A bench or step that extends along the side of a valley and represents a former level of the valley floor. Terraces are flat surfaces preserved in valleys that represent floodplains developed when the river flowed at a higher elevation than at present. Another type of terrace is cut into bedrock and may have a thin veneer of alluvium, or sedimentary deposits. In paired terraces, the terrace features on each side of a valley correspond. A marine terrace is a rock terrace formed where a sea cliff, with a wave-cut platform, is raised above sea level. Any terrace consists of two parts: 1) a tread, which is the flat surface of the former floodplain, and 2) a scarp, which is the steep slope that connects the tread to any surface standing lower in the valley. A simple definition is the previous location of the shore of a body of water or a valley floor on which a stream once flowed. Archaeological deposits associated with terraces are equal in age or younger than the terrace.