The João Ferreira Creek, flows through around 7 km at the right side of Piranga River (upper Doce River). Along its course, this creek cuts its older deposits, cutting terraces up to 20m high. In the scarps of these terraces it can be identified sedimentary facies that show the changes that occur in this creek through times. At the feet of the scarp of the older terrace sandy, pebbly sand and gravely facies occur. These facies are usually related to braided rivers. To the upper part of this scarp the facies change to sandy and muddy facies usually related to meandering rivers. All other terraces have sandy to gravely facies in their scarps.

The João Ferreira Creek shows internal and point bars, both types formed by sandy and gravely facies. Usually, more typical shaped point bars are located upstream of the gorges that are formed when schists from the basement outcrop at the channel level. Point bars show interlayered sandy and gravely horizontal or quasi-horizontal strata. Gravely strata usually have clasts that show their ab plane with no dips. Sometimes, gravely strata are irregular in shape and seem to be developed by the deposition of gravels upstream or even around the outsized clasts, usually boulders.

This research, still in development, suggests that the great number of boulders and gravel in this creek be due to the release of them from the terraces. Nowadays, the lack of competence by this creek in moving gravel and boulders as bed-load transport until reach the Piranga River is responsible for this unusual coarse-grained meandering river aspect.