ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE : NATURAL RESOURCES 91
crumble under the flow of water. In the eastern hills of Nepal about 38 per cent of the land
area has fields on the topsoil whereof has been washed away depriving it of its fertility.
On making a comparative study of the sediment loads from major rivers of the world
it is seen that yellow River in China carried 1.6 billion tons of soil to ocean each year. At
the same time, the Ganges carries nearly 1.5 billion tons and Mississippi, the largest river
of the USA carries only about 0.36 billion tons into the Gulf of Mexico. The startling point
is that both the Ganges and the Mississippi have almost same discharge (Fig. 2.5).
Sediment Load of Some Major Rivers
of WorldSeveralSeveralIndiaBurmaUSASeveralIndiaChinaNileMekongKosiIrrawaddyYellowGangesAmazonaMississippiFig. 2.5