Knee (geography)

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A knee, or river knee, is a bend in a river changing its course greatly, suddenly to a different general direction (in an angle of around 90 degrees). [1] It is different from most (one-off) riverbends, and from a (particular) meander which connotes one of several bends in a sinuous course, without changing the general direction.

Knees navigable by large vessels or set in upland areas or arid drainage basins were similar to major confluences in that they were particularly suitable for trade and defense, and therefore gave rise to forts, governing army camps or cities.

Many major world rivers have such a notable knee close to major settled places:

Some riverbends are in some places referred to "knees" but are bends largely unaffecting the course or a small sharp meander:

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Riverbend may refer to:

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meander cutoff</span>

A meander cutoff is a natural form of a cutting or cut in a river occurs when a pronounced meander (hook) in a river is breached by a flow that connects the two closest parts of the hook to form a new channel, a full loop. The steeper drop in gradient (slope) causes the river flow gradually to abandon the meander which will silt up with sediment from deposition. Cutoffs are a natural part of the evolution of a meandering river. Rivers form meanders as they flow laterally downstream, see sinuosity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seerhein</span> River in Germany and between Germany and Switzerland

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References

  1. "[Solved] The Brahmaputra, Irrawady and Mekong rivers originate in Tib". Testbook. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
  2. "Rhine River". WorldAtlas. 2021-06-28. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
  3. Hofmann, Paul (1983-07-03). "WHAT'S DOING IN SWITZERLAND'S VALAIS". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-06-06.