The listed coordinates will take you to an information sign along the Neuse River. Using this sign and some information here, answer a few questions to receive credit for this Earthcache.
PLEASE email the answers to me! DO NOT post them here in your log!
1. On this side of the river do you see silt and sediment deposits ( convex bank) or a steep bank (concave bank)?
2. As long as the river is not high, you should be able to walk ahead down some steps. Estimate the height of the bank that you just came down.
3. Describe in your own words what type of ground is at the bottom of the steps?
4. Is the river moving faster or slower on this side?
5. In your own words, please tell me how an OXBOW in a river is transformed into an OXBOW LAKE.
6. Optional! Post a photo of you or your group here today.
An oxbow 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. At this point the river will become straight again.
Meanders that form oxbows have two sets of curves: one curving away from the straight path of the river and one curving back. The corners of the curves closest to each other are called concave banks. The concave banks erode over time. The force of the rivers flowing water wears away the land on the meanders concave banks.
The banks opposite the concave banks are called convex banks. The opposite of erosion happens here. Silt and sediment build up on convex banks. This build-up is called deposition.
Erosion and deposition eventually cause a new channel to be cut through the small piece of land at the narrow end of the meander. The river makes a shortcut. Oxbow lakes are the remains of the bend in the river.
http://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/oxbow-lake/