Sedimentation

Sedimentation is the settling and accumulation of particles carried through water or air. It separates suspended material from a fluid and can build layered deposits over time.

Stokes' law: A relation describing the drag force on a small sphere moving slowly through a viscous fluid. It predicts settling speed for small particles under conditions where viscous drag dominates.
Suspension: A mixture in which solid particles are dispersed through a fluid without dissolving. Sedimentation begins when particles in a suspension move out of the fluid.
Sedimentation tank: A basin in which suspended solids settle from water under relatively calm conditions. It applies gravity-driven settling to remove particles during water treatment.
Sedimentary basin: A region of long-term subsidence where sediment accumulates and may be preserved in the rock record. It collects successive sediment deposits over geological time.
Settling velocity: The speed at which a particle moves downward through a fluid under gravity or an applied force. It quantifies how quickly particles leave suspension during sedimentation.
Sediment: Solid material that has settled from a fluid or accumulated at a surface. Sediment is the material produced and rearranged by settling.
Clarifier: A treatment vessel that separates suspended solids from liquid by settling, often with sludge collection. Clarifiers use sedimentation as a central step in wastewater and water treatment.
Delta: A landform built where a river deposits sediment as it enters a standing body of water. River sediment settles as flow slows at the river mouth, building a delta.
Hindered settling: The reduced settling speed of particles in concentrated suspensions, where neighboring particles and fluid displacement interfere. Crowded particles settle more slowly than isolated particles in clear fluid.
Deposition (geology): The process by which transported geological material is laid down in a new location. Sedimentation contributes to deposition when particles come to rest on a bed.

Linked from 57 pages