Feedback Effects of Sediment Suspensions on Transport Mechanisms in an Estuarine Turbidity Maximum

The mechanisms controlling the formation of an estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) in estuaries have been extensively investigated, but one aspect that has received much less scientific attention is the role of high suspended sediment concentrations in combination with tidal asymmetry in ETM formation. Particularly in highly turbid estuaries,...

Floodplain Land Cover and Flow Hydrodynamic Control of Overbank Sedimentation in Compound Channel Flows

Overbank sedimentation is predominantly due to fine sediments transported under suspension that become trapped and settle in floodplains when high-flow conditions occur in rivers. In a compound channel, the processes of exchanging water and fine sediments between the main channel and floodplains regulate the geomorphological evolution and are...

Entraining Flow of a Concentrated Benthic Suspension: Computations with the Prandtl Mixing-Length Model

The Prandtl mixing-length model of turbulent exchange of mass and momentum is applied to calculate the entrainment of overlying water into a layer of suspended fine sediment at a horizontal bed. In the field the flow and turbulence in such a concentrated benthic suspension (CBS) are driven by a streamwise pressure gradient resulting from the...

Laminarisation in Flows of Concentrated Benthic Suspensions: Computations with a Low-Re Mixing-Length Model

In quiescent water bodies that form part of estuarine or coastal water systems, such as harbours and access channels, fine sediments may deposit to form concentrated benthic suspensions (CBS). The flow velocities in these mud layers may become low, and the viscosities may become large, so that the Reynolds number decreases below a critical value...

Saturation Concentrations of Suspended Fine Sediment: Computations with the Prandtl Mixing-Length Model

Adopting a 1DV numerical model including the standard k-eps turbulence model, Winterwerp et al. (1999) calculated a saturation concentration for an initially uniform distribution of fine sediment concentration in steady flow. At concentrations exceeding the saturation concentration the concentration profile collapsed and all sediment was...

On the precision of sedimentation balance measurements

The settling velocities of fine sediments can be determined using a sedimentation balance essentially consisting of a settling tube at the bottom of which the weight of the sediment deposited is measured as a function of time. The distribution of settling velocities then is calculated from an equation, which is known as Oden's formula. In this...