valley

Introduction
Geomorphic characteristics
- Valley longitudinal profiles
- Valley cross profiles
  - Types of valleys
  - Hillslopes
Origin and evolution
- Processes
  - Runoff processes
  - Sapping
  - Valley evolution in Hawaii
  - Channels and valleys on Mars
- Influence of structure
  - Drainage patterns
  - Cross-axial drainage
- Influence of climate
  - Periglacial zone
  - Arid zone
  - Tropical zone
- Role of climatic change
  - Paleovalleys
  - Misfit streams
  - The channels of Mars

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Snow-capped, rugged Atlas Mountains encircle a green valley with scattered trees, terraced fields, and a few small buildings in Morocco.

cratered plains and cratered highlands in Lunae Planum

False-colour oblique view of central Valles Marineris. The eastern edge of Candor Chasma (left) and Ophir Chasma (centre) show evidence of erosional collapse. This picture combines data from high-resolution black-and-white and low-resolution colour images taken by the Viking spacecraft.

At a Glance

valley summary

Related Questions

How are deep lakes and volcanoes connected to the East African Rift System?
How can rapid tectonic uplift lead to rapid river downcutting?
How can rivers form canyons across mountain ridges?
How can stream capture cause a small river to occupy a valley that seems too large for it?
How deep and wide is the Grand Canyon?
How did Lake Baikal form within the Baikal Rift Valley?
How did the Colorado River form the Grand Canyon?
How did the Matterhorn become a glacial horn?
How did uplift of the Colorado Plateau help form the Grand Canyon?
How do canyon and gorge formation relate to tectonic uplift?
How do cirques form small lakes called tarns?
How do fjords form from glaciated valleys?
How do folds and faults control the directions of valleys in the Appalachian Mountains?
How do glaciers create striations on valley walls?
How do hanging valleys produce waterfalls after glaciers melt?
How do horsts and grabens form in regions of crustal extension?
How do neighbouring cirques create arêtes and cols?
How do normal faults differ from reverse faults?
How do normal faults form rift valleys?
How do rift valleys differ from river valleys and glacial valleys?
How do rift valleys form along divergent tectonic plate boundaries?
How do river deltas form at the heads of fjords?
How do rivers carve narrow and deep valleys during early valley development?
How do rivers create valleys through erosion?
How do rock type and rock structure influence a valley’s shape?
How do rocks carried by glaciers scrape and polish valley floors?
How do tectonic valleys such as the Jordan River valley differ from valleys eroded by rivers?
How do tributaries influence the location of a river channel in a valley?
How does frost action help form cirque headwalls?
How does glacial erosion create sharp mountain peaks called horns?
How does permeable rock reduce the formation of river valleys?
How does seafloor spreading create submarine rift valleys?
Where can Yosemite Falls be found?
Which Himalayan peaks stand on either side of the Kāli Gandaki River valley?
Why are fjords often very deep below sea level?
Why are most valleys drained by rivers?
Why are river valleys often V-shaped?
Why can small streams form high waterfalls along fjord walls?
Why do rift valleys often have flat floors and steep sides?
Why do some fjords have shallow rock thresholds near their mouths?
Why do steep rivers erode their beds more quickly than gentle rivers?
Why do tributary glaciers create hanging valleys?
Why do valleys usually become wider as rivers approach their base level?
Why do waterfalls and knickpoints often occur in young river valleys?
Why do young landscapes sometimes have few well-developed valleys?
Why does Death Valley have a steep eastern side and a gentler western side?
Why does stretching of Earth’s crust cause blocks of crust to drop down?
Why does very dry climate limit river valley formation?
Why is the Kāli Gandaki River valley in Nepal so deep?
Why is the deepest part of a bedrock valley not always directly beneath its river?
What is a continent?
Do continents move?
What is the Pangea supercontinent?
What is a forest?
What is a glacier?
Where are glaciers found?
What causes glaciers to grow and shrink?

Geography & Travel Physical Geography of Land

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External Websites

National Geographic - Science - Valley
Geosciences LibreTexts - Mountain Building
U.S. Department of Agriculture - Forest Service - Influence of Valley Floor Landforms on Stream Ecosystems

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

valley - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
valley - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

valley

geology

Written by

Victor R. Baker

Regents Professor of Geosciences and of Planetary Sciences; University of Arizona, Tucson. Author of The Channels of Mars.

Victor R. Baker

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

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. Very narrow, deep valleys of similar appearance are called gorges. Both of these latter types are commonly cut in flat-lying strata but may occur in other geological situations. Wherever sufficient rainfall occurs, opportunity exists for the...

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