Energy of River
Speed of Flow
Gradient of channel
Gentle gradient causes the speed of river to be low.
Steep gredient causes the speed of river to be high.
Roughness of channel
Rough channel reduces the speed because of higher friction.
Smooth channel increases the speed because of lower friction.
Wetted Perimeter
Larger wetted perimeter causes the speed to be low because there is a lot of friction.
Smaller wetted perimeter causes the speed to be high because there is less friction.
Volume of River
Size of drainage basin
Small drainage basin results in small volume of water.
Large drainage basin results in large volume of water.
Presence of vegetation
Abundant vegetation leads to low surface runoff, thus reduces the amount of water.
Sparse vegetation leads to high surface runoff, thus increases the amount of water.
Permeability of rocks
High permeability increases infiltration and decreases surface runoff, hence volume of water is low.
Low permeabilty decreases infiltration and increases surface runoff, hence volume of water is high.
Climate
High rainfall will have higher volume of water.
Low rainfall will have lower volume of water.