Navegant pel delta del Nil: apunts geomorfològics de la guia d’Isambert (1878)

Abstract

Historical cartography has traditionally been an important source of information for geographers. In the case of the Nile Delta, the Atlas of the Description of Egypt, derived from the Napoleonic campaign and published between 1809 and 1828, the works of Linant de Bellefonds, made for the design of the Sues Canal, as well as the mathematical observations made by Mahmoud-Bey, served to make a very complete map of the delta. It was part of the L’itinéraire descriptif, historique et archéologique de l’Orient: Malte, Égypte, Nubie, Abyssinie, Sinai , made by Emile Isambert (1878). In this article, a geomorphological map based on the map and the Isambert guide has done, in order to characterize the paleo environments of the delta in the 19th century. A comparison between ancient and current geomorphological map (based on satellite imagery and digital elevation models) has served to show the important environmental changes occurred in the delta over the last 150 years. The reduction of the lagoons and marshes, the coastal erosion and the destruction of the continental and coastal dune systems are overwhelming, although similar to those that have generally affected the deltas and the Mediterranean coasts.