Objectives:

The Geological Survey of Japan/AIST has been conducting the Asian Delta Project since 1996 with the cooperation of more than ten research institutes and universities in Asia. Major themes of the project are Holocene delta evolution and impacts of human activities on deltas. This project is currently being carried out jointly with the UNESCO-IUGS (International Union of Geological Sciences) supported program, International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) -475, Deltas in the Monsoon Asia-Pacific region (DeltaMAP) (2003-2007), under the direction of Drs. Steven Goodbred of Vanderbilt University of USA and Yoshiki Saito of GSJ/AIST, and the CCOP project entitled Integrated Geological Assessment for Deltas in Southeast and East Asia (DelSEA Project)(April 2004 - March 2008), leaded by Yoshiki Saito.

We have been surveying the deltas of the following rivers: Huanghe (Yellow), Changjiang (Yangtze), Song Hong (Red), Mekong, and Chao Phraya. Annual scientific meeting on deltas is held since 2004 for networking among delta researchers and capacity building, jointly organized with the DeltaMAP and DelSEA projects. The first and second meetings were held in Bangkok, Thailand and Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam respectively, with about 100 participants from about 20 nations. The third meeting is held in Brunei, January 2006.

Funding Agencies:

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and AIST

Publications:

Title: Depositional facies and radiocarbon ages of a drill core from the Mekong River  lowland near Phnom Penh, Cambodia: evidence for tidal sedimentation at the  time of Holocene maximum flooding.

Authors: Tamura T., Saito Y., Sieng, S., Ben, B., Kong, M., Choup, S., Tsukawaki, S.

Year: 2006

References: Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, (in press)

Title: Foraminiferal assemblages and the confinement index as tools for assessment  of saline intrusion and human impact in the Mekong Delta and neighboring  areas (Vietnam).

Authors: Jean-Pierre Debenay and Bui Thi Luan

Year: 2006

References: Revue de Micropaleontologie, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 74-85.

Title: The Holocene history and development of the Tonle Sap, Cambodia.

Authors: Dan Penny

Year: 2006

References: Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 25, nos 3-4, pp. 310-322.

Title: Riverine influence on nitrogen fixation in the upwelling region off Vietnam,  South China.

Authors: Voss M, Bombar D, Loick N, Dippner JW

Year: 2006

References: GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, 33 (7), Art. No. L07604 APR 11

Title: Foraminifera, environmental bioindicators in the highly impacted environments  of the Mekong Delta.

Authors: Luan BT, Debenay JP

Year: 2005

References: HYDROBIOLOGIA, 548, pp. 75-83.

Title: Arsenic hazard in shallow Cambodian groundwaters

Authors: Polya DA, Gault AG, Diebe N, Feldman P, Rosenboom JW, Gilligan E,  Fredericks D, Milton AH, Sampson M, Rowland HAL, Lythgoe PR,  Jones JC, Middleton C, Cooke DA

Year: 2005

References: MINERALOGICAL MAGAZINE, 69 (5), 807-823

Title: Long-term rates of sediment accumulation in the Tonle Sap, Cambodia: a  threat to ecosystem health?

Authors: Penny D, Cook G, Im SS

Year: 2005

References: JOURNAL OF PALEOLIMNOLOGY, 33 (1), pp. 95-103.

Title: Holocene delta evolution and depositional models of the Mekong river delta,  southern Vietnam.

Authors: Ta, T.K.O., Nguyen, V.L., Tateishi, M., Kobayashi, I., Saito, Y.

Year: 2005

References: In L. Giosan and J.P. Bhattacharya, eds., River Deltas - Concepts, Models, and  Examples, SEPM Spec. Publ. no. 83, pp. 453-466.

Title: Regimes of human and climate impacts on coastal changes in Vietnam.

Authors: Thanh, T.D., Saito, Y., Huy, D.V., Nguyen V.L., Ta, T.K.O., Tateishi, M.

Year: 2004

References: Regional Environmental Changes, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 49-62. (2004.3)

Title: Spatial variability in the distribution of lithological characteristics and   chemical elements in the bottom sediments of the South China Sea near the  Mekong and Saigon river deltas.

Authors: Anikiev VV, Shumilin EN, Dudarev OV, et al.

Year: 2004

References: GEOCHEMISTRY INTERNATIONAL, 42 (12), pp. 1154-1171.