The razzle of the river is an image that speaks volumes

In Russia there are more than 2.5 million rivers, rivers and streams. The longest river is the Ob (with the Irtysh), its length is 5410 kilometers. Then comes the Cupid with Argun - 4444, and, in fact, the beautiful Lena, which without tributaries reaches 4400 kilometers. These rivers are not only the largest rivers of our country, they are among the ten longest rivers in the world, occupying, respectively, the 5th, 9th and 10th places.

Causes

Natural water arteries never flow directly, because in the path of a stream that tends under gravity from a higher point to a lower one, there are always many insurmountable obstacles in the form of an indistinguishable ground (rock or uplift of tectonic layers) and so on. Stumbling, the stream undermines the shore, resulting in the formation of the river's bend. If the river does not loop on a large stretch of the path, it can be confidently said that this is a canal whose bed should be well fortified, otherwise the flow of water will wash it and bends and loops will again form.

Scientific explanations

For the first time I explained the pattern of the formation of meanders and bends, strangely enough, Einstein. This is a complex, indispensable process, which resembles a superficial stirring of tea leaves in a glass of water. There are detailed scientific theories about how the bend of the river is formed. Popularly, this can be explained approximately like this. Obviously, even the smallest obstacle (the deviation from the mean is called a fluctuation) will inevitably hit the path of the stream, in which water will begin to beat with great force, washing out everything and transferring the rock in the opposite direction. At the bend of the rivers, one shore is steep and steep, the opposite one - shallow, usually with washed sand. The water stream hits the cliff and, pushing away from it, tends obliquely, bypassing the formed, usually very beautiful, natural beach, to the opposite shore. Everything starts from the beginning - water is already washing away the opposite boundary of land and stream. The process of formation of bends lasts a very long time - centuries. The most natural natural channel, laid by the river (or rather, its segment) - that's what the bend of the river is.

Meaning of the word

The word itself has several synonyms - zigzag, turn, bend, gyrus. Most often the term is applied to the river, and here there are two more single-valued words - the meander and the radiation. The sound of the term leaves no doubt as to where the name came from. The bend, or bend of the river, resembles the shape of an ancient formidable weapon - the bow.

Meander also got its name due to an ancient unusually winding river, flowing on the territory of modern Turkey. Actually, this term refers to the smooth bends of flat rivers.

Similarity and difference between meanders and bends

Meanders are wandering, that is, smoothly flowing water currents change their channel quite often, the former parts of which, when dried up, are called starets. But not always the meaning of the word "bend" is identical to the concept of "meander". They coincide only on flat rivers with a smooth current of the watercourse.

The very bend formed on the way of the watercourse has its own names. When the loop is rather deep, the piece of land enclosed in it in the form of a peninsula is called the spur, and the distance between the initial and final points of the bend is called the neck of the bend. A shallow peninsula is called a knee.

The charm of the phrase itself

An endless number of paintings by various artists of the world is dedicated to such a fascinating landscape as the bend of the river. Not the most beautiful, but surprisingly accurately showing what a loop can make a river, is the canvas of Thomas Cole (1801-1848) "The Rim of the Connecticut River." The name of this picturesque stretch of water flow serves as the title of a popular American film in the 1950s with a handsome James Stuart in the title role.

One can recall two novels entitled "The Rush of the River", one of which was written by the American Norma Newcomb (they very much like beautiful names).

Literature, including poetry, testifies to the romanticism contained in these words. Very often the plot is told about mermaids resting on the gentle bank of the meander. Picturesque, close to the heart of the bend of the watercourse - it's not only very beautiful, but also symbolic for the Russian people - "... the Island behind the bend of the fast river - the Motherland!".