Folly Meander or Oxbow EarthCache

Folly Meander or Oxbow

Glenholme

This settlement is located about a mile upstream from the mouth of the Folly River, on the north side of Cobequid Bay. In August 1755, this settlement was destroyed. In 1762, James Flemming, a native of Londonderry, Ireland took up his lot in this part of Londonderry township. The soil was stony and to undertake farming seemed a folly so the place was called Flemmings Folly. When the settlement sprang up it was called “Folly Village”. In 1909 by act of the Provincial Legislature, the name was changed to Glenholme, possibly after Glenholme, Peebles, Scotland but the river remained Folly river.

Folly river follows parallel to route 4 of Nova Scotia provincial highways. Many spots along the route you can see the fast moving river at the side of the road.

Meanders usually occur in the middle course of a river where the river starts to slow down. A meander is when a river flows in wide loops. In the middle course of a river there is a lot of erosion and deposition, and this is why we have meanders.

Here is a diagram describing a meander.

Take a close look at how the water flows.

Water moves fastest on the outsides of bends. One way you can think of it is by imagining a pendulum on a string. If you swing the pendulum, it will move very fast. But if you look at the string close to your hand, you will notice that it is not moving very fast at all.

The same thing is happening in the river. The outside bend is eroded and the loose material is then deposited on the inside bank. Slowly, a meander is formed.

Oxbow lakes are also common in the middle course of a river. Essentially, an Oxbow lake is a meander where the ends of the loop have met, closing it off altogether. The result is a horseshoe shaped lake, which is where the name 'Oxbow' comes from.

To log this Earthcache visit the viewing location. Please answer the following questions and send in a timely manner to geocaching profile or email. Answers not received will result in deleted logs. 

Look to the north to view the earthcache.

1 - Is this an Oxbow or Meander?

2 - How wide is the river at the end’s of the island?

3 - After observing the site, list one mechanism that may cause this feature to eventually fill in?

4 - Post a picture of the river or the area.

[REQUIRED] In accordance with the updated guidelines from Geocaching Headquarters published in June 2019, photos are now an acceptable logging requirement and WILL BE REQUIRED TO LOG THIS CACHE. Please provide a photo of yourself or a personal item in the picture to prove you visited the site.