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2.4.1.1 Stream Terraces

Stream terraces are deposits of old floodplain material oriented parallel to the river valley which forms an elevated area above a valley floor. These features develop when the base level of a previous floodplain is lowered and the river begins downcutting through the old floodplain material. Sections of the old valley floor are left against the valley sides.

A similar feature, a bedrock terrace, forms in the same way, but the terrace consists of former valley-floor bedrock.


Images
Alluvial Terrace and Braided River, Snake River, Wyoming.
Alluvial Terrace and Braided River, Snake River, Wyoming.
Original picture from the Ward Collection
Paired terraces  Alluvial Terrace and Braided River, Snake River, Wyoming.  Stream terraces, San Juan River. 

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