Abstract:
Predictions of deposition rate are integral to the transport of many constituents including
contaminants, organic matter, and larvae. Review of the literature demonstrates a general
appreciation for the potential control of deposition by bed roughness, but no direct tests
involving flat sediment beds. Understanding the mechanisms at work for flat sediment
beds would provide the basis for exploring more complicated bed conditions and the
incorporation of other transport processes, such as bioturbation and bedload transport.
Generally, fine particle deposition rates are assumed to be equivalent to the suspension settling
velocity, therefore, deposition rates in excess of settling are considered enhanced.
Flume observations of deposition were made using treatments that covered a wide range
of flow, particle, and bed conditions. Specific treatments demonstrated large enhancements
(up to eight times settling). Delivery of particles to the interface is important, but
models based on delivery alone failed to predict the observed enhancement.
This necessitated the development of a new model based on a balance between delivery
and filtration in the bed. Interfacial diffusion was chosen as a model for particle delivery.
Filtration of particles by the bed is a useful framework for retention, but the shear in the
interstitial flow may introduce additional factors not included in traditional filtration
experiments.
The model performed well in prediction of flow conditions, but there remained a discrepancy
between predictions and observed deposition rate, especially for treatments with significant
enhancement. Fluid flow predictions by the model,; such as slip at the sediment
water interface and fluid penetration into the sediment, appeared to be supported by flume
experiments. Therefore, failure to predict the magnitude of enhancement was attributed to
far greater filtration efficiencies for the sediment water interface than those measured in
sediment columns. Emerging techniques to directly measure fluid and particle motion at
the interface could reveal these mechanisms. The observation of enhanced deposition to
flat sediment beds reinforces the importance of permeable sediments to the mediation of
transport from the water column to the sediment bed.
