[3][5] When a river reaches a low-lying plain, often in its final course to the sea or a lake, it meanders widely.
When this happens a new, straighter river channel develops—and an abandoned meander loop, called a cutoff, forms.
When deposition finally seals off the cutoff from the river channel, an oxbow lake forms.
The process of deposition of silt, sand and gravel on the convex bank is clearly illustrated in point bars.
A pressure gradient toward the convex bank provides the centripetal force necessary for each parcel of water to follow its curved path.
This is because rivers with high sinuosity have larger meanders, and greater opportunity for longer lakes to form.
In the United States, oxbow lakes serve as the primary habitat for water tupelo and the iconic bald cypress.
[13] Oxbow lakes may be formed when a river channel is straightened artificially to improve navigation or for flood alleviation.
When originally constructed, it had a very meandering course, following the contours of the land, but the northern part of the canal was straightened out between 1829 and 1834, reducing its length from approximately 146 to 125 km (91 to 77+1⁄2 mi) and creating a number of oxbow-shaped sections isolated from the new course.
[15] There has also been a possible oxbow lake postulated in Saraswati Flumen near Ontario Lacus on Saturn's moon Titan.