There are three basic channel patterns for a river: straight, meandering, or braided.
Depending on such factors as terrain, soil, and water volume, different stretches of a river may show different patterns, and channels may shift over time.
There is no fixed rule for the evolution of a river’s channel, but one typical progression is from meandering to even more convoluted to straight.
What happens in such a case is that the flowing water, which reaches its maximum velocity at the outside of a bend, causes the greatest amount of soil erosion there. The eroded material is deposited as what is called a point bar on the inside of the bend.
The position of the strongest current shifts from side to side, and the meanders migrate and accentuate over time. The migration can be very rapid: Some Mississippi River meanders, for example, move as much as 65 feet a year.
As the looping meanders become more pronounced and migrate, getting closer and closer together, they are vulnerable to being cut off during a flood.
Eventually the river bypasses a loop, and an oxbow lake is formed as the main course of the river takes the straighter path, past the cutoff lake.
Related Posts
-
Where does the word “meander” originate and What does meander mean?
There is a river in the western part of Turkey, Asia Minor, now called Menderes, known in ancient times as Maeander. The nature of the stream has greatly changed in the centuries since…
-
Why Does the Steering Wheel of a Car Straighten Itself If You Remove Your Hands After Turning It When Driving?
The tendency of the steering wheel to return to the straight-on position is caused by the caster action of the front wheels. This effect is more clearly seen on a shopping trolley where…
-
What Country Has Two Rivers and Plenty of Bauxite?
The nation of Guinea, a small part of the West African region known as Guinea, is about twice the size of New York State. It is one of the few nations in West…
-
What Country Has No Rivers?
Libya is located in North Africa and borders on the Mediterranean Sea. With an area of 679,358 square miles, it's the fifteenth largest country on earth. But Libya is also one of the…
-
When rivers flood how are their flood stage and crest determined and predicted?
Flood stage and crest have fairly simple definitions. The flood stage is the height of a river above which damage begins to occur, typically because the river begins to overflow its banks. The…
-
What Makes the Rivers In Montana Unique Among the 50 States?
Montana's rivers flow into three widely separated bodies of water: the Gulf of Mexico the Pacific Ocean the Hudson Bay The Missouri River system drains into the Mississippi River and then into the…
