The alternating sequence of deep pools and shallow riffles along the relatively straight course of a river. The distance between the pools is 5–7 times the channel width. ‘If alternate bars are present, the pools deform into meander bends and the riffles become points of inflection…however, in this paper it is suggested that pools correspond to the points of inflection in a meander system’ (Leopold in R. D. Hey et al. 1998). See also Wohl and Merrit (2008) Geomorph. 93, 3–4.