Labs / Geography
Meanders & Oxbow Lakes
A river never runs straight for long. On the outside of every bend the current cuts away the bank, while sand settles on the sheltered inside as a point bar — so the loops slowly swing wider until a narrow neck breaks through and strands an oxbow lake. Drag the channel to sculpt a bend, then change the discharge, sediment, and floodplain slope and watch it evolve.
Sinuosity 1.00Erosion 0.0 m/yrDeposition 0.0 m/yrMeanders 0Cutoffs 0
What to try
- Crank the discharge up. Do the bends grow and cut off faster, or slower?
- Flatten the slope toward a lazy lowland gradient — does the river wander more or less?
- Load the water with sediment. Where does all that sand end up, and what happens to old oxbows?
- Drag one gentle bend far to the side. Can you force a cutoff by hand before the river does it on its own?
- Watch the sinuosity readout climb, then drop the instant a loop pinches off — why does one cutoff undo so much wandering?