Oxbow Lake

• Hydraulic action is wind water forces air into rocks, dislodging them.
• Abrasion is when rocks in the water are dragged along the river bed, grinding it down.
• Solution is when salts and acids in the river dissolve minerals in the rock.
• Attrition is when rocks in the water hit off each other and break into smaller pieces.
• Riffles and pools lead to changes in speed and depths in the river channel.
• Pools are areas of deeper water whereas riffles are shallower with greater turbulence.
• River flows fastest on the outside bend increasing the erosive power.
• River flows slowest on the inside bend, leading to deposition.
• Overtime, continual erosion and deposition narrows the neck of the meander.
• Often during a flood, the river will cut through the neck.
• The river continues on its straighter path and the meander is abandoned.
• New deposition seals off the ends and the cut-off becomes an oxbow lake that will eventually dry up