Middle course of a river

The middle course of a river is where the landscape begins to flatten out and slow down the speed of the river. The river now is wider with many more bends (meanders) and a wide, flat valley on either side known as the flood plain. Meanders are formed by both erosion and deposition, acting on the opposite banks of the river. Click here to see how this happens. Over time the meander is eroded so much that there is only a narrow 'neck' of land between the two main curves and the water floods over this 'neck' creating a new, straight channel. The cut off meander is now called an ox-bow lake.