Modern shoreline changes along the Nile Delta coast
as an impact of construction of
the Aswan High Dam
M. Torab* and M. Azab**
* Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts at Damanhour, Alexandria University, Egypt.Tel.+20102603250, Fax.+20453316378
E-mail: magdytorab@hotmail.com.
** Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, Zagazig University, Egypt.
Tel +20124775297
Abstract:
Egypt, said the eminent Greek historian Herodotus, is "the gift of the Nile.", but The Aswan High Dam is perhaps one of the most controversial of the existing great dams in the world. The construction of the Aswan High Dam was started in 1960, and fully finished ten years later. The construction of the Dam has changed the hydraulic regime of the river downstream. The erosion of the Nile Delta coast was first observed in 1898, but accelerated after the construction of the Dam. One of the major environmental problems of the Dam was the potential drop in river channel downstream of the Dam become silt-free water, and coastal erosion in the Nile Delta coast.
The study area is located on the northern coast of the Nile Delta, It has a length of about 170 km., it consists of 6 geomorphological units: the first unit is the mouths of Nile Delta braches in Rosetta and Domietta, the second unit is the lagoons unit in Edku, El Burolus and El manzala, the third unit is the coastal plain, the forth unit is the barriers, the fifth unit is the coastal dunes and the sixth unit is the coastal sabkhas. The major objective of this study would be to understand the regional evolution of the Nile Delta coast during the last 35 years as an impact of construction of the Aswan High Dam and major sedimentation processes controlling coastal geomorphology such as north winds of coastal erosion, sea-level changes during the period of the study, tectonic subsidence as well as chemical and biological processes.
Some of the modern changing shoreline positions along the Nile Delta coast were determined by the following methods: comparing satellite images, aerial photographs and historical maps, field observation of the study units, samples will be collected for sediments characteristics analysis, include sediments size, sediments color, organic matter, carbonate contents and grain size analysis and finally analyze the collected data by GIS techniques.