How are oxbow lakes generally formed?

Answer 1

An oxbow lake is formed when a meander erodes. The bend gets a sharper angle, forming a "neck" of land between the two bends of a meander. This will be eroded during flood, as the water is flowing faster over the top of it and into it. After a few floods, the neck will be broken through. The water will now flow through this path. The mouths of the old meander will get blocked up, as the flow at the edge is slower and deposition will occur. When these mouths are blocked up completely, an oxbow lake will have been formed.

Answer 2

Oxbow Lake Formation

An Oxbow Lake is a development of a meander, thanks to erosion and deposition. The neck/bend of the meander grows narrower and narrower and eventually the river just takes a shortcut of straight on ahead instead of going around the neck/bend. Soon the loop of the meander is sealed off altogether and it turns into an oxbow lake. In time the lake will get covered with weeds, fill with soil and will disappear.

If you doing this for work/school I suggest you use diagrams/pictures to show each stage.

Answer 3

When the land has a very small gradient a river will meander around following the lowest point. Over time, the outside edge of the river banks around bends are eroded by the water flow (and material gets deposited by the slower running water on the inside edge of the bend).

As the bends erode the river begins to form loops. Eventually the river water may erode through and join the two ends of a loop . When it does so, the river then flows through the joined loop instead of around the original bend; which then has slower water flowing into it which deposits material at its ends; eventually enough material is deposited to cut the original bend off from the river - the original bend of the river is now an oxbow lake.

Erosion takes place at a greater pace during heavy water flow through the river; the "joining" of the loop ends is likely to happen during a period of floods.

Answer 4

An oxbow lake is formed when a slow moving meandering stream has created a large bend in a stream. When a large amount of water floods the stream the extra water makes a cut through so that the water gets a shortcut and does not need to follow the meander anymore. Eventually the cut through will build up sediment and the original bend will become isolated from the rest of the river. The isolated bend is now an oxbow lake.

Answer 5

An oxbow lake is formed by erosion on a meander (loop or curve) in a river and cuts off circulation of that same loop.

Answer 6

U-shaped body of water formed when a wide Meanderfrom the Main_stemof a Riveris cut off to create a lake