Long-term sediment decline causes ongoing shrinkage of the Mekong megadelta, Vietnam.

ABSTRACT: Since the 1990s the Mekong River delta has suffered a large decline in sediment supply causing coastal erosion, following catchment disturbance through hydropower dam construction and sand extraction. However, our new geological reconstruction of 2500-years of delta shoreline changes show that serious coastal erosion actually started much earlier. Data shows the sandy coast bounding river mouths accreted consistently at a rate of +2 to +4 km²/year. In contrast, we identified a variable accretion rate of the muddy deltaic protrusion at Camau; it was < +1 km²/year before 1400 years ago but increased drastically around 600 years ago, forming the entire Camau Peninsula. This high level of mud supply had sharply declined by the early 20th century after a vast canal network

SUBMITTER: Tamura T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7228934 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature