Meander Landscape

A river meander is also known as a snake meander and is a landscape composed of meandering river channels. It is a common river morphology of the middle and lower river courses on plains, and it indicates that the river has developed into the mature stage. The flow in the meander often forms a vortex, causing the main current to skew towards the concave bank, which is subject to strong erosion. The flow along the convex bank is relatively slow, resulting in deposition of sand and mud. As the concave bank retreats and the convex bank continues to advance, the river channel will develop a series of curves like a snake. This feature is called a river meander. Meanders are important objects for studying river development and evolution, and they are also important river landscape elements. They are significant tourism resources. For example, meanders are the main landscape features of Yanchuan Huanghe (Yellow River) National Geopark in Shaanxi Province. The so-called ‘Nine Meanders’ of the...