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Delta: a fan-shaped deposit of sand and mud at the mouth of a river
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As a river flows downstream, it carries rocks, dirt and sand with it. When the river reaches its destination, it drops off
all of the material it carried. The material build-up, called sediment, usually is deposited in a triangular or fan-shaped fashion called a delta
(after the greek letter that is shaped like a traingle). In the image below, the ends of the river widen as the river approaches the ocean and dumps
its muddy waters onto the coast. The large amount of deforestation in the rainforests of Brazil has caused excess erosion of soil to occur and large
amounts of mud flow with the river downstream, creating the dirty, brown-colored water seen all along the coast.
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