Floodplain and alluvial terrace mapping can provide information into tectonic and environmental change in energy fluctuations, climate change, and deposition of alluvial sediments as floodplain and terrace surfaces. The interpolation of both topographic map and Digital Elevation Models and field data may be combined to provide an analytical map of floodplain and terrace surfaces along the El Rito De Tierra Amarilla. These techniques as well as my interpretation of the surfaces conducted during my Richter Grant provide crucial information into the history of the development of Rito De Tierra Amarilla. The correct interpretation of the local floodplain and terraces formed by the active stream can provide a history of thresholds that control deposition of these surfaces. With the development of alluvial geomorphology and associated surfaces, one can quantify geomorphic threshold events, or down cutting events, by quantifying the number of distinct terrace and floodplain surfaces in a basin.