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The Drava River pp 177–198Cite as

Oxbow Lakes: Hydromorphology

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Abstract

Cut-off oxbows are the most remarkable fluvial landforms and the most valuable wetland habitats in the protected floodplain of the Lower Drava River in Hungary. Their geomorphic evolution, however, has not been studied yet. Recently, a complex hydromorphological survey of oxbows covered their geographical position, connection with the main Drava channel, water balance, hydrogeological properties, water retention capacity and groundwater flow in their environs. The purpose of the investigations was to assess the potential for oxbow lake and floodplain rehabilitation. Two zones of oxbows, possibly differring in age and geomorphological evolution (the date of cutoff), have been identified and preliminarily described. The focus of research was on the Cún-Szaporca lake system, part of the Danube-Drava National Park and a Ramsar area, where the clogging of the oxbow bed, a critical factor of transmissivity, was analyzed in detail. For planning landscape-scale rehabilitation (the Old Drava Programme) more information on the old courses of the Drava and its preserved but gradually disappearing traces (the present-day oxbow lakes) would be necessary.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful for financial support from the Hungarian National Scientific Fund (OTKA, contracts K 104552 and K 108755) and for help from the South-Transdanubian Water Management Directorate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical and Environmental Geography, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Pécs, Ifjúság útja 6, Pécs, 7624, Hungary

    Dénes Lóczy, József Dezső, Szabolcs Czigány & Gabriella Tóth

  2. Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Pécs, Ifjúság útja 6, Pécs, 7624, Hungary

    Péter Gyenizse

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  1. Dénes Lóczy
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  2. József Dezső
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Correspondence to Dénes Lóczy .

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    Dénes Lóczy

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Lóczy, D., Dezső, J., Gyenizse, P., Czigány, S., Tóth, G. (2019). Oxbow Lakes: Hydromorphology. In: Lóczy, D. (eds) The Drava River. Springer Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92816-6_12

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