Braided rivers

Some rivers have lots of small channels that continually split and join. These are called braided rivers. Braided rivers are usually wide but shallow. They form on fairly steep slopes and where the river bank is easily eroded.

When it rains really hard you can find little braided rivers flowing across building sites and paths made of sand or fine gravel.

Braided rivers have a lot of rock , gravel and sand that is carried along the river bottom. When the amount of water flowing through individual channels deceases the river dumps this material creating islands and bars.

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