Which process drives lateral migration contributing to oxbow lake formation within a meandering fluvial system bordering floodplain forests?

💡 Explanation

When flow encounters a bend because of channel sinuosity, differential erosion occurs as water velocity differs along the curve, eroding the outer bank and building the inner one, thus shifting the channel over many years and stages leading the a cutoff. Therefore differential erosion drives migration, rather than rebound, weathering, or expansion, which work far slower or create bedload rather than outer erosion.

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