Eventually, the mesa becomes further eroded into a small steep-sided hill called a butte . The Grand Canyon is the most widely-known example of this type of landscape formation, and contains many layers of rocks found with different erosional capabilities. The predominant drainage pattern found in landscapes characterized by horizontal strata is the dendritic drainage pattern . This patterns occurs because the rock layers lie flat, not allowing one flow direction to persist. Landforms of Coastal Plains Coastal plains are found along passive continental margins free of tectonic activity, and therefore have few relief features.
Coastal plains have near horizontal strata.
We here in Valdosta live on a coastal plain. The coastal plain was once located in the shallow continental shelf area and accumulated successive layers of sediment that eventually became rock strata, which are generally horizontal with little dip. Once it is uplifted out of the water, new streams form called consequent streams which will flow downslope in the direction of the ocean. As the newly-exposed coastal plain becomes differentially eroded, faster eroding rock will form lowlands . These lowland areas are separated by broad belts of hills known as cuestas , sometimes called ridges in the Southeast.