Middle Course

Cards (4)

  • Meander - a bend in a river
  • Meanders:
    • Water moves fastest on the outside so the banks are eroded through hydraulic action and abrasion or weakened by biological weathering
    • Process continues making river more sinuous
    • River bank is undercut through erosion creating a river cliff
    • Water moves slowest on the inside so deposition occurs forming a slip off slope
  • Ox-bow lake:
    • Meanders neck is narrowed as it becomes more sinuous
    • River is closer together due to erosion (hydraulic action and abrasion)
    • Water takes the quickest route in floods / high discharge so flows across neck
    • Straight river course forms cutting off old meander
    • Material is deposited to stop water flow and over time it drys out - turns into marshland
  • In the middle course, there is a smaller load that's less angular and the river is deeper and wider due to lateral erosion.