Deposition Properties of Fine Sediment

Abstract

This paper describes depositional properties of the fine portion (D<0.075mm) of the surficial bed sediments taken from the Upper St. Clair River. The experiments were conducted using the circular flume facility at the Canada Center for Inland Waters in Burlington, Canada. Tests were conducted under the same initial conditions, which involved mechanical mixing following the application of a very high shear stress that resulted in a solids suspension of 200 g/L. Deposition was allowed to occur under five different shear stresses. The deposition rate and the floc size were monitored using a laser based Malvern particle size analyzer. The results were used to estimate the settling velocity as a function of applied shear stress and lapsed time for the selected shear stress.