Tidal-Flat Sediments of the Colorado River Delta, Northwestern Gulf of California

Abstract

Barren mud and salt flats occur on the seaward margin of the Colorado River delta, in the northwestern Gulf of California, flanking the lower 50 km of the Colorado River course, and extend southward from the river mouth for 60 km along the coastal plain of Baja, California (Fig. 7-1). The sedimentology and geologic history of this southern extension were studied in some detail by Thompson (1968), and the results show that intertidal and shallow subtidal sediments here differ markedly from those of other extensive tidal flats described in the literature (for example, Straaten, 1954; Evans, 1965; Reineck, 1967).