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Meander cutoff
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<h2 id="cutoff-channel">Cutoff channel</h2> <p>A river constantly evolves and as it does, meanders that were once a part of the river are abandoned in favor of a route that is more efficient for a river to take. As these old meanders are cutoff from the rest of the river, a new channel, or cutoff channel, is formed. </p> <ul><li>Neck cutoff: a river bend intersects itself. On the outer bends of a river, where water is flowing fastest, the river will erode away the land between adjacent outer bends and cause them to become close to each other; this leads to their intersection.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></li> <li>Chute cutoff: a channel cuts directly across the land bypassing an entire meandering loop in the river and abandoning it.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="formation">Formation</h2> <p>A chute cutoff channel can form during a <a href="/facts/Flood/FDQjJeXW">flood</a> resulting in an overbank flow where water goes over the banks of the river, creating <a href="/facts/Erosion/gaGJXy0W">erosion</a> of the surrounding landscape. More studies need to be done on how the magnitude of these floods and their <a href="/facts/Return_period/Xzr9WdvB">recurrence interval</a> are related to how often these chute cutoff channels form.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> Neck cutoff channels are commonly formed the same way when an overbank flow occurs during a flood and the narrow piece of land between a bend in a meander is eroded away; this is known as rush-cutting.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> A meander can also be cutoff by a channel due to excess <a href="/facts/Sediment/zsIH1A6U">sediment</a> upstream as a result of high erosion rates. This leads to a cutoff channel forming since a river might no longer be able to carry that sediment through the bend efficiently, so the river forms a new path for it to flow.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> Meander cutoffs can also be formed by humans; by removing a <a href="/facts/Beaver_dam/vGE8ee82">beaver dam</a>, the likelihood that meander cutoff channels will be formed downstream increases.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> A cutoff channel can be <a href="/facts/Engineering/RFVg8H3I">engineered</a> for the purpose of <a href="/facts/Navigation/sGGAJ0AQ">navigation</a>, traditionally for <a href="/facts/Water_mill/UTvzQY8S">water mill</a> <a href="/facts/Leat/VNEdGg8C">leats</a> and for controlling the possibility of any future flood were done on the lower reaches away from the tide. These meander cutoffs straighten a river.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> Many rivers are transformed by humans, becoming less sinuous.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="oxbow-lake">Oxbow lake</h2> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Oxbow_lake/FU3pYv6T">Oxbow lake</a></p> <p>When either of these meander cutoff processes takes place a bend of the river is left behind forming, in many instances, an oxbow lake. An <a href="/facts/Oxbow_lake/FU3pYv6T">oxbow lake</a> forms after there has been <a href="/facts/Deposition_(geology)/qxjlY8KL">deposition</a> of <a href="/facts/Sediment/zsIH1A6U">sediment</a>, by the new cutoff channel flowing adjacent to it, at the entrances of the abandoned bend; this seals the bend off from the rest of the river. Oxbow lakes have been shown to be an important <a href="/facts/Habitat/zo1DN2gA">habitat</a> for various species of <a href="/facts/Wildlife/Byh8cAyK">wildlife</a>. Recent efforts have been made to protect these important bodies of water from harmful practices such as <a href="/facts/Agriculture/TGztqzJs">agricultural</a> use.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> One proposed method to restore these oxbow lakes has been <a href="/facts/Dredging/81sUKhnF">dredging</a>. Dredging will remove sediment from the lake’s floor and will increase the lake’s depth. Collins Lake in <a href="/facts/Scotia%2c_New_York/uE48KQgP">Scotia, New York</a> is an example of this method. Oxbow lakes can be valuable for recreational purposes and in <a href="/facts/Salix%2c_Iowa/Q329MlxI">Salix, Iowa</a>, Browns Lake’s water level was increased for <a href="/facts/Recreation/moECrpPw">recreational</a> use.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="example">Example</h2> <p>On 7 March 1876 a cutoff formed suddenly across the neck of a meander, known as the "Devil's Elbow", in the <a href="/facts/Mississippi_River/RduarPzj">Mississippi River</a> near <a href="/facts/Reverie%2c_Tennessee/KyQNsS2B">Reverie, Tennessee</a>, shortening the river's course and leaving the town connected to <a href="/facts/Arkansas/Qun124UP">Arkansas</a>, but across the new river channel from the rest of Tennessee.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="importance">Importance</h2> <p>Some research has been done to show importance. Cutoffs have been shown to limit the age of a river meander and thus how large that meander can get, without which in areas of extreme sinuosity and low gradients means very long, slightly slowed, sections of rivers intensifying local flood risk.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a> Meander cutoffs influence the formation of a river’s <a href="/facts/Floodplain/EUKqIbj5">floodplain</a> and continue to do so as the river evolves.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19"><sup>19</sup></a> Cutoffs can affect the way that other river bends adjacent evolve over time, increasing their height of flooding and the direct momentum of the water which can then create further cutoffs and affect other bends further downstream throughout the river.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20"><sup>20</sup></a> Meander cutoffs directly reduce and tend to indirectly reduce a river’s <a href="/facts/Sinuosity/m2hHIgwz">sinuosity</a>, thus straightening out a river’s channel.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21"><sup>21</sup></a> Understanding the processes that form meander cutoffs can allow one to predict how a river will evolve in the future which is important for agricultural businesses and controlling future floods.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22"><sup>22</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"NSF Award Search: Award#0852865 - SGER: Fluvial Dynamics of a Large-River Meander Cutoff". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2017-05-12. <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0852865" target="_blank">https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0852865</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Meandering rivers | Rivers | Earth processes | OneGeology Kids | eXtra | OneGeology". www.onegeology.org. Retrieved 2017-05-12. <a href="https://www.onegeology.org/extra/kids/earthprocesses/meanderingrivers.html" target="_blank">https://www.onegeology.org/extra/kids/earthprocesses/meanderingrivers.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Subhasisch., Dey (2013-01-01). Fluvial hydrodynamics : sediment transport and scour phenomena. Springer. ISBN 9783642190612. OCLC 810950525. <a href="9783642190612" target="_blank">9783642190612</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Sinuosity". forest.mtu.edu. Retrieved 2017-05-12. <a href="http://forest.mtu.edu/faculty/hyslop/gis/sinuosity.html" target="_blank">http://forest.mtu.edu/faculty/hyslop/gis/sinuosity.html</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Subhasisch., Dey (2013-01-01). Fluvial hydrodynamics : sediment transport and scour phenomena. Springer. ISBN 9783642190612. OCLC 810950525. <a href="9783642190612" target="_blank">9783642190612</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Wang, Zhaoyin; Li, Zhiwei; Xu, Mengzhen; Yu, Guoan (2016-03-30). River Morphodynamics and Stream Ecology of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. CRC Press. ISBN 9781315682983. <a href="9781315682983" target="_blank">9781315682983</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Eekhout, J. P. C.; Hoitink, A. J. F. (2015). "Chute cutoff as a morphological response to stream reconstruction: The possible role of backwater" (PDF). Water Resources Research. 51 (5): 3339–3352. Bibcode:2015WRR....51.3339E. doi:10.1002/2014WR016539. <a href="http://www.joriseekhout.com/wp-content/themes/download/Eekhout15.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.joriseekhout.com/wp-content/themes/download/Eekhout15.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Eekhout, J. P. C.; Hoitink, A. J. F. (2015). "Chute cutoff as a morphological response to stream reconstruction: The possible role of backwater" (PDF). Water Resources Research. 51 (5): 3339–3352. Bibcode:2015WRR....51.3339E. doi:10.1002/2014WR016539. <a href="http://www.joriseekhout.com/wp-content/themes/download/Eekhout15.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.joriseekhout.com/wp-content/themes/download/Eekhout15.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Eekhout, J. P. C.; Hoitink, A. J. F. (2015). "Chute cutoff as a morphological response to stream reconstruction: The possible role of backwater" (PDF). Water Resources Research. 51 (5): 3339–3352. Bibcode:2015WRR....51.3339E. doi:10.1002/2014WR016539. <a href="http://www.joriseekhout.com/wp-content/themes/download/Eekhout15.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.joriseekhout.com/wp-content/themes/download/Eekhout15.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Wang, Zhaoyin; Li, Zhiwei; Xu, Mengzhen; Yu, Guoan (2016-03-30). River Morphodynamics and Stream Ecology of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. CRC Press. ISBN 9781315682983. <a href="9781315682983" target="_blank">9781315682983</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>"Meander Cutting" (PDF). The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. <a href="http://dnrc.mt.gov/licenses-and-permits/stream-permitting-book/chap2.pdf" target="_blank">http://dnrc.mt.gov/licenses-and-permits/stream-permitting-book/chap2.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>"Meander Cutting" (PDF). The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. <a href="http://dnrc.mt.gov/licenses-and-permits/stream-permitting-book/chap2.pdf" target="_blank">http://dnrc.mt.gov/licenses-and-permits/stream-permitting-book/chap2.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Julien, Pierre (2008). Restoration of Abandoned Channels (PDF). Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State. pp. 1–42. S2CID 126584638. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-12-11. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171211053449/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bc24/64488ded7c0fdb2be655a1bb40378ec8d60c.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20171211053449/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bc24/64488ded7c0fdb2be655a1bb40378ec8d60c.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Eekhout, J. P. C.; Hoitink, A. J. F. (2015). "Chute cutoff as a morphological response to stream reconstruction: The possible role of backwater" (PDF). Water Resources Research. 51 (5): 3339–3352. Bibcode:2015WRR....51.3339E. doi:10.1002/2014WR016539. <a href="http://www.joriseekhout.com/wp-content/themes/download/Eekhout15.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.joriseekhout.com/wp-content/themes/download/Eekhout15.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Julien, Pierre (2008). Restoration of Abandoned Channels (PDF). Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State. pp. 1–42. S2CID 126584638. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-12-11. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171211053449/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bc24/64488ded7c0fdb2be655a1bb40378ec8d60c.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20171211053449/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bc24/64488ded7c0fdb2be655a1bb40378ec8d60c.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Julien, Pierre (2008). Restoration of Abandoned Channels (PDF). Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State. pp. 1–42. S2CID 126584638. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-12-11. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171211053449/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bc24/64488ded7c0fdb2be655a1bb40378ec8d60c.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20171211053449/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bc24/64488ded7c0fdb2be655a1bb40378ec8d60c.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>Christine A. Klein, Sandra B. Zellmer (2014). Mississippi River Tragedies: A Century of Unnatural Disaster. NYU Press. p. 19. ISBN 9781479856169. <a href="9781479856169" target="_blank">9781479856169</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>Camporeale, C.; Perucca, E.; Ridolfi, L. (2008). "Significance of cutoff in meandering river dynamics" (PDF). Journal of Geophysical Research. 113 (F1): F01001. Bibcode:2008JGRF..113.1001C. doi:10.1029/2006JF000694. <a href="https://iris.polito.it/bitstream/11583/1677220/1/Camporeale_Perucca_Ridolfi_2008.pdf" target="_blank">https://iris.polito.it/bitstream/11583/1677220/1/Camporeale_Perucca_Ridolfi_2008.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:19"><p>Constantine, J. A.; Dunne, T. (2008). "Meander cutoff and the controls on the production of oxbow lakes". Geology. 36 (1): 23–26. Bibcode:2008Geo....36...23C. doi:10.1130/G24130A.1. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:20"><p>"NSF Award Search: Award#0852865 - SGER: Fluvial Dynamics of a Large-River Meander Cutoff". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2017-05-12. <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0852865" target="_blank">https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0852865</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:21"><p>Wang, Zhaoyin; Li, Zhiwei; Xu, Mengzhen; Yu, Guoan (2016-03-30). River Morphodynamics and Stream Ecology of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. CRC Press. ISBN 9781315682983. <a href="9781315682983" target="_blank">9781315682983</a> <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:22"><p>Wang, Zhaoyin; Li, Zhiwei; Xu, Mengzhen; Yu, Guoan (2016-03-30). River Morphodynamics and Stream Ecology of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. CRC Press. ISBN 9781315682983. <a href="9781315682983" target="_blank">9781315682983</a> <a href="#fnref:22" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>