Editing Floodplain (section)

{{Short description|Land adjacent to a water body which is flooded during periods of high water}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Paraná River Floodplain.jpg|thumb|350px|[[Paraná River]] floodplain, at its confluence with the headstream of the [[Paranaíba River|Paranaíba]] (on the right) and the [[Rio Verde (upper Paranaíba River)|Verde River]], near [[Panorama, São Paulo|Panorama]], Brazil]]
[[File:floodislewight.jpg|thumb|right|A floodplain after a one-in-10-year flood on the [[Isle of Wight]]]]
[[File:Alaska Floodplain 1902.jpg|thumb|right|Gravel floodplain of a glacial river near the Snow Mountains in [[Alaska]], 1902]]
[[File:Laramie River floodplain 1949.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Laramie River]] [[meander]]s across its floodplain in [[Albany County, Wyoming]], 1949]]
[[File:Animas Valley CO 1903.jpg|thumb|right| This aggradational floodplain of a small meandering stream in [[La Plata County, Colorado]], is underlain by silt deposited above a dam formed by a terminal [[moraine]] left by the [[Wisconsin glaciation|Wisconsin Glacier]].]]
[[File:Flood plain 7991.JPG|right|thumb|Riparian vegetation on the floodplain of the [[Lynches River]], close to [[Johnsonville, South Carolina]]. These [[Tupelo (tree)|tupelo]] and [[Taxodium|cypress]] trees show the [[ordinary high water mark|high-water mark]] of flooding.]]

A '''floodplain''' or '''flood plain''' or '''bottomlands'''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bottomland |title=Definition of BOTTOMLAND|access-date= 2021-06-14 |archive-date= 2021-06-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614190223/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bottomland |url-status=live}}</ref> is an area of land adjacent to a [[river]]. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience [[flood]]ing during periods of high [[Discharge (hydrology)|discharge]].<ref name="Goudie2004">Goudie, A. S., 2004, ''Encyclopedia of Geomorphology'', vol. 1. Routledge, New York. {{ISBN|0-415-32737-7}}</ref> The soils usually consist of clays, [[silt]]s, sands, and gravels deposited during floods.<ref name="kovacs-2013">{{cite book |last1=Kovács |first1=János |title= Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards |chapter=Flood Deposits |series= Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series |date=2013 |pages= 325 |doi= 10.1007/978-1-4020-4399-4_137 |isbn= 978-90-481-8699-0 }}</ref>

Because of regular flooding, floodplains frequently have high [[soil fertility]] since nutrients are deposited with the flood waters. This can encourage [[farming]];<ref>{{cite book |last=Scott |first=James C. |author-link1=James C. Scott |date=22 August 2017 |chapter=The Domestication of Fire, Plants, Animals, and ... Us |title=Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UjYuDwAAQBAJ |publication-place=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press |page=66 |isbn=978-0-3002-3168-7 |access-date=19 March 2023 |quote=The general problem with farming – especially plough agriculture – is that it involves so much intensive labor. One form of agriculture, however, eliminates most of this labor: 'flood-retreat' (also known as décrue or recession) agriculture. In flood-retreat agriculture, seeds are generally broadcast on the fertile silt deposited by an annual riverine flood.}}</ref> some important agricultural regions, such as the [[Nile]] and [[Mississippi Basin|Mississippi]] [[Drainage basin|river basins]], heavily exploit floodplains.  Agricultural and urban regions have developed near or on floodplains to take advantage of the rich soil and freshwater. However, the [[Flood risk|risk of inundation]] has led to increasing efforts to [[Flood control|control flooding]].