Description

This is a typical pointed estuary, with two wing-shaped promontories forming two symmetric peninsulas, on which stand two tourist resorts – Bibione to the west and Lignano to the east. The delta region as a whole is basically triangular in shape, with a base measuring around 15-16 km between Porto Baselenghe to the west and the entrance to the lagoon at Lignano, to the east. The depth of this triangle, from the mouth of the Tagliamento proper and the village of Bevazzana, is around 5 km. The expansion of the mouth of the Tagliamento seems to confirm Marinelli’s theory according to which all Italian deltas have formed over the past 2500 years as a result of the intensive deforestation carried out by the Etruscans, Celts and Romans, which accelerated the rate of soil erosion and consequently increased the amount of alluvial material carried by the rivers. The delta used to include some ten areas with dune formations, only a few traces of which remain.