Braided River: Aspects and Issues

Abstract

River braiding is characterized by division of channel around the islands. The island grows as the deposition of the coarser fraction, which cannot be transported, starts. Understanding the dynamic and deposition characteristics of braided river requires an interdisciplinary approach, although many advances have been made in past decade in understanding the different characteristics of braided rivers such as mechanics of flow and sedimentary deposition architecture of braided rivers, many salient issues of the braided river remain to be addressed. The aim of this study is to bring together research works from various fields in an integrated approach to braided rivers. Braiding process has been comparatively understudied as compared to meandering process because of the difficulties in measuring sediment transport in the rapidly changing braided river geomorphology.

Keywords: Braiding process, braided rivers, geomorphology, islands