Floodplains, Levees and Deltas

Flood Plains
When a river overflows its banks, it will spread out across any surrounding flat land. The sudden increase
in friction will reduce the water’s velocity and eroded material will be deposited, heaviest material first
and fine material is carried further. Each time the river floods, another layer of silt is added and a flat
floodplain is formed. The coarsest material will be deposited first and this can form a natural
embankment called a levee.

DRAW: cross -section of a river floodplain

Natural Levees

Levees are natural embankments produced when a river floods. When a river floods, it deposits its load
over the flood plain due to a drop in the river’s velocity as friction increases greatly. The largest and
heaviest load is deposited first and closest to the river bank, often on the very edge, forming raised
mounds. The finer material is deposited further away from the banks. Repeated floods cause the mounds
to build up and form levees. If a river breaks through its levees during a flood, then widespread flooding
can occur. Levees are not permanent structures.
DRAW:

Natural levee example

Deltas

Deltas are depositional landforms found at the mouth of a river where the river meets a body of water
with a lower velocity than the river (e.g. a lake or the sea). When a river meets a stationary body of
water, its velocity falls causing any material being transported by the river to be deposited. For a delta
to develop, the body of water needs to be relatively quiet so that deposited sediment isn’t washed away
and has time to accumulate. Deltas can take on many different shapes. The three primary shapes of delta
are cuspate, arcuate and bird’s foot.

Arcuate deltas (e.g. The Nile Delta, Egypt) are shaped like a triangle and form when a river meets a sea
with alternating current directions that shape the delta so that it looks like a triangle.

Cuspate deltas (e.g. Ebro Delta, Spain) are vaguely shaped like a V with curved sides. Cuspate deltas
form when a river flows into a sea with waves that hit it head on, spreading the deposited sediment out.

Bird’s foot deltas (e.g. The Mississippi Delta) are shaped like (as the name suggests) a bird’s foot. They
extend reasonably far into a body of water and form when the river’s current is stronger than the sea’s
waves. Bird’s foot deltas are uncommon because there are very few areas where a sea’s waves are weaker
than a river’s current.

DRAW:
Examples of deltas:

Arcuate Delta

Cuspate Delta
Bird’s foot delta