The variability of settling velocities of suspended fine-grained sediment in the Ems estuary |
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| Institution: | 1. Ecosystem Management Research Group (ECOBE), University of Antwerp, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium;2. StatUA Center for Statistics, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium;3. NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), 4400 AC Yerseke, The Netherlands;2. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce, Florida, USA;1. Laboratoire des Sciences de l''Environnement Marin (LEMAR), UMR 6539, CNRS-IRD-UBO-Ifremer, IUEM, Rue Dumont d''Urville, 29280 Plouzané, France;2. Oceanlab, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Newburgh AB41 6AA, UK;3. CNRS, CEntre de Formation et de Recherche sur les Environnements Méditerranéens (CEFREM), UMR 5110, F-66860 Perpignan, France;4. Univ. Perpignan Via Domitia, CEntre de Formation et de Recherche sur les Environnements Méditerranéens (CEFREM), UMR 5110, F-66860 Perpignan, France;5. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Instituto ANdaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (IACT), Avenida de Las Palmeras 4, 18100 Granada, Spain;6. King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Red Sea Research Center, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia;7. Akvaplan-niva, Fram Centre for Climate and the Environment, 9296 Tromsø, Norway |
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| Abstract: | Settling velocities of suspended fine-grained sediment in estuaries vary over a range of several orders in magnitude. Variations in the suspended sediment concentration are often put forward as the principal cause. However, comparison of settling velocities from a number of estuaries shows that even in the case of the same suspended sediment concentration, large variations in the settling velocities can occur of up to two orders in magnitude. From measurements in the Ems estuary we found that even within a single estuary such large variations can occur. Field measurements and complementary laboratory experiments demonstrate that `other factors' can affect the settling velocity in the same order as the assumed effects of the suspended sediment concentration. To address these `other factors', which include physical–chemical and biological effects, the concept of `flocculation ability' is introduced, as a measure of the effectiveness of the collisions between suspended particles for floc growth. On the basis of the results from the Ems estuary, it is hypothesised that variations in the flocculation ability of the suspended fine-grained sediments are at the root of the large differences in settling properties of suspended fine-grained sediment in estuaries. |
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