Environment on a floodplain where deposits settle after a flood
In geology a backswamp is a type of depositional environment commonly found in a floodplain. It is where deposits of fine silts and clays settle after a flood.[1] Backswamps usually lie behind a stream's natural levees.[2] During a flood, water levels will rise over the height of the levee, filling the floodplain with water and sediments. Once the flooding stops there is no place for the water to drain out, so the sediments it carried remain and settle. A backswamp usually lies where a bow river once flowed.[3] A backswamp lies lower than the rest of the river valley.
