An oxbow lake on the Annapolis River
Meriam Webster defines an OXBOW as:
1 : a U-shaped frame forming a collar about an ox's neck and holding the yoke in place.
2 : something (such as a bend in a river) resembling an oxbow.
. An example of an oxbow collar
You will observe an oxbow lake that has formed on the Annapolis River. Ironically, more people may be familiar with the Australian term (if not the formation), where they refer to this formation as a "billabong".
An oxbow lake forms when a river creates a meander, due to the river's eroding the outside bank and depositing on the inside bank. 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, possibly during a flood, cutting off the meander. The opening is eventually filled in with sediment, forming an oxbow lake. These lakes often become wetland habitats for all sorts of wildlife. This lake may begin to fill with sediment (from floods or decay organic matter) and become an oxbow swamp and eventually completely fills in to leave a meander scar. See the illustration below that shows how the oxbow lake to meander scar progression takes place. This can sometimes be noticed from the air (or satellite) as a scar on the land next to the river or a different patch of growth.
The most famous meandering river in North America is the Mississippi. There are many oxbow lakes alongside the Mississippi River and its tributaries. The largest oxbow lake in North America, Lake Chicot (located near Lake Village, Arkansas), was originally part of the Mississippi River, as was Horseshoe Lake, the namesake for the town of Horseshoe Lake, Arkansas. Reelfoot Lake in west Tennessee is another notable oxbow lake; it was formed when the Mississippi River took a new channel following the 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes.
The image below shows an unidentified section of the Mississippi and the oxbows associated with it.
The Annapolis River is not quite as old (or as large) as the Mississippi, but it is a slow-moving river that has many meandering turns which become very visible on Google Earth. This specific oxbow "lake" is more of a pond, but it is very accessible as it is along Palmer Road and is very visible from the raised roadway. If you look carefully at the satellite images of the Annapolis River and it's tributaries on Google Earth, you can pick out many oxbow lakes,swamps and scars.
In order to log this cache, you must answer the following questions about the site.
1- It is a fairly small "lake" and curves away from the road with the filled in side not visible. Estimate how large the formation is from the outside edges and how large is the apparent "island" from side to side?
2 - How far is it from the river itself? You can use the bridge as the edge of the river and use the edge of the oxbow nearest the river.
3 - After observing the site, list one mechanism that may cause this feature to eventually fill in?
4 – What sort of wetland wildlife did you observe during your visit? (none is a valid answer).
Please pay attention to traffic! This road does not have a lot of traffic, but there is limited room on the shoulder.
You may log your find before receiving confirmation from me, but any logs not meeting ALL the requirements mentioned will be deleted.
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