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Abstract Deltas are coastal and nearshore depositional features formed by accumulations of riverborne sediments at the confluence of rivers with large water bodies, like the sea. The term delta (~) was first applied by the Greek historian Herodotus about 450 BCto the triangular alluvial deposits at the mouths of the Nile River. Since ancient times, deltas have been of fundamental importance to civilization. Most of the world’s deltas are focal points for the trade, agriculture and fisheries of coastal communities. Therefore, they are vital food-producing areas and population centers. Moreover, the ancient deltas are favoured sites and prime sources for the generation and accumulation of fossil fuels including coal, gas and oil. from sedimentological point of view, deltas also accept unique attention; they are probably the most complex of all depositional systems. Each delta consists of varietyof environments and interplay of sediments that are never accumulated by any other system. They are loci of maximum sediment deposition and form greatly thickened successions relative to time-equivalent nondeltaic strata (Friedman et al., 1992). For these obvious reasons, geologists are vitally concerned with the ancient deltaic facies and processes of deltaic sedimentation. The criteria needed for recognizing facies in ancient deltas and for resolving the many complexities resulting from deltaic sedimentation are best determined by study of modern deltas, whereinthe facies can be related directly, in both time and space, to local depositional environments and their geographic distribution. |