
Valley | Definition, Characteristics, Examples, & Facts | Britannica
Mar 2, 2025 · Valley, elongate depression of the Earth’s surface. Valleys are most commonly drained by rivers and may occur in a relatively flat plain or between ranges of hills or mountains. Those valleys produced by tectonic action are called rift valleys.
Valley - Cross Profiles, Erosion, Geology | Britannica
Mar 2, 2025 · Valley - Cross Profiles, Erosion, Geology: The cross profiles of valleys involve a combination of fluvial and hillslope processes. Although slopes and rivers are often studied separately by process geomorphologists, hills and valleys …
River - Valley Formation, Erosion, Deposition | Britannica
Feb 11, 2025 · River - Valley Formation, Erosion, Deposition: The ultimate form assumed by any valley reflects events that occurred during its developmental history and the characteristics of the underlying geology.
glacial valley - Encyclopedia Britannica
glacial valley, stream valley that has been glaciated, usually to a typical catenary, or U-shaped, cross section. U-shaped valleys occur in many parts of the world and are characteristic features of mountain glaciation. These glacial troughs may be several thousand feet deep and tens of …
U-shaped valley | geology | Britannica
…valley is converted to a U-shaped valley because the U-shape provides the least frictional resistance to the moving glacier. Because a glacier has a much greater viscosity and cross section than a river, its course has fewer and broader bends, and thus, the valley becomes straighter and smoother.
Valley train | geology | Britannica
…elongate, planar deposits are termed valley trains. On the other hand, in low-relief areas the deposits of several ice-marginal streams may merge to form a wide outwash plain, or sandur. Read More
Hanging Valleys, U-Shaped Valleys, Moraines - Britannica
Glacial landform - Hanging Valleys, U-Shaped Valleys, Moraines: Large valley glacier systems consist of numerous cirques and smaller valley glaciers that feed ice into a large trunk glacier. Because of its greater ice discharge, the trunk glacier has greater erosive capability in its middle and lower reaches than smaller tributary glaciers that ...
valley - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help
A valley is a long depression, or ditch, in Earth’s surface. It usually lies between ranges of hills or mountains. Most valleys are formed by rivers that erode, or wear down, soil and rocks. This process takes thousands or millions of years.
Rift valley | East Africa, Geology, Volcanic Activity | Britannica
Mar 7, 2025 · rift valley, any elongated trough formed by the subsidence of a segment of the Earth’s crust between dip-slip, or normal, faults. Such a fault is a fracture in the terrestrial surface in which the rock material on the upper side of the fault plane has been displaced downward relative to the rock below the fault.
Appalachian Mountains - Geology, Plateau, Valleys | Britannica
Feb 12, 2025 · Appalachian Mountains - Geology, Plateau, Valleys: The Appalachians are among the oldest mountains on Earth, born of powerful upheavals within the terrestrial crust and sculpted by the ceaseless action of water upon the surface.