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Why can’t Appalachia’s most crooked river just straighten up?

TheGeoModels
69.7K subscribers
53K views 2 months ago
The forks of the Shenandoah River in northern Virginia showcase some of the most dramatic and geometric "entrenched" meander bends anywhere. The North Fork of the Shenandoah is actually 3.2 times longer than it would be if it flowed down its valley in a straight line. These meanders aren't quite like the sweeping, rapidly changing bends in rivers like the Mississippi, which flow over unconsolidated sediment in their lower reaches. In the Shenandoah's case, the river is flowing over, and cutting into, bedrock. This video explains why the river flows where it does, what bedrock properties control the meander shape, and, finally, why it needs to meander so much in the first place. Google Earth, LiDAR, and MS Paint are used to tell the story. ...more
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Why can’t Appalachia’s most crooked river just straighten up?
1.9KLikes
53,162Views
Apr 102025
The forks of the Shenandoah River in northern Virginia showcase some of the most dramatic and geometric "entrenched" meander bends anywhere. The North Fork of the Shenandoah is actually 3.2 times longer than it would be if it flowed down its valley in a straight line. These meanders aren't quite like the sweeping, rapidly changing bends in rivers like the Mississippi, which flow over unconsolidated sediment in their lower reaches. In the Shenandoah's case, the river is flowing over, and cutting into, bedrock. This video explains why the river flows where it does, what bedrock properties control the meander shape, and, finally, why it needs to meander so much in the first place. Google Earth, LiDAR, and MS Paint are used to tell the story.
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TheGeoModels

69.7K subscribers