These are called braided rivers.
Braided rivers are usually wide but shallow.
They typically form on fairly steep slopes and carry large amount of coarse-grained sediments.
Consequently, braided rivers exist near mountainous regions, especially those with glaciers.
A braided river in Iceland.
Rivers with braided channels look stunningly beautiful in satellite images or from airplanes.
Here are some of the most beautiful examples of braided rivers.
TheRakaia Riverin the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand’s South Island is a beautiful example of a braided river.
It is one of the largest braided rivers in New Zealand.
Photo credit:Andrew Cooper/Wikimedia
Rakaia River.
Photo credit:www.digitalglobeblog.com
Rakaia River.
Photo credit:Geoff Leeming/Flickr
TheBrahmaputra Riverin Tibet, India and Bangladesh is another classic example.
The river originates in Tibet and enters India through the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
The river gets intricately braided once it enters the state of Assam where it acquires its common name Brahmaputra.
During rains, its banks are more than 8 km apart.
Photo credit:Google Earth/patternsofnatureblog.com
Brahmaputra River.
Photo credit:Google Earth/patternsofnatureblog.com
TheWaitaki Riveris another large braided river in the South Island of New Zealand.
Photo credit:unknown/spacebattles.com
The Waimakariri River.
Photo credit:Philip Capper/Flickr
A Landsat image of a braided section of theCongo River.
Photo credit:Wired
The Congo River.
Photo credit:Google Earth/patternsofnatureblog.com
TheOb Riverin western Siberia, Russia, is the world’s seventh longest river.
Photo credit:Google Earth/patternsofnatureblog.com
TheParana Riverin South America.
This photograph shows a 29-kilometer stretch of the Parana, downstream of the small city of Goya, Argentina.
