұрын
Me too :D
@purpleapple4052
8 жыл бұрын
My grandpa has an outie
@jasminezaki6789
6 жыл бұрын
Melanie Trotochaud I have an inny
Godsake please never show belly buttons in a video ever again
@guestfanatic3350
5 жыл бұрын
Eileen Blurrr same
@ffccardoso
4 жыл бұрын
same! Just mentioning then cause suffering for me!
@rydershipley5493
4 жыл бұрын
Bellyist
@ffccardoso
4 жыл бұрын
@Yernazar Seitmaganbet >_
@ThatGuyDownInThe
4 жыл бұрын
*triggered*
"The fertile rivers that have helped foster human civilisation" Indus: "Am I a joke to you?"
@capreesan302
3 жыл бұрын
Yes
@spacebarbarian._
3 жыл бұрын
Indus was a pretty helpful in the beginning of human civilization
Good job guys! Learned a lot, so I left a like 🤗
This is a really good explanation of what a delta is and I love your voice!
What a fascinating explanation to a question I never realized I wanted answered. Thanks man, love this shit.
Literally the only thing I remember about this video: “rivers are like belly buttons”
Thank you! This explanation helped a lot!
That video was quick and informative. Thank you
The river is the umbilical cord
#TeamInnies!!!
@ArkhBaegor
8 жыл бұрын
+Maester Marwyn Your labelled political compass is super dumb fyi
@bauxsedai1495
8 жыл бұрын
And so are you my friend.
@ArkhBaegor
8 жыл бұрын
Maester Marwyn I wasn't trying to be mean, you probably didn't even take time to look at it. Here's a thread explaining why if you're interested: www.reddit.com/r/badpolitics/comments/3p09cl/labelling_the_political_compass/
@bauxsedai1495
8 жыл бұрын
Thank you, I thought you were merely trolling me at first. Sorry if i was a bit snappy.
@chrisgodliker
6 жыл бұрын
BOO NO
was here to learn about delta formation. left with question about bellly buttons that i never thought i would.
This is helping me with my studies! Thanks a lot!
What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps, has a bank but never loans, has an innies and outies but got no belly button?
@feather314
6 жыл бұрын
A river!
@EVAUnit4A
6 жыл бұрын
Feather #CaptainObvious
@crazyboutferrets
5 жыл бұрын
River
@superposition2644
5 жыл бұрын
The answer is obviously a river.
@justinaung3633
5 жыл бұрын
I dont know tell me
0:26 to 0:42. It's a fight between Groudon and Kyogre. EYYYY WHERE MY POKEFANS AT?!?!?
@Hanesboi
8 жыл бұрын
LOL
@the_really_tired_one
6 жыл бұрын
Aldrick Espinosa me
@Altarior
6 жыл бұрын
Present 👍 Actually just finished Omega Ruby today
@Heinz_Egbert
4 жыл бұрын
Bork(Here)
An answer to a question I never really thought about... Thank you!
What a beautiful video. Thank you
0:07 Thats not a belly button.
@Alchaeus
8 жыл бұрын
+Thomi Your profile picture makes that comment even better.
@user-ht3tp3uj4v
8 жыл бұрын
+Alchaeus hahaha xD
@TheNoratek
8 жыл бұрын
+Thomi a belly button always recognizes its kin
@JoeyHazboun
7 жыл бұрын
Thomi,yes it is
@JoeyHazboun
7 жыл бұрын
Κώστας Καραπαπαχατζηδιμιτρακόπουλος, yes
*Clicks on video to learn geography* "The world is divided into two kinds of people: Those with innie belly buttons and those with outtie belly buttons" *Clicks away*
@plangtonchannel5544
6 жыл бұрын
Neonexus jf
@plangtonchannel5544
6 жыл бұрын
Fd
@plangtonchannel5544
6 жыл бұрын
Neonexus m
very nicely explained and commendable Animation..! Thanks Team- Minute Earth
Sick! Rivers is a topic I'm studying for AS Geography so this will be useful. Thanks!
pretty good explanation but a thing or two is incorrect. Source: masters in sedimentology and stratigraphy
@MinuteEarth
8 жыл бұрын
+Jackson Clarkson Please elaborate!
@WAGMILLC
8 жыл бұрын
+Jackson Clarkson Also would love more detail!
@SofosProject
8 жыл бұрын
+Jackson Clarkson I'm interested in hearing what input you have on this.
@MrNicoJac
8 жыл бұрын
+Fuckgoogleplus That would be a nice troll
@SirPetterTheFirst
8 жыл бұрын
+Fuckgoogleplus I think Allah Created Rivers
If the dirt in the water slows down as it reaches the end of the river, and thereafter stacks up and builds new parts of lands, then now, the rivers length is increased, the river, at the spot where new land has been "built" has re gained its flowing speed, and thus, the walls of the newly built land should be scraped off by the high speed water. But this doesn't happen, why? Also, why does melting ice's water flow in a zigzag shape and not in form of straight lines?
@AdityaPrasad007
6 жыл бұрын
I wonder why "rivers cut deeper and deeper valley's to reach the sea" - 0:52 I mean they were reaching the sea anyway. It would have been like a waterfall at the end. In case you want to know why rivers curve, this might help - kzread.info/dash/bejne/apVn1I-cd5u9mcY.html
@Bill-uo6cm
5 жыл бұрын
@@AdityaPrasad007 My question as well. I suspect the answer is complicated, so the video just glossed over it.
@irrelevant_noob
9 ай бұрын
@@AdityaPrasad007 waterfalls constantly erode the walls they are on, just like how rivers erode the banks on the side.
Simple enough to understand but enough to remember good job!
Woo. St. Anthony Falls!!! Fantastic place and they are doing great work
I just had my geography exam today and a question was on delta. How I wish you could have released this earlier
@malnutritionboy
7 жыл бұрын
i am having mine tomorrow
@pathibalan2279
4 жыл бұрын
What would've you wrote, belly buttons?
@lisaplays5145
2 жыл бұрын
im have mine tomorrow
@lisaplays5145
2 жыл бұрын
@@malnutritionboy same
@malnutritionboy
2 жыл бұрын
@@lisaplays5145 4 years later hahaha
You forgot to put a dot on the world map for the Danube Delta...
@Twentsekoffieleut
8 жыл бұрын
+antoniu8 They also forgot the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta (1 big delta & 3 rivers)
@Zestrayswede
5 жыл бұрын
Aka The Netherlands and northern Belgium
@AlbertTheGamer-gk7sn
Ай бұрын
And the Lena Delta, the largest delta in the world.
A terrific episode. Bravo!
Love the analogy in explaining what a delta is.
There are 2 types of people in this world - Those who understand math
@General12th
8 жыл бұрын
+NightFury There are two types of people in this world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete information.
@CrazyPhilMachine
8 жыл бұрын
Explanation?
@sagetmaster4
8 жыл бұрын
+NightFury there are only two types of people in this world. those who make arbitrary categories and those who do not.
@CrazyPhilMachine
8 жыл бұрын
***** Good for you, now someone explain the joke? Has it to do with "Those who understand math" being x and the square root (if its positive) has two answers? Therefore two different types of people in "Those who understand math".
@plokijum
8 жыл бұрын
+NightFury there are two people in this world. me and the other guy who lives next to the high way.
Innies 4 lyfe
@Isaxus12
8 жыл бұрын
+SimplyMyAccount I've seen a lot of outies in my days, but they have all transformed into innies as they grew up.
@ARP2wefightforyou
8 жыл бұрын
+Isaxus Outies forever!!!
@aktuellyattee8265
4 жыл бұрын
Terminal innie.
i'm blown away. hats off
Weirdly enough, I’ve never seen this channel, yet when I saw this it was already liked
Liked the video just to make the count = 1,234 :D
@thecuriousengineer
8 жыл бұрын
+James Clark You're a hero :D
Outies are gross
@IamNicolai
8 жыл бұрын
+Dan Chen How intelligent.
@quarterluke7881
8 жыл бұрын
+Dan Chen not just talking about belly buttons i suppose
@roofoochoo
8 жыл бұрын
I rather have an innie, but I'm scared of my belly button bc when I was little I watched an episode of ren and stimpy and stimpy and it was horrifying o_O rather have an outie
@lilrice8523
8 жыл бұрын
I have innie
@fintro1993
8 жыл бұрын
+RooFooChoo um.. that show is demented...
Great work,love it 🌸
Thanks for uploading this.
How does a river flow during an ice age?
@igordanis2669
8 жыл бұрын
+Guillermo L. Ortiz Toledano Magic
@12tman12
8 жыл бұрын
+Guillermo L. Ortiz Toledano Downhill? Most ice ages aren't total, so those more equatorial rivers will keep flowing. Also as the ice recedes, some rivers will be freed and start flowing while the sea level is still lower due to the ice at the poles.
@nmmeswey3584
8 жыл бұрын
+Guillermo L. Ortiz Toledano Science Magic!
#TeamInnies
Quick and useful explanation
best kind of illustration I've ever seen
Somehow talking about belly buttons feels gross and creepy and wrong.
That is a cute, simple, short and entertaining explanation!
superb explanations!
wow that's amazing! never knew this.
That explains the amazing coastline of Norway :)
1:01 I recognised the Exe estuary instantly, it's my natural habitat! I miss the salty tang of the mud on the air and the smell of seaweed gently decomposing in the afternoon sun, the call of the curlews and the clink of the rigging on sailboats.
Great video! Now to search your channel for content about sounds (geography). If it doesn't exist then I'd love it if you made one. I'm trying to understand why the coast of the USA has so many landforms and rivers running parallel to the coast. It's like aliens came down to solve the Coastline Paradox.
Thank you so much for this treatment; because my first thought, on seeing the title was: not all rivers have deltas, so why is that? Much appreciated. Though the answer is through null information. Some rivers don't have deltas because the sediment load is washed away by the sea, would be my guess.
i dont get how people dislike videos like this...i mean cmon he explains it so well...
thank you! very helpfull
Well they have really good explanation 🙂
What i didn't understand in school, i did now.... Thank you ❤️
this was funny and informative, thanks, my exam of geography is today!
Great explanation 👍👍👍👍👍
Now i can get A+ on geography. Thanks for ur help
Good vid helped with test revision
I can honestly say that I learned something today.
Thanks for picking Hilton Head Island on your map.. 1:04 I live there ^^
mind blown, love it!
I think I’m addicted to this channel
I just finished learning about the Danube Delta for the semestrial paper
you are really good at drawing dude, of you drew this of course.
Good overall explanation, now try the Sacramento/San Joaquin River delta :)
This is the best explanation
Wonderful video!
good explaining i like it
Wow the timing with the rise of civilization is really interesting. Sounds like "Guns, Germs, and Steel" could use an addendum.
Oh, now I get it. Thank you minute earth
Hmm lol, I thought it was a result of how the delivery doctor cut the cord! I am an innie, a PROUD one too!
So , what determines if the river delta will be "innie" or "outie"? The flow conditions that allow sedimentation?
I probably won't be looking at rivers the same way ever again ! :o
♥helped sooo much! thanks.♥
Thank You 💕
brilliant video!
Best explanation ever
u guys got a new subscriber
well explained.
i live in brunswick ga right where the altamaha meets the ocean and i always wondered why it has all that march land like it does so thinks for the reason?
please upload more snd more videos
OMG TY I HAVE GEOGRAPHY AND THIS HELPED A LOT THANK YOUU
You guys are better than a book
Very helpful
You should do a video about the fertil crescent!!!!
This is helpful to all students