| What Is An Oxbow
Lake?
An oxbow is a crescent-shaped lake lying alongside a winding river. The oxbow lake is created over time as erosion and deposits of soil change the river's course. You can see how an oxbow lake takes shape below: |
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| (1) On the inside of the loop, the river travels more slowly leading to deposition of silt. |  |
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| (2) Meanwhile water on the outside edges tends to flow faster, which erodes the banks making the meander even wider. |  |
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| (3) Over time the loop of the meander widens until the neck vanishes altogether. | |||||
| (4) Then the meander is removed from the river's current and the horseshoe shaped oxbow lake is formed. |  |
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Without a current to move the water along,
sediment builds up along the banks and fills in the lake.
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