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A cut bank, also known as a river cliff or river-cut cliff, is the outside bank of a curve in a water channel , which is continually undergoing erosion. [1] Cut banks are found in abundance along mature or meandering streams, they are located opposite the slip-off slope on the inside of the stream meander.
The concave bank is often a cut bank and an area of erosion. The eroded material is swept and rolled across the floor of the stream by the secondary flow and may be deposited on the point bar only a small distance downstream from its original location in the concave bank. The point bar typically has a gently sloping floor with shallow water.
There are two primary mechanisms of stream bank erosion: fluvial erosion and mass failure. Fluvial erosion is the direct removal of soil particles by flowing water. The rate of fluvial erosion is determined both by the force of the flowing water (e.g. faster flow equals more force) and the resistance of the bank material to erosion (e.g. clay is generally more resistant to erosion than sand).
Erosion that forms a cut bank occurs at the outside bank of a meander because helicoidal flow of water keeps the bank washed clean of loose sand, silt, and sediment and subjects it to constant erosion. As a result, the meander erodes and migrates in the direction of the outside bend, forming the cut bank. [26] [27]
The processes of point bar deposition and bank erosion are intertwined and in most cases the erosion rate of cut banks is equal to the deposition rate of point bars. [3] In addition, point bars act as topographic obstructions once formed that further drive flow into the opposite bank, creating a positive feedback loop. This leads to the ...
Here, at the deepest and fastest part of the stream is the cut bank, the area of a meandering river channel that continuously undergoes erosion. [4] The faster the water in a river channel, the better it is able to pick up greater amounts of sediment, and larger pieces of sediment, which increases the river's bed load. [4]
Cut bank – Outside bank of a water channel, which is continually undergoing erosion; Crevasse splay – Sediment deposited on a floodplain by a stream which breaks its levees; Confluence – Meeting of two or more bodies of flowing water; Drainage basin – Land area where water converges to a common outlet
A river bank can be divided into three zones: Toe zone, bank zone, and overbank area. The toe zone is the area which is most susceptible to erosion. [2] Because it is located in between the ordinary water level and the low water level, it is strongly affected by currents and erosional events. [2]