How an ox-bow lake is formed

The following are steps on how the ox-bow lake is formed:

• a river stars to meander on a flood plain
• lateral erosion occurs on the outer side of the bend while deposition takes place on the inner bank

• lateral erosion leads in the reduction of the neck of land between adjacent bends
• the neck of land is eventually worn away
• deposition of the meander side especially during the floods blocks off the meander

• the river abandons the meander and follows the new shortcut that was the neck of the land
• the abandoned meander with its water forms an ox-bow lake

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