Which best explains why floodplains encouraged settlement in the Fertile Crescent? The floodplains prevented seasonal droughts. The floodplains brought warmer temperatures. The floodplains exposed stone used for building. The floodplains provided fertile soil for growing crops.

The floodplains provided fertile soil for growing crops.

Explanation:

In the fertile crescent, the most important floodplain is that of Mesopotamia, between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates.

This area of the world is not only where agriculture was first attested, but also the region where the first human civilization emerged: Sumer.

And the floodplain was crucial for this. The rivers flooded their banks with nutrients that were carried in sediments. These nutrients made the soil more fertile, allowing for easier and more productive agriculture, which produced the necessary food surpluses that are required for the development of early civilization.