Discernible slightly east of the center of the photograph is historic Vicksburg. The city sits on a bluff several hundred feet above the broad floodplain of the Mississippi River, which has highly reflective sandbars visible in its main channel. A dramatic escarpment separates the darker, elevated, forested terrain from the lighter, flat, cultivated floodplain; however, several dark, wooded areas exist on the floodplain itself. Apparent on the floodplain are many looping, oxbow lakes and meander scars—an indication that the river transports large quantities of sediment and constantly changes its main channel.