xv.

CHARACTERIZATION OF COHESIVE SEDIMENT PROPERTIES

AND TRANSPORT PROCESSES IN ESTUARIES

Ashish J. Mehta
Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering Department
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida 32611

ABSTRACT

Important factors characterizing cohesive sediment in estuarial transport are

described with reference to measurement of appropriate parameters. Two categories
of measurement are required - those for characterizing the physico-chemical proper-
ties of the sediment and the fluid, and those for quantifying the various relation-
ships governing the transport processes. Sediment properties are specified by the
grain size, mineralogical composition, organics and the cation exchange capaci ty.
Fluid properties include its ionic composition, pH and temperature. In addition,
bed density and rheologic parameters must be measured.

Transport parameters for settling and deposition, consolidation and erosion are
determined through a combination of prototype and laboratory measurements. The
state-of-the-art is such that, using these parameters, model prediction of "first
order" accuracy can be achieved. Further effort is required in understanding the
behavior of high density suspensions under currents as well as waves. The bed sta-
bilizing influence of resistive microbial films is an important factor which as well
requires quantification through additional investigation.

INTRODUCTION

A basic issue related to the prediction of cohesive sediment transport in estu-

arial waters pertains to the identification of important factors characterizing the
phYSico-chemical properties of the sediment and the fluid. Several such factors and
measurement procedures have been recognized by now (39). For estimating the rates
of sedimentation and scour, it is generally necessary to resort to mathematical mod-
eling using the advection-dispersion equation for mass transport, given the flow
field (7). For this purpose, solution of the transport equation requires descrip-
tions of the various physical processes related to sediment transport, deposition,
consolidation and erosion. These processes are quantified through appropriate con-
stitutive relationships which include empirical parameters. Laboratory and field
procedures have been developed over the past three decades for measuring these pa-
rameters.

A. J. Mehta (ed.), Estuarine Cohesive Sediment Dynamics

© Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. 1986
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Factors and test procedures for sediment-fluid property characterization are

briefly described in this paper first, followed by considerations on measurement
procedures related to the transport parameters. These two aspects together estab-
lish the basic requirements for model prediction. While prediction itself is a
separate subject matter and is therefore not covered, results based on a laboratory
experiment are presented in order to highlight the significance of the measured
transport parameters in achieving the desired degree of predictive accuracy. The
discussion is mainly limited to flocculated, clayey sediments, since common clay-
types, i.e. smectite, illite and kaolinite, are found in a coagulated state when
salt concentrations exceed 2 or 3 ppt (4), although some effect of salinity on flocs
is apparent up to 10 ppt above which this effect may be ignored, at least for most
coastal engineering purposes (20,29,54).

SEDIMENT AND FLUID CHARACTERIZATION

A large number of parameters have been used to characterize cohesive sediments.

It is found that, for instance, factors considered by researchers in various soil-
related fields for characterizing erodibility exceed one hundred (21). In soil en-
gineering, initial efforts were directed towards correlating erodibility to indices
such as the vane shear strength and the plasticity index (68). However, inasmuch as
erosion occurs due to rupturing of electrochemical inter-particle bonds, such in-
dices, which are suitable for characterizing the bulk properties of the material,
have been found to be inadequate descriptors of erosion (52,60). Better correlative
relationships, for example, for the rates of erosion and deposition as well as the
yield strength of soft deposits, have been obtained by using the cation exchange ca-
pacity of the clay, which is a representative measure of the inter-particle forces
(6,30,40) •

The variability of the composition of estuarial sediments and the fluid envi-
ronment is so wide that it is difficult to develop generalized transport relation-
ships, such as Shields' diagram for evaluating the critical shear stress for the
erosion of cohesionless sediments. At least in the near future, a minimal amount of
experimental evidence will have to be gathered in site-specific cases. For each
sediment and fluid sample, certain property characterization tests have usually been
conducted at the University of Florida. These tests enable inter-comparison among
results obtained at different times and for different sediments. Such a comparative
evaluation of previous studies was made difficult by inadequate reporting of charac-
terization data (23,38). Relevant factors and test procedures are summarized in the
following paragraphs.