bottomlands

A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge. The soils usually consist of clays, silts, sands, and gravels deposited during floods.Because the regular flooding of floodplains can deposit nutrients and water, floodplains frequently have high soil fertility; some important agricultural regions, such as the Mississippi river basin and the Nile rely heavily on the flood plains. Agricultural regions as well as urban areas have developed near or on flood plains, because the access to water and high quality soil. However, the risk of flooding has led to increasing attempts of flood control.

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