River deposits

As a detective solving the mystery of the crossword clue ‘River deposits’, the first insight that came to mind was the nature of rivers themselves – they are natural sources of erosion, often carrying soil and sediment along their courses. The term ‘deposit’ led me to believe that the solution may be related to the accumulation of such materials. After considering a few options, such as “sands” and “shales”, my attention was drawn to the word “river” in the prompt, which led me to the answer – “silts”. This is because silts are fine-grained sediment deposits carried by water, and are commonly found in areas close to riverbanks. Furthermore, the word “river deposits” is a bit of a giveaway, as the term ‘deposits’ suggests something that is brought to a specific location, rather than something that is dug up from or found naturally in a place. This is exactly what happens with silts – they are deposited in layers in riverbeds and banks over time. Overall, my thought process and insights led me to confidently fill in the blanks with “SILTS”, ultimately solving the mystery of the crossword clue.