Time-dependent behavior of a placed bed of cohesive sediment subjected to erosion and deposition cycles.

This study aims to explore the behavior of a cohesive sediment bed that undergoes cycles of erosion and deposition under diluted conditions. A bed of bentonite (montmorillonite) sediment was placed in two annular flumes and subjected to daily erosion tests for a period of 80 days, mimicking intermittent moderate-energy disturbances like tidal currents and wind waves. After each erosion test, the suspended sediment was allowed to settle back in the flumes. The amount of suspended sediment measured at the top of the water column at the end of each erosion test decreased in the first 5 days, concurrently with an increase in the bulk-settling velocity near the bed. This pattern is explained by turbulence-induced flocculation of clay particles and consequent formation of a surface floc layer. After about 20 days, the amount of suspended sediment measured at the top of the water column at the end of each erosion test increased and the settling velocity decreased, whereas the suspended sediment concentration measured near the bed remained nearly constant. We explain such trend by the cumulative release of slow-settling particles from the bed. This experiment suggests that the superficial layer of a placed bed that is periodically eroded and redeposited experiences competing processes: the sediment that is resuspended at every cycle becomes less erodible, but prolonged exposure to shear stress increases the pool of eroded sediment over time. The total amount of resuspended sediment seems to become constant after several tens of cycle, suggesting that the release of particles from the bed by cumulative erosion is balanced by the binding of such particles to the bed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]