All rivers naturally change their path over time, but this one forms meanders (the technical name for these curves) at an especially fast rate, due to the speed of the water, the amount of sediment in it, and the surrounding landscape.
The speed increases due to the fact that more water is added from tributaries along the course of the river. Additionally, less water is in contact with the river bed, which results in less energy needed overcome friction. The larger mass of water causes wider and deeper water channels in order to allow water in the river to flow more freely.
There are several factors that contribute to the change in courses of the Mississippi River. The main factor is energy. The Mississippi is a very curvy, knowns as meandering, river.
These types of land reform ultimately result in the widening of a river. Water upstream may be composed of snow and ice. However, downstream the climate may change and become gradually warmer, causing snow and ice to melt. This melting increases the flow of a river, which increases its width.
Along the outside of the curve, more sediment stays suspended, and some of it scrapes against the riverbank, carving out the curve further. This process accelerates as the meander becomes more curvy, since there's a bigger and bigger difference in water speed.
Rivers changing direction is relatively common, according to the scientists, but is usually caused by tectonic forces, landslides or erosion.
Rivers have a tendency to change, as we've seen. Rivers that continue to flow can sometimes reverse their directions due to natural and man-made factors including erosion, natural disasters, and city planning for a variety of reasons.
EXPLANATION: Due to constant deposition of river sediments on the slower side and the vast amount of erosion that takes place on the faster side. This process keeps on continuing till the curves get sharpened, so that river cuts through the curve and forms another path and thus river changes its course.
Rivers flow in all directions, with the only guiding force being for the water to get from the highest to lowest point.
According to the Newton's 3rd law of motion, it states that 'When one body exerts a force on the other body, the first body experiences a force which is equal in magnitude in the opposite direction of the force which is exerted'. Hence the swimmer push water backward with his hands in order to swim forward.
A river runs through it—sometimes in reverse. The Mekong River swells so much that the Tonle Sap River is actually forced to flow backward, northward away from the sea. It's the only river in the world that goes both ways.