Archipelago at the river's mouth

Name: Archipelago at the river's mouth

No Expiration

Contract Location:

Reward:

Reward Cash	500,000 Ð
Advance	50,000 Ð

Quest Details:

Difficulty:

I have a request addressed to you from Mr. Mercator. When investigating island that form near river mouths, you apparently impressed him. It looks like you might be sent again to the ends of the earth... Will you accept?

★★★★★★★★★

Required Skill(s):

Recognition

7

Geography

9

Mon-Khmer languages

1

Required Fame:

0

	And what happens then?
	Amsterdam - Mercator
Oh, it's you! I've been waiting! Well, that was an amazing report. You know, it's quite convincing that a great river could carry a large volume of earth with it and that could create an island at the mouth of the river. But what happens after that? You want to know, too, right? So I've got my eye now on a particular river...

	Target of investigation into appearance
	Amsterdam - Mercator
To the east of far off India, there's a town called Gia Dinh. It's bordered by a great river whose mouth contains many separate tributaries If the mouth has many tributaries, then that means there are a number of islands there, too. That makes it the perfect subject for my research. Good luck!

	Circumstances in agreement
	Gia Dinh - City Official
Islands can be formed in the mouth of a great river? Then if it's divided by an island, one river would become two? And two would become four and four eight... Then that would agree fairly well with the current state of Mekong River. So that's the phenomenon you're talking about, right? You should ask the people in town about it. It might help you in your investigation.

	Islands that flood
	Gia Dinh - Barkeep
So, like you're saying, if the earth carried by the river is piled up and that forms islands, then that could explain why the land downstream is always low. Because of the water level of the river, there couldn't be any really high places then, right? You should also ask that customer over there. Buy him a drink and i'm sure he'll talk to you in good spirits.

	Right before an island is made
	Gia Dinh - Seafarer (buy drink)
Oh, you didn't have to do that. Yeah, as a whole, the Mekong is very shallow compared to other rivers. That's why ships with a deep draft can't enter. Maybe some of those islands that you mentioned are forming underneath.

	Island of pickles
	Gia Dinh - Merchant
When it's the rainy season here, the Mekong overflows and a lot of land is submerged. Then sea water pour in, too. So the island at the river's mouth contain land with a high salt concentration. And, if they dig wells, only salt water comes up. It's like the whole island has been salted. With that, there's no chance they can grow crops there.

	Rich yet small producer
	Gia Dinh - Resident (Near Gatekeeper)
But it's not all bad. There's not much of it, but, in places where the sea water doesn't come in during the rainy season, the water and land are high quality. The river carries good earth there, The people living at the river's mouth control small boats skilfully and use the river like a canal. You should have a look some time.

	Archipelago at the river's mouth
	The Gulf of Thailand - (4910, 4390)
The mouth of the Mekong River is divided into many tributaries, and many different island exist there. Previously, you examined an island at the mouth of the Amazon. A large number of that type of island must exist. Survey the area around the mouth of the Mekong and add what you find to your report.