A river bend with outside faster flow forming cliffs and inside deposition.

A river bend with outside faster flow forming cliffs and inside deposition.

• A. Distributaries
• B. Lateral Erosion
• C. Meander
• D. Flood Plain

Answer: (C)

A meander forms because the flow around a bend isn’t the same on both sides. As water goes around the outside of the bend, it moves faster. That stronger current erodes the outer bank, creating a steep river cliff. On the inside of the bend, the flow is slower, so sediment is dropped and builds up a deposit called a point bar. Over time these opposing processes sculpt a winding, looping river path—the meander. This feature is typical of rivers in their middle and lower courses as they move through floodplains, and it can migrate downstream as erosion and deposition continue. If the bends become very tight, the river may cut through to form an oxbow lake. Distributaries describe split channels in a delta, floodplain refers to the broad flat area formed by repeated floods, and lateral erosion is the broader process of eroding sides of a riverbank, not the specific landform described.

A meander forms because the flow around a bend isn’t the same on both sides. As water goes around the outside of the bend, it moves faster. That stronger current erodes the outer bank, creating a steep river cliff. On the inside of the bend, the flow is slower, so sediment is dropped and builds up a deposit called a point bar. Over time these opposing processes sculpt a winding, looping river path—the meander.

This feature is typical of rivers in their middle and lower courses as they move through floodplains, and it can migrate downstream as erosion and deposition continue. If the bends become very tight, the river may cut through to form an oxbow lake.

Distributaries describe split channels in a delta, floodplain refers to the broad flat area formed by repeated floods, and lateral erosion is the broader process of eroding sides of a riverbank, not the specific landform described.