ox-bow

[Mark A. Mandel]

Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OAK.CATS.OHIOU.EDU> writes:

>>>>>
Relatedly, what's the origin of "ox-bow"?  We have an Oxbow Trail, and of
course there's _The Oxbow Incident_ (afraid I never read it).  Does it come
from the shape of an ox yoke (which I do know, having preserved my
grandfather's)?
<<<<<

Ayup. As I recall reading in geography class or somethin' like it, it
starts with a bend in a river. The dynamics of water flow cause the water
to move faster along the outside of the curve than it does along the
inside, so the river tends to undercut the bank on that side. The bank
falls in and the river widens a bit in that direction. Meanwhile, the slow
flow on the inner edge leads to silting-up and *that* bank tends to expand
into the river.

As a result, the course of the river migrates outward and the bend
gradually grows into a bulge, then a meander, then maybe even a near-loop
running over 180 degrees. This is an ox-bow. (AmHer 3ed: U-shaped bend in a
river.) So is the land within the curve.

-- Mark