BRAIDED CHANNELS

BRAIDED CHANNELS

1. A CHANNEL THAT CONSISTS OF A NETWORK OF SMALLER CHANNELS SEPERATED BY SMALL AND OFTEN TEMPORARY ISLANDS CALLED BRAID BARS OR EYOTS

2. STAGE 1

   • WHEN THE RAIN IS HEAVY THE STREAMS START MOVING INA HIGHER VELOCITY

3. STAGE 2

   • THE HIGH VELOCITY CARRIES LARGE AMOUNTS OF SAND AND SMALL STONES

4. STAGE 3

   • THE WATER FLOW SLOWS DOWN IN SECTIONS PASSING THROUGH WIDE VALLEYS WITH LITTLE DOWNWARD SLOPE ALLOWING SEDIMENT TO SETTLE ON THE RIVER BED

5. STAGE 4

   • THE SEDIMENT STARTS TO BLOCK THE STREAM OF WATER CAUSING LOWER VELOCITY

6. STAGE 5

   • UNTIL ENOUGH SEDIMENT SETTLES ON THE BED FORMING SANDBANKS OT SHOALS THAT BLOCK THE STREAM

7. STAGE 6

   • THE STREAM OVERFLOWS ITS BANKS FORMING NEW CHANNELS

8. STAGE 7

   • THE STREAM IS SPLIT INTO MANY STREAMS CAUSING THE BRAIDED CHANNEL SHAPE

9. STAGE 8

   • THE STREAMS MEET UP AGAIN AT A CERTAIN POINT ONLY TO SPLIT APART AGAIN