Anabranching Riverways

The Diamantina River in Australia is dry for much of the year. But seasonal rains flood its riverbeds and provoke a bloom of vegetation along its banks. This false-color satellite image shows the river in April 2023; land appears pale and reddish, the river and its sediment blue, and vegetation a bright green. The Diamantina is an anabranching river; rather than the typical meandering paths of a delta, anabranching rivers have semi-permanent paths hemmed in by vegetation-stabilized islands. Look closely, though, and you’ll still see smaller delta-like features known as floodouts dotting some of the islands. (Image credit: A. Nussbaum; via NASA Earth Observatory)