Page 16 - CBT 2018
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Meandering rivers
Rivers flowing over gently sloping ground are often called meandering rivers because of their tendency
to curve back and forth across
the landscape and because of the evolution of that curving over time. The Mississippi River was historically a meandering river as can be seen from the ancient map (top) and recent NASA satellite imagery (bottom).
The center graphic illustrates recent modeling work by CEGE researchers capturing the dynamics of a simulated meandering, migrating river over 30,000 years using modeled centerline realizations. Older centerlines are darker; the blue centerline shows t = 30,000 years. The upstream boundary condition fixes the first centerline
node in place, leading to the formation of the spiral pattern at the upstream boundary. No restrictions are placed on the downstream node so the river may migrate freely. [13]
