The Connecticut River flows from its headwaters in northern New England to New London, Connecticut, where it empties into the Atlantic ocean. Spring flooding of the Deerfield and other tributaries of the Connecticut River is a frequent event, caused by ice and snow melting farther north and pouring into the Connecticut. The overflowing of these waterways with their rich alluvial deposits has enriched the soil of the Connecticut River Valley for centuries. Native peoples in this region tilled this loam for over 1,000 years until they were supplanted by European settlers and their descendents. Today, farmers in the mid-Connecticut River Valley in Massachusetts continue to cultivate this soil, some of the most fertile in the world.