none 10.1144/SP540-2022-138 Geological Society of London Geological Society of London 1881 147312276 65091 2024111903370000787 10.1144 2024-11-19T17:01:48Z 2023-04-26T07:55:09Z 11 Geological Society, London, Special Publications SP 0305-8719 2041-4927 04 21 2023 09 23 2024 540 1 Maarten G. Kleinhans Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, 3584 CB, Utrecht, The Netherlands http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9484-1673 William J. McMahon Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, 3584 CB, Utrecht, The Netherlands Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2174-1695 Neil S. Davies Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0910-8283 Abstract Despite creating one of Earth's most iconic landforms, and having been studied since antiquity, river meandering is currently explained by several alternative models that remain debated. This is partly because observers have deconstructed meanders to a set of properties thought to be fundamental or significant for meandering, but each of these underpinning properties is itself complex and in turn requires analysis of its causes and mechanisms. This philosophical contribution aims to provide a perspective on the state of the science that makes a rigorous interrogation into what ‘causation’ actually means, and explores what a systems perspective can elucidate about meandering phenomena. We approach the problem through a discussion of the variety of ways in which previous researchers have tackled the problem of meandering, from a channel and floodplain perspective, on Earth and Mars, in the field and laboratory, and at the present day through to the ancient stratigraphic record. It is evident that river meandering has numerous causal pathways rather than a single set of necessary and sufficient conditions. A systemic view on the evolution of plant species shows that their feedbacks on river pattern likewise have several pathways. 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