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

[BestZebbie]

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….

There are some on the river trent.

I am a geography teacher. They are definetely not a hoax. Ox bow lakes are only found on the middle and lower course of rivers so this may be why you do not see many in your area.
As said previously hard engineering and river straightening can also change how rivers flow in urban areas.
Typically many UK coastal and river areas have been urbanised so the natural formation of rivers will not be seen in these areas.

Perfectly natural formations. I show this video to my students all the time.

Awww, I was hoping it was the bison lady too😆Love a bit of Geography tho.

I am still miffed that I didn't get a mark in my year 9 geography exam, when it asked for an example of oxbow lakes. Our teacher had not taught us any names but I had recently spotted (what looked like a small) one from a train window so I said there was one near the train track on a particular route. I thought I deserved a mark for applying my knowledge to the real world, but apparently not 😅... So I dropped geography in revenge.

I am kind of loving the idea that there might be an ox bow lake conspiracy in geography education.

We learned about them in the 70’s in Scotland and there is one very near my childhood home.

This made me laugh. I don’t remember anything from Geography at school ( I’m 47 ) other than ox bow lakes. And now ur saying they are not a thing 😂😂😂😂😂

I always think of QI when I hear about Oxbow lakes:

Oh @Hedonism that’s a bloody crime!!
OP, get yourself to the Amazon river, ds did a project on the Amazon river and he told me there are loads there 😂

DS learned about them in Scotland. Seems to be a standard geography thing!

An oxbow lake conspiracy! Bloody geographers. First so-called 'climate change', now this.

There's some nice examples along the River Dove on the Staffs/ Derbs border. They're mostly been left to be as they gradually dry up and form a natural field boundary with ditch and hedgerows.

I once camped by the Dove and realised that there was a pattern to the undulations in the field. I was a tad over-excited when I realised that it was the final remnants of an oxbow lake!

I'm a bit depressed now to find that everyone remembers ox-bow lakes, I thought I was the only one! Learnt about them in the 80's and saw pictures of them in the Amazon, amazing!

Aye. All the billabongs in Australia, hoax. All the resacas along the Rio Grande in the US, hoax. And this pretty nifty video using satellite images to actually show an oxbow lake forming in Peru, absolute hoax, the dirty bastards.

@Sunnycornwallanddevon Cross posted with you! You’ll love the video then. Uses satellite images to “show” one forming in the Amazon. It wasn’t finished until 2013.

I think that ox-bow lakes are one of the only things that I remember from O Level Geography apart from features of glacier valleys (helped by visits to the Lake District). I seem to recall that I kept writing ox-box lake. No ox-bow (or even ox-box) lakes have been seen in the wild, plenty of meanders though.

Why are they called oxbow? Is is because they look like the horns of an ox? We definitely learned about them in Wales.

Oxbow lakes and glacial cirques are the only things I remember from geography

Because they look like the collar that oxen wear to pull ploughs. I work with rivers, i have asked this question in the past!

Yes, oxbow lakes just stay with you. I always remember drumlins as well.

I work with rivers and the other day was out looking at bank erosion. My colleague had a very old map of the original route of the river which was much more sinuous with forming oxbow lakes. We think it was first managed (straightened) maybe 100 years ago. Many rivers have had their meanders managed out although there are some really good projects reconnecting them with their flood plains and re-meandering. I suspect that’s why you don’t see them very often.

Me too!

I’m disappointed. Ox-bow lakes are one of the few things I remember from secondary school geography. I thought they must be all over the place!

Thank you for sharing 😊