RIVER DEVELOPMENT 183 



Sometimes the meanders are artificially straightened, as 

 has been done in the lower Rhine valley, and much arable 

 land reclaimed. 



In time of flood, when a river spreads over its flood plain, 

 the velocity of the water is checked outside the channel 

 and some of the sediment it carries is deposited. The most 



STREAM MEANDEBING ON ITS FLOOD PLAIN 



sudden check in velocity occurs where it leaves the channel, 

 so more material will be deposited here than elsewhere on 

 the flood plain. The banks of the channel will thus be 

 built up more rapidly, and the flood plain near the river will 

 slope away from the channel instead of toward it. 



This is well shown in the lower Mississippi, where the 

 river is found to be flowing on a natural embankment, the 

 side streams running away from the river instead of into 



