Discussion of “on the origin of River Meanders”

Abstract

In developing his formulas the author assumes that meandering is initiated by forced oscillations and he postulates some cause which will bring about the forced oscillations; for example, a tributary confluence, a sand bar, or the like. So it appears that if the forced oscillations are in fact the cause of meandering, they are not the prime cause but rather the result of some other cause or causes. In his conclusions the author states rather cautiously that his formulas do not take into account the entry conditions. However, early in the paper he states that the first serpentine bend provides the disturbance for the next bend and so on. There is no doubt that this is so, but surely it contradicts the statement about the entry conditions, since the first bend can be regarded as the entry to the second, the second for the third, and so on.