Knowra Sediment transport Sediment transport Sediment transport is the movement of loose mineral or organic particles by water, wind, ice, or gravity. It redistributes material across Earth’s surface and shapes landforms.
Bed load : Sediment that moves along a flow boundary by rolling, sliding, or bouncing. It describes particles moving close to a riverbed rather than suspended in the water.
Sediment grain size : A measure of the diameter of particles in sediment, commonly classified from clay to boulders. Particle diameter strongly affects entrainment, suspension, and settling.
Bedload transport equation : A mathematical relation used to estimate sediment moving along a channel bed. These equations turn flow and grain measurements into estimates of riverbed transport.
Fluvial processes : Processes driven by flowing water in rivers and streams. River currents entrain, carry, and deposit sediment in channels and floodplains.
Alluvial fan : A fan-shaped deposit formed where a stream leaves a steep valley and spreads across flatter terrain. A sudden decrease in flow energy deposits transported sediment in a fan-shaped landform.
Suspended load : Fine particles carried within a fluid by turbulence. Turbulence can keep sediment aloft as flowing water carries it downstream.
Grain shape : The geometric form of a sediment particle, described by properties such as roundness and sphericity. Shape changes how grains roll, resist motion, and settle.
Sediment budget : An accounting of sediment inputs, outputs, and storage within a defined area and period. Budgets reveal whether a river reach or coastline is gaining or losing sediment.
Aeolian processes : Processes involving the erosion, transport, and deposition of particles by wind. Wind moves sand and dust through saltation, suspension, and surface creep.
Floodplain : Flat land beside a river, built and periodically inundated by overbank flows. Floods spread suspended sediment across floodplains and renew their soils.
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