An idealized model study of flocculation on sediment trapping in an estuarine turbidity maximum |
| |
| Authors: | Fanghua Xu Dong-Ping Wang Nicole Riemer |
| |
| Institution: | 1. School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, NY, USA;2. Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA |
| |
| Abstract: | Flocculation has an important impact on particle trapping in estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) through associated increases in particle settling velocity. To quantify the importance of the flocculation processes, a size-resolved flocculation model is implemented into an ocean circulation model to simulate fine-grained particle trapping in an ETM. The model resolves the particle size from robust small flocs, about 30 μm, to very large flocs, over 1000 μm. An idealized two-dimensional model study is performed to simulate along-channel variations of suspended sediment concentrations driven by gravitational circulation and tidal currents. The results indicate that the flocculation processes play a key role in generating strong tidal asymmetrical variations in suspended sediment concentration and particle trapping. Comparison with observations suggests that the flocculation model produces realistic characteristics of an ETM. |
| |
| Keywords: | Flocculation Estuarine turbidity maximum Tidal asymmetry Numerical simulation |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
