Skip to main content
Publications | Persons | Institutes | Projects
[ report an error in this record ]basket (0): add | show Print this page

Morphology and recent history of the Rhone River Delta in Lake Geneva (Switzerland)
Sastre, V.; Loizeau, J.-L.; Greinert, J.; Naudts, L.; Arpagaus, P.; Anselmetti, F.; Wildi, W. (2010). Morphology and recent history of the Rhone River Delta in Lake Geneva (Switzerland). Swiss J. Geosci. 103(1): 33-42. dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00015-010-0006-4
In: Swiss Journal of Geosciences. Birkhäuser Basel: Basel. ISSN 1661-8726; e-ISSN 1661-8734, more
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Keyword
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    Bathymetry; Multi-beam; Delta topography; Lake Geneva; Rhone River Delta; Sub-aquatic canyons

Authors  Top 
  • Sastre, V.
  • Loizeau, J.-L.
  • Greinert, J., more
  • Naudts, L., more
  • Arpagaus, P.
  • Anselmetti, F.
  • Wildi, W.

Abstract
    The current topographic maps of the Rhone Delta—and of Lake Geneva in general—are mainly based on hydrographic data that were acquired during the time of F.-A. Forel at the end of the nineteenth century. In this paper we present results of a new bathymetric survey, based on single- and multi-beam echosounder data. The new data, presented as a digital terrain model, show a wellstructured lake bottom morphology, reflecting depositional and erosional processes that shape the lake floor. As a major geomorphologic element, the sub-aquatic Rhone Delta extends from the coastal platform to the depositional fans of the central plain of the lake at 310 m depth. 9 canyons cut the platform edge of the delta. These are sinuous (‘‘meandering’’) channels formed by erosional and depositional processes, as indicated by the steep erosional canyon walls and the depositional levees on the canyon shoulders. Ripples or dune-like morphologies wrinkle the canyon bottoms and some slope areas. Subaquatic mass movements are apparently missing on the delta and are of minor importance on the lateral lake slopes. Morphologies of the underlying bedrock and small local river deltas are located along the lateral slopes of Lake Geneva. Based on historical maps, the recent history of the Rhone River connection to the sub-aquatic delta and the canyons is reconstructed. The transition from three to two river branches dates to 1830–1840, when the river branch to the Le Bouveret lake bay was cut. The transition from two to one river branch corresponds to the achievement of the correction and dam construction work on the modern Rhone River channel between 1870 and 1880.

All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors