Mississippi River (IMAGE)

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Mississippi River

Caption

The research team collected cores of bottom sediments from three oxbow lakes to trace the history of major floods along the lower Mississippi River. Lakes such as this one (called False River) are former meanders that have become separated from the main river channel. During large floods, river water flows into them again, carrying suspended sediments that settle to the lake bottom -- a 'signature' of flooding that researchers can identify.

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(Google Earth, 2018)

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