The volume and speed of a river are influenced by several key factors. The size of the drainage system plays a crucial role; larger drainage areas collect more water due to greater surface area for rainfall, while smaller areas collect less.
The shapes of a river channel affects the wetted perimeter.If the wetted perimeter is large,the river tends to flow slower as alot of friction is generated,where as if the wetted perimeter is small ,less friction is generated hence the river will flow faster.
Roughness of the channel
As water flows through the channel,it encounters obstacles like rocks,boulders,underwater vegetation or an uneven seabed.These will affect the speed of the river to be slower as more friction is present .Rivers which has fewer obstacles will tend to flow faster.
Gradient of the channel
It means the steepness of the channel .when the gradient is steep the river will flow quickly but if the gradient is gentle it will flow slowly
Volume
Climate
Areas in the dry climate recieve low amout of rainfall hence the volume of water in the rivers are low.Whereas for places with hot &wet equatorial have hight volume of water in their rivers.
Presence of vegetation
If there are many vegetation,it reduce the flow of the surface the surface run off hence, more water is seep into the ground and the volume of water in the river is smaller.Conersely,little vegetation cause fast surface run off and hence little water would be seep in to the ground.Therefore, the volume of water in the river is larger.
Size of drainage system
The bigger the draingae area the more water can be collected ,as there are more surface area for the rain to fall on. As for the smaller drainage area ,lesser water is collected.
