[1][2][better source needed] Terracette occur on steep hillsides and are regularly spaced.
[1] One explanation holds that terracettes are formed when saturated soil particles expand, then contract as they dry, causing them to move slowly downhill.
It may also be described as a small, irregular step-like formation on steep hillslopes, especially on those used for pasture which are formed by soil creep or erosion of surface soils exacerbated by the trampling of livestock such as sheep or cattle.
Early investigators such as C. Darwin (1904) believed that animals grazing the hillsides caused terracettes,[1] but further examination revealed places where they abruptly end at steep rock faces or at soils of different composition.
[5] Geomorphologists Vincent and Clarke have also cast doubt about the ability of animals alone to create such regular steps or ridges.