A relatively flat, step-like surface running along a valley side above the current floodplain, marking the level of an earlier floodplain that the river has since abandoned as it cut down to a lower level. A valley can carry several terraces at different heights, each recording a past phase of the river's vertical history.
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Shaped By
Source Fluvial terrace (Wikipedia)
Source Fluvial terrace (Wikipedia)
Sources
Fluvial terrace (Wikipedia)
Shaped By: Deposition and Sedimentation, Formation statement for target 23658
Fill terraces Fill terraces are the result of an existing valley being filled with alluvium.
Shaped By: Headward Erosion, Formation statement for target 287631
Changes in elevation can be due to changes in the base level (elevation of the lowest point in the fluvial system, usually the drainage basin) of the fluvial system, which leads to headward erosion along the length of either a stream or river, gradually lowering its elevation.
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