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A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. [1] In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civil engineering and public health.
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands[ 1] 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 flooding during periods of high discharge. [ 2] The soils usually consist of clays, silts, sands, and gravels deposited during floods.
Levee. A levee ( / ˈlɛvi / or / ˈlɛveɪ / ), [1] dike ( American English ), dyke ( Commonwealth English ), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure used to keep the course of rivers from changing and to protect against flooding of the area adjoining the river or coast. It is usually earthen and often runs parallel to the course of ...
A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing over ice sheets or snowfields. Flash floods may also occur after the collapse of a natural ice or debris dam ...
A flood barrier, surge barrier or storm surge barrier is a specific type of floodgate, designed to prevent a storm surge or spring tide from flooding the protected area behind the barrier. A surge barrier is almost always part of a larger flood protection system consisting of floodwalls, levees (also known as dikes), and other constructions and ...
In geography and geology, fluvial sediment processes or fluvial sediment transport are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by sediments. It can result in the formation of ripples and dunes, in fractal -shaped patterns of erosion, in complex patterns of natural river systems, and in the development of ...
Meander. A stream bed following a tilted valley. The maximum gradient is along the down-valley axis represented by a hypothetical straight coast channel. Meanders develop, which lengthen the course of the stream, decreasing the gradient. A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse.
Fluvial terrace. Fluvial terraces are elongated terraces that flank the sides of floodplains and fluvial valleys all over the world. They consist of a relatively level strip of land, called a "tread", separated from either an adjacent floodplain, other fluvial terraces, or uplands by distinctly steeper strips of land called "risers".