An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water.

Nov 10, 2025 · Discover the complete, multi-stage geological lifecycle of oxbow lakes, from their initial formation in a shifting river system to their eventual disappearance.

Aug 12, 2024 · An oxbow lake is a uniquely shaped lake resulting from the path of a meandering river. Oxbow lakes are U-shaped or curved bends in a river that are cut off from the main river flow, …

Jan 10, 2026 · Despite their appearance as permanent features, oxbow lakes are geologically temporary and subject to a process called terrestrial succession. Since there is no constant flow to flush out the …

Jul 24, 2024 · What is An Oxbow Lake & How Are They Formed? An oxbow lake is a U-shaped body of water that forms when a wide meander from a river is cut off, creating a free-standing lake. This …

Oxbow lake, small lake located in an abandoned meander loop of a river channel. It is generally formed as a river cuts through a meander neck to shorten its course, causes the old channel to be rapidly …

Oct 19, 2023 · Oxbow lakes usually form in flat, low-lying plains close to where the river empties into another body of water. On these plains, rivers often have wide meanders. Meanders that form oxbow …

May 5, 2025 · Oxbow lakes form when rivers create curves, and then cut off loops, leaving behind horseshoe-shaped lakes. The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers have notable examples of oxbow …

Once the river completes this shortcut, the curve becomes a separate body of water, called an oxbow lake. Over time, the oxbow lake fills with sediment and detritus and eventually becomes a swamp or …

Jun 17, 2025 · An oxbow lake is a U-shaped body of water formed when a meander, a bend in a river, is cut off from the main channel due to erosion and deposition. This isolated bend then becomes a …