Abstract
The Sundarbans is the name given to the heavily forested, tidally dominated region of the enormous Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna river delta shared by India and Bangladesh. Originally formed of alluvial deposits delivered directly by the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers, sediments in the modern Sundarbans Delta are now mostly reworked from offshore by the large (2–4 m) semi-diurnal tides and seasonally enhanced by sea level set up from onshore monsoon winds, and by tropical cyclones that regularly form in the Bay of Bengal. Sediment annually deposited in the tidal delta continues to be dominated by river-borne sediments even though it has not been directly connected to the main river system for at least hundreds of years. Today, much of the Sundarbans tidal delta is covered by a vast mangrove ecosystem, which remains the world’s largest despite significant historical reductions through deforestation. It provides a habitat for the Royal Bengal Tiger, as well as storm surge protection for the millions of people living outside of its boundaries.
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Rogers, K.G., Goodbred, S.L. (2014). The Sundarbans and Bengal Delta: The World’s Largest Tidal Mangrove and Delta System. In: Kale, V. (eds) Landscapes and Landforms of India. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8029-2_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8029-2_18
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