Ameander scar, occasionallymeander scarp,[1] is a geological feature formed by the remnants of ameandering water channel. They are characterized by "a crescentic cut in a bluff or valley wall, produced by...a meandering stream."[2][3][4] They are often formed during the creation ofoxbow lakes.[5][6][7]
The term itself may refer alternatively to the actual cuts into the bank of a bluff,[1] or to the general feature of a drying or driedmeander.[5] Both uses, however, describe features of the same process.
Meander scars are caused by the varying velocities of current within the river channel. Due to higher velocity current on the outer banks of the river through the bend, moreerosion occurs causing the characteristic steep outer slopes.[1] In certain habitats, if the scar has sufficient water, or as an oxbow lake fills with sediment, these areas may becomemarshes orwetlands.[8]
^abcChristopher G. Morris, Academic Press dictionary of science and technology, Gulf Professional Publishing, 1992,ISBN0-12-200400-0, page 1333
^Robert Latimer Bates, Julia A. Jackson, American Geological Institute, Dictionary of geological terms, Random House, Inc., 1984,ISBN0-385-18101-9, page 315
^Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Geography, M.S. Rao, 2005,ISBN81-7488-154-9, page 745
^Jesse V. Howell, Glossary of geology and related sciences: a cooperative project of the American Geological Institute, 1960, page 180
^Stephen Codrington, Planet geography, Solid Star Press, 2005,ISBN0-9579819-3-7, page 158
^Gregorich,Soil and environmental science dictionary, CRC Press, 2001,ISBN0-8493-3115-3, page 221
^Ritter, Michael E., The Physical Environment: an Introduction to Physical Geography, 2006,"Alluvial Landforms Page 2". Archived fromthe original on 2010-05-26. Retrieved2010-02-01.
