Problems of the Rhone Delta

Abstract

IT has long been known that the delta of the Rhone has undergone great changes since the close of the period of Roman empire. The changes are attested by historical records, but the evidence is contradictory; in part it seems to indicate a rapid advance of the sea face of the delta during the Middle Ages, yet there are mentions of places and dry land almost up to the present limit, and there is clear proof that places close to the existing coast-line were dry land and inhabited during the Roman period. These contradictions gave rise to a large volume of discussion, at times very controversial, by arch geographers, and geologists during the last century, but the result was inconclusive, for the key to the solution had not been found. Work done since the beginning of the present century has thrown a new light on the problem, and especially a geological study by M. G. Denizot, which was published in 1924 by the Société Géologique de France, has made a re-examination of the question possible, and led to the possibility of drawing an outline of the changes which have taken place since the dawn of our era.