# Strath

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Large valley

The [River Spey](/source/River_Spey) flowing through [Strathspey](/source/Strathspey%2C_Scotland)

A **strath** is a large [valley](/source/Valley), typically a river valley that is wide and shallow (as opposed to a [glen](/source/Glen), which is typically narrower and deep).[1]

## Word and etymology

An anglicisation of the [Gaelic](/source/Scottish_Gaelic_language) word *srath*, it is one of many that have been absorbed into the [English](/source/English_language) and [Scots](/source/Scots_language) languages. It is commonly used in rural Scotland to describe a wide valley, even by non-Gaelic speakers.

In Scottish place-names, *Strath-* is of Gaelic and [Brittonic](/source/Common_Brittonic) origin.[2] *Strath-* names have a similar origin to Gaelic *srath*, meaning "broad-valley", as well as to [Cumbric](/source/Cumbric) and [Pictish](/source/Pictish) cognates (*cf.* [Welsh](/source/Welsh_language) *ystrad*).[2]

Gaelic *srath* is derived from [Old Irish](/source/Old_Irish) *srath*, recorded as having meant "grassland".[3] The modern Scottish Gaelic sense of "broad-valley", paralleling the meaning of Brittonic cognates, developed from [substrate](/source/Substrate_language) influence from Pictish.[3]

## Toponymy

Sign for [Stranorlar](/source/Stranorlar) with Irish name *Srath an Urláir*, 'strath of the [valley] floor'.

It occurs in numerous place names within [Scotland](/source/Scotland) including [Strathmore](/source/Valley_of_Strathmore), [Strathspey](/source/Strathspey%2C_Scotland) and [Strathclyde](/source/Strathclyde). Abroad, many places with [Scottish](/source/Scotland) heritage also use the prefix, including [Strath-Taieri](/source/Strath-Taieri%2C_New_Zealand) in [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand); [Strathalbyn](/source/Strathalbyn%2C_South_Australia) in South Australia, [Strathfield](/source/Strathfield), a suburb of [Sydney](/source/Sydney), Australia; [Strathewen, Victoria](/source/Strathewen%2C_Victoria), Australia; [Strathpine](/source/Strathpine), a suburb of [Brisbane](/source/Brisbane), Australia; and various places in [Canada](/source/Canada): [Strathmore, Alberta](/source/Strathmore%2C_Alberta); [Strathcona](/source/Strathcona_(disambiguation)#Places); [Strathroy, Ontario](/source/Strathroy%2C_Ontario); and Strathburn, Ontario.

In [Ireland](/source/Ireland), the same term is Anglicised as *srah*, *stra*-, *strath* or *straw*, as in [Ardstraw](/source/Ardstraw), [Stranorlar](/source/Stranorlar), [Strathfoyle](/source/Strathfoyle), [Strabane](/source/Strabane).[4]

It also occurs in the names of five [P&O](/source/P%26O) liners, four of which, the *[Strathaird](/source/RMS_Strathaird)*, the *[Strathnaver](/source/RMS_Strathnaver)*, the *[Stratheden](/source/SS_Stratheden)* and the *[Strathmore](/source/SS_Strathmore)*, carried thousands of migrants to Australia between the 1950s and the 1960s. The ships acted as troop carriers during [World War II](/source/World_War_II) and the fifth ship, the *Strathallan*, sank in the [Mediterranean Sea](/source/Mediterranean_Sea) in 1942 taking troops to the landings in North Africa.[5]

The word is related to Welsh *Ystrad*, as in *Strat Clut*, the Old Welsh name for the [Kingdom of Strathclyde](/source/Kingdom_of_Strathclyde).

In [Keith](/source/Keith%2C_Moray) there is a distillery producing the [Strathisla](/source/Strathisla_Single_Malt) whisky. It is a single malt whisky that is also an ingredient to the blend [Chivas Regal](/source/Chivas_Regal).

## In geology

In [geology](/source/Geology), a strath is a [bedrock](/source/Bedrock) surface within a river valley that marks a [base level](/source/Base_level) of [erosion](/source/Erosion) by the river. This may underlie a contemporary strath valley floor, corresponding to the present base level, but it may also correspond to a former base level now preserved in the [geologic record](/source/Geologic_record).[6]

When a river in a strath valley is [rejuvenated](/source/River_rejuvenation) by a drop in base level, remnants of the former valley floor may be preserved as [strath terraces](/source/Strath_terrace).[7] These may record past climate oscillations[8][9] or may be a result of river [meandering](/source/Meander).[10]

If a change in sedimentation rates results in renewed deposition of sediments ([aggradation](/source/Aggradation)) in a strath valley, the original strath surface may be buried under fresh sediments and become part of the geologic record. For example, at least three such straths are present in the valley of the [Rio Grande River](/source/Rio_Grande_River) near [Albuquerque, New Mexico](/source/Albuquerque%2C_New_Mexico).[11]

## See also

- [Annandale, Dumfries and Galloway](/source/Annandale%2C_Dumfries_and_Galloway)

- [Dale (place name element)](/source/Dale_(place_name_element))

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** T. A. Gibson (1835). [*Etymological Geography: Being a Classified List of Terms of Most Frequent Occurrence, Entering, as Prefixes or Postfixes, into the Composition of Geographical Names*](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_m8owm163yr8C). Oliver & Boyd. p. [23](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_m8owm163yr8C/page/n33). Retrieved 21 March 2013.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-BLITON_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-BLITON_2-1) James, Alan G. ["The Brittonic Language in the Old North - A Guide to the Place-Name Evidence"](https://spns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Alan_James_Brittonic_Language_in_the_Old_North_BLITON_Volume_II_Dictionary_2020_Edition.pdf) (PDF). *Scottish Place Name Society*. Retrieved 14 June 2020.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-pp_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-pp_3-1) Hall, Mark A; Driscoll, Stephen T; Geddess, Jane (11 November 2010). [*Pictish Progress: New Studies on Northern Britain in the Early Middle Ages*](https://books.google.com/books?id=6d55DwAAQBAJ&vq). Brill. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9789004188013](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9789004188013). Retrieved 30 June 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Glossary - 'srath'"](https://www.logainm.ie/en/glossary/139-srath). *logainm.ie*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["The Strathallan Story"](https://web.archive.org/web/20071009152523/http://www.thestrathallan.com/strathallan.htm). Archived from [the original](http://www.thestrathallan.com/strathallan.htm) on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Thornbury, William D. (1969). *Principles of geomorphology* (2d ed.). New Delhi: CBS Publishers. pp. 111, 196. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [8123908113](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/8123908113).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Thornbury 1969, p.196

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Pan, Baotian; Burbank, Douglas; Wang, Yixiang; Wu, Guangjian; Li, Jijun; Guan, Qingyu (2003). "A 900 k.y. record of strath terrace formation during glacial-interglacial transitions in northwest China". *Geology*. **31** (11): 957. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1130/G19685.1](https://doi.org/10.1130%2FG19685.1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Fuller, Theodore K.; Perg, Lesley A.; Willenbring, Jane K.; Lepper, Kenneth (May 2009). "Field evidence for climate-driven changes in sediment supply leading to strath terrace formation". *Geology*. **37** (5): 467–470. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1130/G25487A.1](https://doi.org/10.1130%2FG25487A.1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Finnegan, Noah J.; Dietrich, William E. (February 2011). "Episodic bedrock strath terrace formation due to meander migration and cutoff". *Geology*. **39** (2): 143–146. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1130/G31716.1](https://doi.org/10.1130%2FG31716.1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Connell, Sean D.; Love, David W. (2001). ["Stratigraphy of middle and upper Pleistocene fluvial deposits of the Rio Grand (post-Santa Fe Group) and the geomorphic development of the Rio Grande Valley, Northern Albuquerque Basin, Central New Mexico"](https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/openfile/downloads/400-499/454/papers/OFR454B_pdf/J-Connell_QuaternaryTerrace.pdf) (PDF). *New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources Open File Reports*. **454B**: 167–178. Retrieved 31 July 2020.

Look up ***[strath](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/strath)*** in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

v t e Rivers, streams and springs Rivers (lists) Alluvial river Braided river Blackwater river Channel Channel pattern Channel types Confluence Distributary Drainage basin Mountain river Subterranean river River bifurcation River ecosystem River source Tributary Streams Arroyo Beck Bourne Burn Chalk stream Coulee Current Stream bed Stream channel Streamflow Stream gradient Stream pool Perennial stream Winterbourne Springs (list) Estavelle/Inversac Geyser Holy well Hot spring list list in the US Karst spring list Mineral spring Ponor Rhythmic spring Spring horizon Sedimentary processes and erosion Abrasion Anabranch Aggradation Armor Bed load Bed material load Granular flow Debris flow Deposition Dissolved load Downcutting Erosion Headward erosion Knickpoint Palaeochannel Progradation Retrogradation Saltation Secondary flow Sediment transport Suspended load Wash load Water gap Fluvial landforms Ait Alluvial fan Antecedent drainage stream Avulsion Bank Bar Bayou Billabong Canyon Chine Cut bank Estuary Floating island Fluvial terrace Gill Gulch Gully Glen Meander scar Mouth bar Oxbow lake Riffle-pool sequence Point bar Ravine Rill River island Rock-cut basin Sedimentary basin Sedimentary structures Strath Thalweg River valley Wadi Fluvial flow Helicoidal flow International scale of river difficulty Log jam Meander Plunge pool Rapids Riffle Shoal Stream capture Waterfall list of waterfalls Whitewater Surface runoff Agricultural wastewater First flush Urban runoff Floods and stormwater 100-year flood Crevasse splay Flash flood Flood Urban flooding Non-water flood Flood barrier Flood control Flood forecasting Flood-meadow Floodplain Flood pulse concept Flooded grasslands and savannas Inundation Storm Water Management Model Return period Point source pollution Effluent Industrial wastewater Sewage River measurement and modelling Baer's law Baseflow Bradshaw model Discharge (hydrology) Drainage density Exner equation Groundwater model Hack's law Hjulström curve Hydrograph Hydrological model Hydrological transport model Infiltration (hydrology) Main stem Playfair's law Relief ratio River Continuum Concept Rouse number Runoff curve number Runoff model (reservoir) Stream gauge WAFLEX Wetted perimeter Volumetric flow rate River engineering Aqueduct Balancing lake Canal Check dam Dam Drop structure Daylighting Detention basin Erosion control Fish ladder Floodplain restoration Flume Infiltration basin Leat Levee River morphology Retention basin Revetment Riparian-zone restoration Stream restoration Weir River sports Canyoning Fly fishing Rafting River surfing Riverboarding Stone skipping Triathlon Whitewater canoeing Whitewater kayaking Whitewater slalom Related Aquifer Aquatic toxicology Body of water Hydraulic civilization Limnology Riparian zone River valley civilization River cruise Sacred waters Surface water Wild river Rivers by length Rivers by discharge rate Drainage basins Whitewater rivers Flash floods River name etymologies Countries without rivers

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Strath](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strath) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strath?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.