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Meander identification and geology

A sinuous, looping curve in the course of a river, formed by the lateral erosion of the outer bank cut bank and deposition on the inner bank point bar of each bend. Meandering is characteristic of rivers with moderate gradient and fine-grained cohesive banks. Over time, meanders migrate laterally and downstream, eventually forming cutoffs that produce oxbow lakes. Field: geomorphology. Example: The lower Mississippi River is famous for its large-scale meanders, which migrate laterally at rates of up to 20 m per year and have been repeatedly cut off to form oxbow lakes across the floodplain.. Related terms: Fluvial, Oxbow lake, Point bar, Cut bank.

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Sources, scope & corrections

These authoritative resources support category-level nomenclature, terminology, identification methods, and safety. When a specimen-specific safety warning appears, the public-health source listed here directly supports that precaution. They are not line-by-line citations for every other property on this entry, and natural specimens vary.

Editorial owner
GeoMiner
Last updated
2026-03-30T15:19:42.055955+00:00
Review status
Published; not independently peer-reviewed
  • USGS Thesaurus — U.S. Geological Survey. Controlled earth-science terminology used to describe USGS information resources.
  • Glossary of Geologic Terms — U.S. National Park Service. Geologic definitions prepared by the NPS Geologic Resources Inventory.

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Common questions

What does Meander mean in geology?
A sinuous, looping curve in the course of a river, formed by the lateral erosion of the outer bank cut bank and deposition on the inner bank point bar of each bend. Meandering is characteristic of rivers with moderate gradient and fine-grained cohesive banks. Over time, meanders migrate laterally and downstream, eventually forming cutoffs that produce oxbow lakes.
What is an example of Meander?
The lower Mississippi River is famous for its large-scale meanders, which migrate laterally at rates of up to 20 m per year and have been repeatedly cut off to form oxbow lakes across the floodplain.
Which earth-science field uses the term Meander?
Meander is used in geomorphology.
Which terms are related to Meander?
Related terms in this reference are Fluvial, Oxbow lake, Point bar, Cut bank.

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