Editing Braided river (section)

==Description==
A braided river consists of a network of multiple shallow channels that diverge and rejoin around [[ephemeral]] ''braid bars''. This gives the river a fancied resemblance to the interwoven strands of a [[braid]].<ref name=Jackson1997>{{cite book |editor1-last=Jackson |editor1-first=Julia A. |title=Glossary of geology. |date=1997 |publisher=American Geological Institute |location=Alexandria, Virginia |isbn=0922152349 |edition=Fourth |chapter=braided stream}}</ref><ref name=Leeder2011>{{cite book |last1=Leeder |first1=M. R. |title=Sedimentology and sedimentary basins : from turbulence to tectonics |date=2011 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |location=Chichester, West Sussex, UK |isbn=9781405177832 |edition=2nd |pages=247–252}}</ref> The braid bars, also known as channel bars,{{sfn|Jackson|1997|loc="channel bar"}} branch islands,{{sfn|Jackson|1997|loc="branch island"}} or accreting islands, are usually unstable and may be completely covered at times of high water.<ref name=Leeder2011/> The channels and braid bars are usually highly mobile, with the river layout often changing significantly during [[flood]] events.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hickin |first1=E |last2=Sichingabula |first2=H |title=The geomorphic impact of the catastrophic October 1984 flood on the planform of the Squamish River, southwestern British Columbia |journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |year=1988 |volume=25 |issue=7 |pages=1078–1087 |doi=10.1139/e88-105|bibcode=1988CaJES..25.1078H }}</ref> When the islets separating channels are stabilized by vegetation, so that they are more permanent features, they are sometimes called [[ait]]s or eyots.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Allaby |first1=Michael |title=A dictionary of geology and earth sciences |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780199653065 |edition=Fourth}}</ref>

A braided river differs from a ''[[meandering river]]'', which has a single sinuous channel. It is also distinct from an ''[[anastomosing river]]'', which consist of multiple interweaving semi-permanent channels which are separated by floodplain rather than channel bars; these channels may themselves be braided.<ref name=Leeder2011/>