Red River, Manitoba

This photograph depicts a series of meanders along the Red River near Letellier in southern Manitoba. In the foreground is a ‘goose-neck’ meander, named after the very narrow ‘land bridge’ between the entrance and exit channels of the meander. The river will eventually erode through the ‘goose-neck’ and take the shorter, more direct route down the valley. This will cause the meander to be cut off. Eventually, the ends of the ‘cutoff’ meander will fill with sediment, sealing the channel and forming an oxbow lake along the valley bottom. Note the rectangular fields, reflecting the massive agricultural development of this region. The landscape of the Red River valley is very flat and almost featureless, and the soils are composed mostly of clay. These characteristics contribute to the frequent occurrence of spring flooding.

Source: Geological Survey of Canada, photograph number 2002-686. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2005 and courtesy of Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada.