The River Canard, originally named Rivière-aux-Canards ("Duck River") is a major waterway providing drainage of southwestern Essex County from south of Essex near Gesto, past McGregor heading west and finally to LaSalle, ON. The river snakes past fields and quarries and provides access to water for farmlands rich in natural nutrients.
Formation of an Oxbow Lake
An oxbow lake forms along the shores of a river and starts off as a curve or meander. The meander will have two sets of curves, one curving away from the straight path of the river and once curving back. The outer curves that are closest in distance are called concave banks and as these two banks erode over time, they will eventually connect and the river takes on a new, straighter path.
The original meander will remain open with water from the main river and during times of flood will act as an additional flood plain, however as more and more sediment washes down the river, the meander is often blocked of from the main water source.
Oxbows normally form in flat, low laying plains.
Formation of an Oxbow Lake
Logging Requirements
To Log this Earthcache
Please send me your answers within 4 days of posting your found log. If there is more than one cacher in your party, include the names in your group. Only one person needs to send me the group answers. No spoiler photo's please. Found logs posted without proof you visited the site will be deleted.
Posted Coordinates
- At the posted coordinates, is the Oxbow lake cut off from the main river or is there still water flowing into the meander?
- Do you see open water (free of marsh plants) or is the lake mostly covered by marsh type plants?
Waypoint # 2
- At the second waypoint, is the Oxbow lake cut off from the main river or is there still water flowing into the meander?
- Do you see open water (free of marsh plants) or is the lake mostly covered by marsh type plants?
- Based on your observations at both locations, do you believe that this Oxbow lake will eventually become totally cut off from the main Canard River?
From information on cache page
- What are the outer curves that are closest in distance called?
- What was the original “English” name for River Canard or Rivière-aux-Canards?
From Video on cache page
- According to the video, what two things are needed to take a straight stretch of river to form a “bendy” one (also known as a meander) ?
- According to the video, the length of an S-curve meander tends to be how many times the width of the channel?
