Since setting this EarthCache, the flow of the water and the surrounding area has changed in just 6 years, which goes to show how dynamic natural forces can be. I have had to update the cache page as of Aug 2020, due to the changes and update the questions.
An oxbow lake is a U-shaped body of water that forms when a wide meander from the main stem of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. This landform is so named for its distinctive curved shape, resembling the bow pin of an oxbow. In Australia, an oxbow lake is known as a billabong, from the indigenous language Wiradjuri. In south Texas oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called resacas. The word "oxbow" can also refer to a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether or not it is cut off from the main stream.
Geology
An oxbow lake forms when a river creates a meander, due to the river's eroding the bank through hydraulic action, abrasion and erosion. After a long period of time, the meander becomes very curved, and eventually the neck of the meander becomes narrower and the river cuts through the neck during a flood, cutting off the meander and forming an oxbow lake When a river reaches a low-lying plain, often in its final course to the sea or a lake, it meanders widely. In the vicinity of a river bend, deposition occurs on the convex bank (the bank with the smaller radius). In contrast, both lateral erosion and undercutting occur on the cut bank or concave bank (the bank with the greater radius.) Continuous deposition on the convex bank and erosion of the concave bank of a meandering river cause the formation of a very pronounced meander with two concave banks getting closer. The narrow neck of land between the two neighboring concave banks is finally cut through, either by lateral erosion of the two concave banks or by the strong currents of a flood. When this happens, a new straighter river channel is created and an abandoned meander loop, called a cutoff, is formed. When deposition finally seals off the cutoff from the river channel, an oxbow lake is formed. This process can occur over a time scale from a few years to several decades and may sometimes become essentially static.
For an interactive experience of how a oxbow lake is formed please visit this link
To claim a find please e-mail me the answers to the following questions:
Please let me know if there has been sustained rainfall or not recently, as this may affected your answers. Also please wear appropriate footwear. You may need to walk on the pebble bed if safe to do so, to get some answers.
Q1 a) Now you have visited this site, and played the interactive experience, what stage is this formation at using the pictures from the interactive experience from top to bottom 1,2,3 or 4. b) At the head line co-ords, please describe what you can see?
c) How wide is the channel feeding the nearly formed lake at the moment (Where the water is actually flowing in to it). Also how wide is the new channel (where the main body of water is flowing)
Q2 a) At the 2nd waypoint. Can you see a difference in the flow of the water from the new channel compared to what you see directly in front of you. (look over to the tree that has been cut back drastically)
b) Can you see any other kind of erosion here? (again look to where the tree has been cut)
Q3 With everything that you have learnt. What will happen next?