As they flow, they are constantly cutting, scouring, depositing and reworking the landscape. But, when viewed from the air, the curves and abandoned oxbows, the point bars and islands reveal how rivers modify our landscape. If you were on the banks of the Connecticut River 12,000 years ago, you would be under about 200 feet of water. This was a time when a giant glacial lake, extending 150 miles from northern VT to Rocky Hill, CT, filled our valley. The lake drained about 10,000 years ago, and since then the CT River has been meandering over the old lake bed, laying down thick deposits of rich river silts and making the valley one of the best for farming in all New England.
All rivers tend to flow in a sinuous pattern.
As the water moves downstream, complicated eddies and spiraling currents create turbulent flows that loosen and lift sediments as they pass. If the bank is made of easily erodible material, the force of the water tends to cut it away. On the opposite side of the river, the current is slower and sediments settle out and build up. Over time, the curves grow larger and develop into enormous loops. Eventually the river loop is cut off and an oxbow lake is formed.