Oxbow lake
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An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. The word "oxbow" can also refer to a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether or not it is cut off from the main stream.
This picture of the Nowitna River in Alaska shows two oxbow lakes – a short one at the bottom of the picture and a longer, more curved one at the middle-right. The picture also shows that a third oxbow lake is probably in the making: the isthmus or bank in the centre of the most prominent meander is very narrow – much narrower than the width of the river; eventually, the two sections of river on either side of an isthmus like that tend to break through and create a new, straighter course; a new river bank then starts to accumulate, sealing off the meander and leaving another oxbow lake.
A Horseshoe or oxbow lake near Hughes, Arkansas. The bulges in the border reflect changes in the course of the river; when the river shifted its course and cut off the former channel, the border remained unchanged.
Oxbow lakes on New Zealand's Taieri River have been converted into water meadows.
The Oxbow, on the Connecticut River, Thomas Cole
Lake
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A lake is a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from the ocean, although they may be connected with the ocean by rivers, such as Lake Ontario. Most lakes are freshwater and account for almost all the world's surface freshwater, but some are salt lakes with salinities even higher than that of seawater. Lakes vary significantly in surface area and volume.
Lac Gentau in the Ossau Valley of the Pyrenees, France
Lake Michigan during a storm near the Ludington Lighthouse
The crater lake of Mount Rinjani, Indonesia
Lake Kaniere is a glacial lake in the West Coast region of New Zealand.