Deltas:)

DELTAS:
Deltas are the result of interacting fluvial (river) and, usually, marine systems.  However, they can form anywhere a stream flows into the sea.

The different types of Deltas...
1.  Arcuate (a fan-shaped delta) - e.g., Nile River.  Has many active, short distributaries taking sediment to their mouths.  The receiving (ambient) waters are rather shallow and have relatively even wave action arriving perpendicular to the shore with minimal longshore current.  As the sediment exits the many distributary mouths, the waves push it back, so the coastline is rather smooth.

2. Bird-foot (shaped like a bird foot) delta - e.g., Mississippi River.  Tend to have one or a very few major distributaries near their mouths.  The receiving basin has currents that carry the sediment away as it exits the distributary mouth.  There is a broad, shallow shelf that deepens abruptly, so the trend is to grow long and thin like a bird's toe.

3.  Cuspate (a tooth-shaped) delta - e.g., Tiber River of Italy.  Usually has one distributary emptying into a flat coastline with wave action hitting it head-on.  This tends to push the sediment back on both sides of the mouth, with a "tooth" growing out onto the shelf.

4.  Estuarine delta - e.g., Seine River of France.  This type of delta has a river that empties into a long, narrow estuary that eventually becomes filled with sediment (inside the coastline).

hope this will answer the question that miss jay gave us on monday:D

corinne and alison:D