M. McDonell , K. Strom , J. Nittrouer , G. Mariotti
{"title":"Quantifying mud settling velocity as a function of turbulence and salinity in a deltaic estuary","authors":"M. McDonell , K. Strom , J. Nittrouer , G. Mariotti","doi":"10.1016/j.csr.2024.105180","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span><span>Mud settling velocity in coastal regions is controlled by </span>flocculation<span><span>, which in turn strongly depends on turbulence, chemistry, and biology of the water-sediment mixture. As a result, mud settling velocity can be poorly constrained, and vary in space and time by orders of magnitude. Here we quantified mud settling velocity in Barataria Basin, a deltaic estuary in Louisiana (USA), using three independent methods: </span>eddy covariance (one station for 200 days), floc cameras (4 stations at one time), and Rouse profile inversion (14 stations, replicated 10–30 times each). Eddy covariance indicates that settling velocity increases with turbulence, at least within the range experienced at the site (shear rate </span></span><em>G</em><span> up to 10 Hz). Settling velocity increases with salinity (in the 0 to 6 psμ range) for moderate turbulence levels (5 < </span><em>G</em> < 10 Hz), but it is nearly independent of salinity for low levels of turbulence (<em>G</em><span> < 5 Hz). Consistent with this finding, floc camera measurements – taken at low turbulence levels – indicate similar floc sizes for salinities from 0.4 to 20 psu. Settling velocity estimated from a Rouse profile inversion also lacks a dependence on salinity, likely because they were taken at low turbulence levels. This study is novel in that it utilizes three methodologies to independently predict the mud settling velocity, with quantified settling velocity values ranging 0.1–1 mm/s, and with most values between 0.2 and 0.5 mm/s. Overall these measurements confirm that mud is flocculated in both the saline and freshwater zones of Barataria Basin, and that turbulence is the largest factor controlling mud settling velocity. Nonetheless, salinity can increase mud settling velocity up to a factor of two. These results could inform the management of sediment imported into estuaries from freshwater sources, such as through natural drainages, crevasse splays, and engineered river diversions.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":50618,"journal":{"name":"Continental Shelf Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Continental Shelf Research","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278434324000104","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"OCEANOGRAPHY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Mud settling velocity in coastal regions is controlled by flocculation, which in turn strongly depends on turbulence, chemistry, and biology of the water-sediment mixture. As a result, mud settling velocity can be poorly constrained, and vary in space and time by orders of magnitude. Here we quantified mud settling velocity in Barataria Basin, a deltaic estuary in Louisiana (USA), using three independent methods: eddy covariance (one station for 200 days), floc cameras (4 stations at one time), and Rouse profile inversion (14 stations, replicated 10–30 times each). Eddy covariance indicates that settling velocity increases with turbulence, at least within the range experienced at the site (shear rate G up to 10 Hz). Settling velocity increases with salinity (in the 0 to 6 psμ range) for moderate turbulence levels (5 < G < 10 Hz), but it is nearly independent of salinity for low levels of turbulence (G < 5 Hz). Consistent with this finding, floc camera measurements – taken at low turbulence levels – indicate similar floc sizes for salinities from 0.4 to 20 psu. Settling velocity estimated from a Rouse profile inversion also lacks a dependence on salinity, likely because they were taken at low turbulence levels. This study is novel in that it utilizes three methodologies to independently predict the mud settling velocity, with quantified settling velocity values ranging 0.1–1 mm/s, and with most values between 0.2 and 0.5 mm/s. Overall these measurements confirm that mud is flocculated in both the saline and freshwater zones of Barataria Basin, and that turbulence is the largest factor controlling mud settling velocity. Nonetheless, salinity can increase mud settling velocity up to a factor of two. These results could inform the management of sediment imported into estuaries from freshwater sources, such as through natural drainages, crevasse splays, and engineered river diversions.
期刊介绍:
Continental Shelf Research publishes articles dealing with the biological, chemical, geological and physical oceanography of the shallow marine environment, from coastal and estuarine waters out to the shelf break. The continental shelf is a critical environment within the land-ocean continuum, and many processes, functions and problems in the continental shelf are driven by terrestrial inputs transported through the rivers and estuaries to the coastal and continental shelf areas. Manuscripts that deal with these topics must make a clear link to the continental shelf. Examples of research areas include:
Physical sedimentology and geomorphology
Geochemistry of the coastal ocean (inorganic and organic)
Marine environment and anthropogenic effects
Interaction of physical dynamics with natural and manmade shoreline features
Benthic, phytoplankton and zooplankton ecology
Coastal water and sediment quality, and ecosystem health
Benthic-pelagic coupling (physical and biogeochemical)
Interactions between physical dynamics (waves, currents, mixing, etc.) and biogeochemical cycles
Estuarine, coastal and shelf sea modelling and process studies.