Sediment flocculation in the Mekong River estuary, Vietnam, an important driver of geomorphological changes

Abstract

Over the past several decades, major hydro-sedimentary changes have occurred in both continental and coastal regions of the Mekong Delta, and this has severely impacted coastal erosion. A good characterization of floc properties and of their changes over time is necessary to gain comprehensive understanding and modelling of hydrodynamics and of the associated geomorphological changes. This paper quantifies the influence of sediment concentration, turbulence and differential particle settling on flocculation through field and laboratory investigations of the Mekong estuary. For concentrations lower than 200 mg·L −1 , the particles do not exhibit a dynamic response to their environment, while for higher concentrations (up to 3–4 g·L −1 ), particle size and settling velocity increased by more than one order of magnitude. Flocculation by differential settling has not been sufficiently investigated yet, but this study reveals it as a predominant factor for siltation in quiescent environments such as the ones existing in the inner mangrove fringe. Such results are important to provide realistic simulations of the coastal evolution.