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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think that ox-bow lakes are a hoax?

118 replies

BestZebbie · 15/05/2023 01:23

As my son is studying rivers, he has been learning about the processes of erosion and deposition creating horseshoe shaped ox-bow lakes from meanders.

He wanted to know if there were any near us and following this I have fallen down a rabbit hole of trying to locate natural ox-bow lakes in England. There seem to be a handful where there is a man made cutting straightening the river, and millions of big loops that are very ripe for breaking through, but if this is such an inevitable natural process, why aren’t they everywhere along all the major rivers in the country?
Do they fill back in after they form?

I realise that it takes a long time to erode one, but there has been enough time to create lots of other geological features (water-cut gorges, stalactites, mountains with sea fossils near the top etc) including the rivers themselves - and the UK is famously rainy, so it’s not like there is a lack of water to flow through the system!

Please advise, geography experts….

OP posts:
Thread gallery
19
GoldenGorilla · 15/05/2023 01:30

There’s some in Sussex - cuckmere haven - so they do exist I think

CelerEtAudax · 15/05/2023 01:36

I must admit the only ones I know of are all in the US.

whosaidtha · 15/05/2023 04:52

They mostly just dry up. Especially if they are many years old.

Clymene · 15/05/2023 04:54

Disappointed you're not the wild bison woman to be honest Grin

loverofpants · 15/05/2023 04:59

This has made me smile!

They tend to dry up, some form marshes if the land stays wet but a lot just form a scar in the landscape over time.

MrsTerryPratchett · 15/05/2023 05:02

Clymene · 15/05/2023 04:54

Disappointed you're not the wild bison woman to be honest Grin

It always takes a while... Still might be.

Can2022getanyworse · 15/05/2023 05:08

As above op, takes a while to break through - what area are you in, happy to go on a Google maps wormhole for you!

HuntingoftheSnark · 15/05/2023 05:09

GoldenGorilla · 15/05/2023 01:30

There’s some in Sussex - cuckmere haven - so they do exist I think

Annual first year geography trip at my secondary school: Seaford, meandering Cuckmere, Seven Sisters and oxbow lakes. Your OP took me back.

Can2022getanyworse · 15/05/2023 05:35

You often have to look for slight peculiarities to the surrounding geography - here are a few from local-ish-to-me rivers

AIBU to think that ox-bow lakes are a hoax?
AIBU to think that ox-bow lakes are a hoax?
AIBU to think that ox-bow lakes are a hoax?
AIBU to think that ox-bow lakes are a hoax?
Can2022getanyworse · 15/05/2023 05:47

And a couple on the Oxford end of the Thames

SuffolkUnicorn · 15/05/2023 05:47

In Suffolk

Can2022getanyworse · 15/05/2023 05:48

Pics didn't attach

AIBU to think that ox-bow lakes are a hoax?
AIBU to think that ox-bow lakes are a hoax?
NowZeusHasLainWithLeda · 15/05/2023 06:04

Clymene · 15/05/2023 04:54

Disappointed you're not the wild bison woman to be honest Grin

That's why I clicked. Not gonna lie.

Onetreelake · 15/05/2023 06:10

Did anyone in Scotland learn about these? It seems like all anyone remembers from Geography in England but I swear we never did it at all over the border! Are ox-bow lakes more common in England, geographers?

SmartHome · 15/05/2023 06:22

My son had a geography GCSE field trip to Seafood Cuckmere Haven last week and comfirmed there were oxbow lakes on whatever river that is. He bumped into friends from a different school doing same thing so maybe that's the only place in the south of the country!

Does the Thames have any?

SmartHome · 15/05/2023 06:25

Langham Pond in Surrey is apparently an oxbow lake of the Thames!

alpinia · 15/05/2023 06:29

You can often see the remnants of them on Google Earth or Maps when you look at the satellite imagery. It's quite fascinating Usually they are filled in little arcs of green near the river route.

slipperypenguin · 15/05/2023 06:29

@Onetreelake I learned about these in standard grade geography about 18 years ago

SquidwardBound · 15/05/2023 06:34

Ox bow lakes were definitely taught in Scottish geography when I was at school. You probably just don’t remember because there was so much more about u-shaped valleys. 🤣

mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork · 15/05/2023 06:42

We were taught about oxbow lakes in the mid 1960s.

piefacedClique · 15/05/2023 06:42

Ooooo! Oxbow lakes! Geoporn!

QueenOfThorns · 15/05/2023 06:42

This made me laugh, it’s all I remember from geography too! As a teenager (so not too long after learning about this), I was in a plane somewhere over Africa and saw a river that was forming the most amazing oxbow lakes all along its length. So they definitely do exist Smile

Leapintothelightning · 15/05/2023 06:55

Onetreelake · 15/05/2023 06:10

Did anyone in Scotland learn about these? It seems like all anyone remembers from Geography in England but I swear we never did it at all over the border! Are ox-bow lakes more common in England, geographers?

I definitely learnt about them in Scotland - can't remember if it was standard grade or higher though! It definitely isn't as ingrained in my head as how a Corrie is formed though - could still draw those diagrams now!

WonderingWanda · 15/05/2023 07:10

Just to add the UK is so densely populated that many meanders are now heavily engineered to stop them eroding through. One near me has lots of defences if it broke through would undermine a major road.