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An overview of cohesive sediment transport processes is given in this paper, and a mass-balance equation that is commonly used to treat cohesive sediment transport is reviewed. The equation highlights transport parameters and processes that are important for modelling the transport of cohesive sediment. The flocculation mechanism that distinguishes cohesive sediment from its noncohesive counterpart is elaborated using a laboratory study that was carried out in a rotating circular flume using sediments from Hay River, Northwest Territories, Canada. A mathematical model of flocculation suitable for predicting flocculation of sediment in rotating circular flumes is reviewed. Other cohesive sediment transport processes such as erosion and deposition processes at the sediment-water interface, entrapment of fines in gravel beds, consolidation, fluid mud, and fluidization due to wave action are reviewed. Additional challenges and knowledge gaps that exist in the area of cohesive sediment transport are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The stabilising effects of natural benthic diatom and bacterial assemblages on cohesive sediments were compared with those caused by physico-chemical binding alone. Cohesive sediment beds were reconstructed in 4 annular laboratory miniflumes, using sediment collected at 5–6m water depth from a local fjord. The sediment was left to stabilise (consolidate) for 1, 2, 5 and 10 days, before being fully resuspended in a series of erosion experiments. The flumes were aerated and subjected to different light/dark conditions; antibiotics were used to isolate diatom from bacteria effects. During consolidation, a constant current velocity was maintained, at a speed well below erosion threshold. ‘Natural’ sediment regained 27% of its original stability after 1 day, and 85% after 5 days. Complete ‘natural’ sediment stability was regained within 10 days. Benthic diatoms (mainly Nitzchia sp., Gyrosigma sp. and Pennales sp.) were responsible for about 80% of the biostabilisation, whilst bacteria contributed ∼12%, indicating the importance of light as a controlling factor for surface sediment stability. Relative to physico-chemical binding, the increase in erosion threshold induced by benthic diatoms was 120%, and by bacteria 20%. Where the assemblage consisted of both diatoms and bacteria, the increase was 150%, indicating that natural bed values are not a simple summation of the two effects, i.e. diatoms plus bacteria. Using the results, a first generation empirical relationship describing the relative contributions of microbenthic and physico-chemical factors in the development of erosion threshold is presented. Empirical relationships containing biostabilisation coefficients are important for better computer model predictions of sediment transport. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this short communication, the erosion process of the fine, cohesive sediment collected from the upper River Taw in South West England was studied in a rotating annular flume located in the National Water Research Institute in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. This study is part of a research project that is underway to model the transport of fine sediment and the associated nutrients in that river system. The erosion experimental data show that the critical shear stress for erosion of the upper River Taw sediment is about 0.09 Pa and it did not depend on the age of sediment deposit. The eroded sediment was transported in a flocculated form and the agent of flocculation for the upper River Taw sediment may be due to the presence of fibrils from microorganisms and organic material in the system. The experimental data were analysed using a curve fitting approach of Krone and a mathematical model of cohesive sediment transport in rotating circular flumes developed by Krishnappan. The modelled and measured data were in good agreement. An evaluation of the physical significance of Krone's fitting coefficients is presented. Variability of the fitting coefficients as a function of bed shear stress and age of sediment deposit indicate the key role these two factors play in the erosion process of fluvial cohesive sediment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Mixed sediments are constituted of cohesive and non-cohesive materials with distinct behaviours that numerical models traditionally manage separately. This paper first introduces a rapid state of the Art in sediment transport modelling in order to point out the specific requirements for process-based models applied to mixed sediments. Based on a preliminary study by , which showed the validity of the advection approach to compute fine sand transport, a complete modelling strategy is described: it is applied to the suspended transport of sand and mud mixtures, and accounts for consolidation of mixed sediments. Special care is paid to the realistic representation of the structure and density of sand and mud mixtures, and to the segregation in consolidating sediment layers. The model state variables are the different classes of particles, generally classified according to their size, and grouped into categories that are either transported as bedload or in suspension. The bed is described as thin layers characterised by a distribution of these classes. The erosion law for fine sands and for sand and mud mixtures is a function of the excess shear stress calibrated against measurements in a small flume. The transition between cohesive and non-cohesive behaviours is parameterised through a critical mud fraction that depends on the sand grain size: the coarser the sand, the higher the mud content before the sediment becomes cohesive. The consolidation module is based on Gibson equation formulated for each class, and modified to account for segregation. Constitutive relationships are calibrated by means of laboratory settling tests. In the deposition module, new deposits may be managed in different ways (creation of a new layer or integration into the existing surficial layer) depending on the mud fraction and its relative concentration. When deposited material is mixed with the surficial sediment, pores between coarser particles are first filled up with finer particles before increasing the layer thickness. The new modelling frame has first been used to simulate laboratory settling tests with mixed sediments. When the initial mixture density is low, sand particles can settle through the mud and form a dense sandy layer on the bottom. In a second application, the model is used to describe sorting processes when tidal currents re-suspend a sand and mud mixture. A sand layer is then likely to form within the sediment, while the surficial layers are muddier. A dynamic bed armouring process is shown: although sand is easily resuspended, eroded grains in the sand layer settle rapidly, reducing the erosion of underlying sediment. Resulting suspended sediment concentration is strongly reduced, as well as sediment fluxes. The application demonstrates the model ability to simulate layering processes and time-variations of sediment erodibility. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]