Oxbow Lakes In India are generated by river bends that are U-shaped or curved and cut off from the main river flow. In addition, it goes by the names cutoff lake, loop lake, and horseshoe lake. These are the bodies of water that form when a river portion diverges from its main channel. This is brought on by erosional and depositional stresses at the river’s meandering sections.
The entire lake progressively silts up, turns into a bog or swamp, and then evaporates altogether because oxbow lakes are stillwater lakes without a current moving through them. As a river reaches a low-lying plain, it frequently meanders considerably on its way to the sea or a lake. On the convex bank at a river bend, deposition takes place. On the cut bank or concave bank, however, both lateral erosion and undercutting take place. A meandering river develops a very prominent meander with two concave banks getting closer as a result of ongoing deposition on the convex bank and erosion on the concave bank. In this article, we will discuss the Oxbow Lakes In India.
Oxbow Lakes in India: Features
The features of the Oxbow Lakes In India are as follows:
- An abandoned meander loop in a river channel has a small lake called Oxbow Lake.
- A lake is made up of a river’s U-shaped or curved bends that are cut off from the river’s main flow.
- Every river has a unique collection of bends and twists, or meanders, that sculpt the landscape in a particular way.
- Due to ongoing erosion and deposition along the meanders’ borders, the end of the looping meander gets closer and closer.
- Eventually, the meander loops cut off access to the river, creating an oxbow lake.
- A meander’s outer curve can be accentuated to the point where, as a result of vigorous erosion action, the inner ends of the loop are cut off from the main channel and exist as autonomous bodies of water known as oxbow lakes.
- These bodies of water will eventually become marshes.
- In the Indo-Gangetic plains, where the Ganga has migrated south, multiple oxbow lakes have been left to the north of the current Ganga channel.
List of Oxbow Lakes In India
There are two Oxbow Lakes In India. They are
- Kanwar Tal Lakev
- Lake Vynthala
Kanwar Tal Lake
- The Biggest Oxbow Lake In India is the Kanwar Taal, sometimes referred to as Kabar Taal Lake or Kabartal Wetland, and it is situated in the Begusarai district of Bihar, India.
- It is a remnant oxbow lake created by the Gandak River, a tributary of the Ganga, as a result of geological meandering.
- In the northwest of Bihar, it covers 2,620 hectares of the Indo-Gangetic plains.
- The Site is one of a chain of 18 wetlands that together make up a sizable floodplain. The Wetland is a key stopover along the Central Asian Flyway, with 58 migrating waterbirds passing through to rest and refuel.
- With over 50 species identified, it is also an important hotspot for fish biodiversity.
Lake Vynthala
- It was created by a “cutoff” of the neighbouring Chalakudy River in Kerala.
- In the entire state of Kerala, the lake is the only Oxbow lake that was naturally formed.
- At different parts of the plane, the rivers that originate in the mountains split and assume the shape of the letter “U.”
- The natural movement of rivers is referred to as “meandering.”
- In “meandering” sections, where the water will move slowly, a lot of dirt from the mountain will be dumped on that side of the river.
- Floods allow the two sides of the “meandering” to become free, leading to the creation of Ox-Bow Lakes.
Oxbow Lakes In India: Significance
The significance of the Oxbow Lakes In India is as follows:
- By removing debris and agricultural runoff from the main river flow, oxbow lakes support the health of a river’s ecology.
- Oxbow lakes frequently form amidst low-lying, flat plains close to where a river empties into another body of water.
- These plains have many rivers with significant meandering.
- Oxbow lakes are lakes with calm water.
- The lake has no natural outflow because it is not fed by a stream or spring.
- Oxbow lakes frequently transform into bogs or swamps, and as a result of water evaporation, they dry up.
- Oxbow lakes might offer a variety of habitats for animals.
- The lake’s name comes from the U-shaped collar around an ox’s neck, to which a plough is fastened.
- In addition, it goes by the names cutoff lake, loop lake, and horseshoe lake.
Oxbow Lakes In India: FAQs
Kanwar Tal Lake is the biggest Oxbow Lake in India.
The two Example Of Oxbow Lake In India are Kanwar Tal Lake and Lake Vynthala
The largest freshwater oxbow lake in Asia is the Kanwar Taal, sometimes referred to as Kabar Taal Lake or Kabartal Wetland, and it is situated in the Begusarai district of Bihar, India.
The significance of an oxbow lake is- by removing debris and agricultural runoff from the main river flow, oxbow lakes support the health of a river’s ecology.
Oxbow lakes are created by river bends that are curved or U-shaped in shape, cutting them off from the main river flow. It is sometimes referred to as a loop lake, a cutoff lake, or a horseshoe lake.