Rivers and Valleys 



furthermore to be noted that between the points 

 where the river impinges against the bank there 

 is a space of dead water or eddying currents in 

 which the forests find it easy to make head 

 against the river and to extend the alluvial 

 plain. 



Thus, in the process of nature, it comes about 

 that our rivers tend to build channels in their 



Diagram Showing the Wanderings of a Stream 



in an Alluvial Plain 



(The arrows on the sides of the stream indicate the direc- 

 tion of its movement; the horseshoe-shaped pool is an " ox- 

 bow " or "moat.") 



alluvial plains which are extremely devious in 

 their course. If the alluvial plains be wide, the 

 river is constantly forming great ox-bow-like 

 curves, isthmuses with narrow peninsulas such 

 as are often seen in the lower portions of the 

 Mississippi valley. Finally the narrow places 

 which connected these promontories on the 

 shore are cut through in some time of flood, the 

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