What is an Oxbow Lake?
Oxbow lakes are located in abandoned meander loops of a river channel. It is formed as a river cuts through a meander neck to shorten its course and causes the old channel to be blocked off. If only one loop is cut off, the lake formed will be crescent shaped, if more than one loop is cut off, the lake will be serpentine or winding. Eventually, oxbow lakes are silted up to form marshes. The lakes commonly are filled with sediment that is less easy to erode than surrounding material and may cause a more complex meandering system in its parent stream.
September 25, 2007 6:59 AM | Category: Watershed