Question map
Which of the following statements regarding river meanders is/are correct? 1. It is a U-shaped bend in a river. 2. An extremely tight meander is called a gooseneck; it is likely to become a cutoff, or oxbow lake, after a flood. 3. Tectonic uplift can cause a river to continue downcutting along its meandering course, leading to incised or entrenched meanders. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Explanation
A river meander is defined as a pronounced U-shaped bend or loop in a river's course [1]. These features develop due to continuous erosion on the outer concave bank and deposition on the inner convex bank [2]. When a meander becomes extremely tight, it is often referred to as a gooseneck; during high-flow events like floods, the river may erode through this narrow neck to create a straighter channel, leaving the abandoned loop as an oxbow lake [5]. Furthermore, if a region undergoes tectonic uplift, the river's gradient increases, causing it to resume active downward erosion or downcutting. This process preserves the meandering pattern while carving deep into the underlying bedrock, resulting in landforms known as incised or entrenched meanders [4]. Thus, all three statements accurately describe the characteristics and evolutionary processes of river meanders.
Sources
- [1] Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 16: Fluvial Landforms and Cycle of Erosion > Meanders > p. 199
- [2] FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Geography Class XI (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 6: Landforms and their Evolution > Meanders > p. 51
- [5] Certificate Physical and Human Geography , GC Leong (Oxford University press 3rd ed.) > Chapter 5: Landforms made by Running Water > THE LOWER OR PLAIN COURSE > p. 53
- [3] Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 16: Fluvial Landforms and Cycle of Erosion > Meanders > p. 200
- [4] FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Geography Class XI (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 6: Landforms and their Evolution > Incised or Entrenched Meanders > p. 49