How are oxbow lakes formed? i can't do geography :)?

Question

How are oxbow lakes formed? i can't do geography :)?

Answer 1

when a river meanders freely it foms big menader loops which will eventually join it self cutting a new channel and abandoning the old meander which will became an ox bow lake which will eventually dry up ....

Answer 2

An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake water body formed when a wide meander from the mainstem of a river is cut off to create a lake. This landform is called an oxbow lake for the distinctive curved shape that results from this process. In Australia, an oxbow lake is called a billabong.

By itself, the word oxbow can also mean a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether or not it is cut off from the mainstream

Answer 3

I just had this in college a few semesters ago.... Oxbow lakes are formed when meandering streams/rivers are cut off to create a lake. It is a U shaped lake because the river once curved there, but eventually cut off at that location.  

Textbook description:

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 neighbouring 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 cut-off, is formed. When deposition finally seals off the cut-off 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.