Meanders

(from the ancient Greek name of a very winding river in Asia Minor today called the Menderes), bends in the channel of a river that occur because of currents that do not coincide with the direction of the primary river flow; surface streams are directed toward the concave bank and bottom streams, saturated with alluvium, are directed against the convex bank. The concave bank, which is usually steep, becomes strongly eroded, and the delivery of alluvium to the convex bank causes its gradual buildup and the formation of a bar. As a result the channel may become so bent that the stream will cut itself a new, shorter path, and the meanders will become oxbow lakes. Sometimes meanders protrude strongly, assuming fingerlike outlines. Incomplete meandering is also observed, when the meanders are straightened out by the current. Meanders are typical of rivers on plains and in foothills.