3 FACTORS INFLUENCING A RIVER DRAINAGE PATTERN
A drainage pattern is layout that a river and its tributaries, or set of rivers, make on the earths surface. Some of the common river drainage pattern include dendritic river pattern, trellised river pattern, radial river pattern and centripetal river pattern. The following are factors that influence the development of river drainage pattern are: Slope of the land. The direction of the river Flow is generally guided by the direction of the slope since the flow of the water is controlled by gravitational force. There are rivers whose flow is exclusively determined by the direction of the slope. Difference in rock resistance or hardness. As the river erode its channel, the nature of the bedrock becomes significance in determining how deep the river channel will become. If the river encounter a very resistant rock outcrop in its path, it may have to change its direction to circumvent it despite the nature of the slope. The rock structure along the river's profile. At certain s...