Braided rivers feature multiple wide, shallow channels (anabranches) that divide and recombine around transient alluvial bars. Channel braiding initiates when local sediment supply exceeds stream transport capacity, leading to central bar deposition. The initiation threshold is governed by van den Berg’s Critical Bed Shear Slope Criterion: $S_c = 0.012 \cdot B^{-0.44} \cdot d_{50}^{0.15}$ Where $S_c$ is critical slope, $B$ is bankfull width, and $d_{50}$ is median grain size. At a channel bifurcation (node splitting into two channels), discharge division ratio $(\eta = Q_1 / Q_2)$ depends on nodal entry head loss and cross-sectional geometries: $\eta = \left( \frac{B_1}{B_2} \right) \cdot \left( \frac{y_1}{y_2} \right)^{5/3} \cdot \left( \frac{S_1}{S_2} \right)^{1/2}$ Asymmetric bed aggradation at one branch reduces its hydraulic gradient, causing progressive abandonment (avulsion) and routing the majority flow into the dominant branch. Highly braided rivers like the Brahmaputr...