Meander cutoff

Animation of the formation of an oxbow lake

A meander cutoff occurs when a meander bend in a river is breached by a chute channel that connects the two closest parts of the bend. This causes the flow to abandon the meander and to continue straight downslope. Cutoffs are a natural part of the evolution of a meandering river, and have also been used to artificially shorten the length of meandering rivers for navigation.

View along the former Mississippi River riverbed at the Tennessee/Arkansas state line near Reverie, Tennessee (2007)

In March, 1876, a cutoff formed suddenly across the neck of a meander in the Mississippi River near Reverie, Tennessee, shortening the river's course and leaving the town connected to Arkansas but across the new river channel from the rest of Tennessee.

This geomorphology article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Fluvial landforms Geomorphology Geomorphology stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР? Meander Creek Reservoir Meander scar Look at other dictionaries: Cutoff — or cut off or cut off may refer to: Contents 1 Science and technology 2 Clothing and fashion 3 Roads and trails …   Wikipedia Meander — For other uses, see Meander (disambiguation). A hypothetical stream bed following a tilted valley. The maximum gradient is along the down valley axis represented by a hypothetical straight channel. Meanders develop, which lengthen the course of… …   Wikipedia meander — meanderer, n. meanderingly, adv. /mee an deuhr/, v.i. 1. to proceed by or take a winding or indirect course: The stream meandered through the valley. 2. to wander aimlessly; ramble: The talk meandered on. v.t. 3. Survey. to define the margin of… …   Universalium Meander — /mee an deuhr/, n. ancient name of the Menderes. * * * Extreme U bend in a stream, usually occurring in a series, that is caused by flow characteristics of the water. Meanders form in stream deposited sediments and may stack up upstream of an… …   Universalium Oxbow lake — Songhua River, northeast China. Swirls and curves, showing paths the river once took, as well as oxbow lakes, are easily seen in this satellite photo. An oxbow lake is a U shaped body of water formed when a wide meander from the main stem of a… …   Wikipedia Avulsion (river) — In sedimentary geology and fluvial geomorphology, avulsion is the rapid abandonment of a river channel and the formation of a new river channel. Avulsions occur as a result of channel slopes that are much lower than the slope that the river could …   Wikipedia Cut bank — For other uses, see Cut Bank (disambiguation). Cut bank erosion and point bar deposition as seen on the Powder River in Montana. A cut bank, also known as a river cliff, is an erosional feature of streams. Cut banks are found in abundance along… …   Wikipedia Dune — For other uses, see Dune (disambiguation). Erg Chebbi, Morocco …   Wikipedia Canyon — For other uses, see Canyon (disambiguation). Gorge redirects here. For the figure from Greek mythology, see Gorge (mythology). For the old English meaning, see throat. Grand Canyon, Arizona …   Wikipedia River delta — Nile River delta, as seen from Earth orbit. The Nile is an example of a wave dominated delta that has the classic Greek delta (Δ) shape after which river deltas were named. A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that… …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2025 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”