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floodplain |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Financial, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.03 sec. |
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floodplain, level land along the course of a river formed by the deposition of sediment during periodic floods. Floodplains contain such features as levees, backswamps, delta delta [from triangular shape of the Nile delta, like the Greek letter delta], a deposit of clay, silt, and sand formed at the mouth of a river where the stream loses velocity and drops part of its sediment load. ..... Click the link for more information. plains, and oxbow lakes. Floodplains may be extensive, such as below the conflux of the Ohio and the Mississippi, where they have a width up to 80 mi (130 km). Rivers with extensive floodplains are the Nile, Ganges, Danube, and Po. Floodplains are generally very fertile, thus making them rich agricultural lands. The disadvantage of farming on a floodplain is the natural hazard of floods flood, inundation of land by the rise and overflow of a body of water. Floods occur most commonly when water from heavy rainfall, from melting ice and snow, or from a combination of these exceeds the carrying capacity of the river system, lake, or ocean into which it ..... Click the link for more information. . In the United States there has been extensive house construction on floodplains in recent years, necessitating the construction of new dams to control small, annual floods. floodplain [′fləd‚plān] (geology) The relatively smooth valley floors adjacent to and formed by alluviating rivers which are subject to overflow. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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| According to The Sacramento Bee, on May 26, Gotlieb and others pressured spineless legislators to reject a law that would have discouraged home building in flood plains. 5% of respondents said they'd like to see reform of the law to offer government aid to homeowners in flood plains to either raise their properties substantially or move out. The classic example of this, across the developed world, is the near obsession with building on flood plains. |
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