Fine particle deposition to initially starved,stationary, planar beds

Reported here are results from new flume experiments examining deposition and entrainment of inert, silt‐sized particles (with spherical diameters in the range from 20 to 60 μm) to and from planar, impermeable and initially starved beds underlying channel flows. Bed surfaces comprised smooth or fixed sand‐size granular roughness and provided hydraulically smooth to transitionally rough boundaries. Results of these experiments were analysed with a simple model that describes the evolution of vertically averaged concentration of suspended sediment and accommodates the simultaneous delivery to and entrainment of grains from the bed. The rate of particle arrival to a bed diminishes linearly, and the rate of particle entrainment increases by the 5/2 power, as the value of the dimensionless Saffman parameter S = u_*³/g’ν approaches a threshold value of order unity, where u is the conventional friction velocity of the turbulent channel flow, g’ is the acceleration due to gravity adjusted for the submerged buoyancy of individual particles and ν is the kinematic viscosity of the transporting fluid. This transport behaviour is consistent with the notion that non‐cohesive, silt‐sized particles can neither reach nor remain on an impermeable bed under flow conditions where mean lift imposed on stationary particles in the viscous sublayer equals or exceeds the submerged weight of individual particles. Within the size range of particles used in these experiments, particle size and the characteristic size of granular roughness, up to that of medium sand, did not affect rates of dimensionless arrival or entrainment to a significant degree. Instead, a new but consistent picture of fine‐particle transport is emerging. Silt‐sized material, at least, is subject to potentially significant interaction with the bed during intermittent suspension transport at intermediate flow speeds greater than the value required for initiation of transport (ca 20 cm sec^?1) but less than the value (ca 50 cm sec^?1) required by the Saffman criterion ensuring transport in fully passive suspension or, equivalently, ‘wash‐load’.     

Particle over-passing on depth-limited gravel bars

An experimental channel is used to examine the transport of mixed sand and gravel bedload over the crestal platform of ‘hump-back’ bars and along the top of planar gravel sheets. Hydraulic processes result in the simultaneous transport of cobbles and pebbles over a static closely packed bed consisting of like-sized and finer particles. For prescribed conditions, flat upper-stage plane sand-beds develop over the crestal location with pebbles rolling easily over the sandy bed. At the brinkpoint, flow separation ensures effective segregation of the gravel from the sand. Over the slip-face the deposition rate of the sand is insufficient to fill fully the interstices within the gravel foresets before rapid deposition of gravel further advances the bed-form. Consequently, distinctive vertical assemblages of open-work and closed contact framework gravels could be generated as another bar migrates over, and preserves, the initial structure. In respect to the observed mechanisms of sorting over the bars, a mathematical expression is developed to explain the critical conditions allowing coarse particle mobility over planar sand or gravel beds under upper-stage plane-bed conditions on the crestal platform. The model then is used to ascertain whether the depositional environment ascribed to certain facies in the Bunter Pebble Beds, described in a recent publication, is appropriate given the distinctive facies assemblages generated in this experiment and the known hydrodynamic control of the particle-segregation process.     

Effects of bed longitudinal inflexion and sediment porosity on basal entrainment mechanism: insights from laboratory debris flows

Channel morphology and bed sediment erodibility are two crucial factors that significantly affect debris flow entrainment processes. Current debris flow entrainment models mostly hypothesize the erodible beds are infinite with uniform slopes. In this study, a series of small-scale flume experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of bed longitudinal inflexion and sediment porosity on basal entrainment characteristics. Experimental observations revealed that sediment entrainment is negligible at early stages and accelerates rapidly as several erosion points appear. Continual evolution of flow-bed interfaces changes interactions between debris flows and bed sediments, rendering the interfacial shear action involved into a mixed shear and frontal collisional action. Lower bed sediment porosity will change the spatial arrangement and orientation of particle mixture, strengthen the interlocking and anti-slide forces of adjacent sediment particles, and promote the formation of particle clusters, all of which will increase bed sediment resistance to erosion. By examining the post-experimental bed morphology, the slope-cutting amounts and topographic reliefs are determined to positively correlate with longitudinal transition angles. These high topographic reliefs may indicate the propensity of triangular slab erosion, rather than strip-shaped slab erosion, in non-uniform channels with relatively steep erodible beds. Empirical formulas are obtained that denote the relationships among bed sediment strength, channel curvature radius, and sediment porosity through a multi-parameter regression analysis. This study may aid in clarifying the complex coupling effects of spatial variations in debris flow dynamics as well as sediment erodibility and bed morphology in non-uniform channels with abundant seismic loose material.

     

Sensitivity of incipient particle motion to fluid flow penetration depth within a packed bed

A discrete element method is applied to a three‐dimensional analysis related to sediment entrainment on a micro‐scale. Sediment entrainment is the process by which a fluid medium accelerates particles from rest and advects them upward until they are either transported as bedload or suspended by the flow. Modelling of the entrainment process is a critically important aspect for studies of erosion, pollutant resuspension and transport, and formation of bedforms in environmental flows. Previous discrete element method studies of sediment entrainment have assumed the flow within the particle bed to be negligible and have only allowed for the motion of the topmost particles. At the same time, micro‐scale experimental studies indicate that there is a small slip of the fluid flow at the top of the bed, indicating the presence of non‐vanishing fluid velocity within the topmost bed layers. The current study demonstrates that the onset of particle incipient motion, which immediately precedes particle entrainment, is highly sensitive to this small fluid flow within the topmost bed layers. Using an exponential decay profile for the inner‐bed fluid flow, the discrete element method calculations are repeated with different fluid penetration depths within the bed for several small particle Reynolds numbers. For cases with slip velocity corresponding to that observed in previous experiments with natural sediment, the predicted particle velocity is found to be a few percent of the fluid velocity at the top of the viscous wall layer, which is a reasonable range of velocities for observation of incipient particle motion. This method for prescribing the fluid flow within the particle bed allows for the current discrete element method to be extended in future studies to the analysis of sediment entrainment under the influence of events such as turbulent bursting. Additionally, predictions for the slip velocities and fluid flow profile within the bed suggest the need for further experimental studies to provide the data necessary for additional improvement of the discrete element method models.     

Glacial indicator dispersal processes: a conceptual model

Interpretation of indicator dispersal trains preserved in till sheets is widely used to investigate past glacial processes and to explore for buried bedrock mineralization. We present a conceptual model of erosion and entrainment and transport of indicator material in a glacial system. Indicator concentration in an individual size fraction of till is controlled by dilution and comminution. Dilution is the result of incorporation of additional material to the glacier's debris load down-ice of the indicator source, and is described in terms of erosivity and erosion length scale. Erosivity describes the amount of bed material eroded along a flowline, and is a function of both bed properties and the erosive power of the glacier. Erosion length scale describes the persistence of an indicator dispersal signal during transport, and controls both the maximum total indicator concentration and the eventual length of apparent dispersal. We adapt a modified batch grinding particle comminution model to describe breakdown of indicator material during transport and modification of the indicator particle size distribution. Indicator dispersal concentrations are the product of dilution and comminution processes.     

Laboratory measurements of pivoting angles for applications to selective entrainment of gravel in a current

Important to grain entrainment by a flowing fluid is the pivoting angle of the grain about its contact point with an underlying grain. A series of experiments has been undertaken to determine how this angle depends on grain shape (rollability and angularity), on the ratio of the size of the pivoting grain to those beneath, and on factors such as imbrication. The experiments involved gravel-sized spheres (ball-bearings and marbles), natural pebbles selected for their approximately triaxial ellipsoid shapes, and angular crushed basalt pebbles. The pivoting angles for these grains were measured on an apparatus consisting of a board which can be progressively inclined, the angle of the board being equal to the pivoting angle at the instant of grain movement. The pivoting angles of spheres showed reasonable agreement with a theoretically derived equation, showing much better agreement than in previous studies which utilized sand-sized spheres. A series of measurements with spheres ranging from sand to gravel sizes reveals that the pivoting angles decrease with increasing particle size. Our results are therefore consistent with the earlier studies limited to sand-size spheres. The cause of this size dependence is unknown since moisture and electrostatic binding can be ruled out. Similar size dependencies are also found for the ellipsoidal pebbles and angular gravel. The experiments with ellipsoidal pebbles demonstrated a strong shape dependence for the pivoting angle, being a function of the ratio of the pebble's smallest to intermediate axial diameters. This ratio controls the grain's ability to roll and pivot; with small ratios of these diameters the pebbles tended to slide out of position, whereas with ratios closer to unity (circular cross-section) true pivoting took place and the angles were smaller. Experiments with flat pebbles placed in an imbricated arrangement yielded much larger angles than when the pebbles lay in a horizontal position, the pivoting angle being increased approximately by the imbrication angle. The angular crushed gravel also required high pivoting angles, apparently due to interlocking of the grains resulting from their angularity. Other factors being equal, the measurements of pivoting angles demonstrate that the order of increasing difficulty of entrainment is spheres, ellipsoidal grains, angular grains, and imbricated grains. The results obtained here make possible the quantitative evaluation of these shape effects on grain threshold, as well as evaluation of the selective entrainment of grains from a bed of mixed sizes.     

Channel evolution of Des Moines Lobe till drainage ditches in southern Minnesota (USA)

Some drainage ditches in the intensively managed row-crop agricultural region of southern Minnesota evolved from a trapezoidal form to multi-staged channel forms similar to natural streams. Older ditches constructed in cohesive sediment of the Des Moines Lobe till tend to follow a channel evolution model developed by Simon and Hupp. Site cross sections, longitudinal water and bed profiles and bed material particle size were determined according to Harrelson and others at 24 older ditch reaches, 5 newly constructed ditch reaches and 13 natural stream reaches. Morphological features were hypothesized to change from trapezoidal form to flat bench banks, similar to benches found in natural stream channels. All data were statistically analyzed with respect to drainage area using regression, because channel form is directly related to drainage area for a given climate, geology and land use. Results show similar regression slope and intercept for bankfull channel width and bankfull cross-sectional area (CSA) of older ditches and natural streams compared to typical trapezoidal designed ditches. Evolved ditches developed a small floodplain bench above the ditch bed and adjusted their bankfull widths similar to natural stream channels with respect to drainage area. Old ditches showed a relatively strong R ² (0.82, 0.68) for channel CSA and width, a weaker R ² (0.45) for water surface slope, and little to no correlation with bed particle size. Channel form appears to have adjusted more quickly than bed facets and/or bed particle size distribution. However, stepwise regression determined that D₈₄, width/depth ratio and mean bankfull depth explained 83?% of the variability of channel features across varying drainage areas. Findings suggest a possible reduction of long-term maintenance costs if older ditches are allowed to evolve over time. A stable ditch form similar to natural streams is typically self-sustaining, suggesting that prior to a scheduled clean-out, the ditch should be examined for hydraulic capacity, sediment transport and bank stability.     

Downstream grain‐size changes associated with a transition from single channel to anabranching

Downstream variation in grain size associated with changes in river pattern is a topic that interests multiple disciplines. How grain size varies between adjacent reaches with strongly contrasting river pattern is an outstanding question. This study presents a combined field and numerical modelling investigation of a river with a downstream planform change from single channel to anabranching, where the planform is controlled by a change in underlying lithology. This approach enabled exploration of the controls on sedimentology in a river for which there is very limited opportunity to collect flow and sediment transport data. This study shows that the surficial grain size decreases as a result of the downstream change in planform. This is because of a decrease in flow velocity and shear stress associated with a decrease in channel depth related to the planform change. Channel geometries in both the field and modelling data fit into distinct groups based on channel depth, the deepest being the single channel reach and the shallowest being the anabranching. This downstream reduction in channel dimension (depth) is caused because the total discharge is split from one channel into multiple channels. The coarsest grain sizes (cobble) are deposited at the terminus of the single channel and in the distributary channels; anabranching channels contain sand‐size sediments. This study shows that, in a transition from single channel to anabranching, the channel dimensions decrease as the number of channels increases, resulting in a decrease in bed shear stress and the fining of bed material downstream.     

The hydrodynamics of particle clusters and sediment entrapment in coarse alluvial channels

ABSTRACT Particles projecting from the bed of an alluvial channel distort the fluid stream to produce a distinctive pressure field. This has considerable significance for both the entrapment and entrainment of other particles and is a primary cause of the widespread occurrence of pebble clusters and boulder shadows. Lift and drag forces are determined on clustered hemispherical particles of varying size. In the wake of an obstructing particle both forces are shown to vary directly with particle separation in a linear fashion. On the stoss side of the cluster, drag is uniform regardless of the separation of the component particles, but lift is shown to increase when particle separation is small, so affecting stability. This mutual interference of neighbouring clustered bed particles is a vital consideration of incipient motion and is shown by field evidence to cause a wide range in transport stage for particles of similar size and shape. On average, 46% of clustered particles are entrained by flood flow compared to 87% of particles in open plane-beds. The influence of clusters is a major determinant of sedimentary sorting.     

The grain–fluid interaction as a self-stabilizing mechanism in fluvial bed load transport

A grain-scale model of fluvial bed load transport is described, with particular emphasis on the equilibrium between the saltating grains and the near bed flow, and its role in determining transport rate. The model calculates, explicitly, the modification of the velocity profile by the moving grains, together with the consequential reduction in surface fluid shear stress. As the surface fluid shear stress is reduced by the moving grains, so the entrainment rate decreases and the model reaches a steady state. The results provide insight into two important questions at a macroscopic level. First, they show that, in the absence of large static roughness, the dynamic roughness caused by the moving grains may be a significant contributor to flow resistance. Secondly, the model indicates the manner in which transport may be limited by a combination of the transport capacity of the flow and the availability of sediment for entrainment. Only in the case of high sediment availability does the fluid shear stress acting at the surface approach the critical entrainment value, reproducing the behaviour suggested by Bagnold (1956 ) and Owen (1964 ). This suggests that prediction formulae based on this assumption only describe the bed load transport system under particular conditions.     

An electromagnetic device for automatic detection of bedload motion and its field applications

A new sensor for the continuous and unmanned detection and recording of bedload motion is described. The sensor acts in the same fashion as a conventional metal detector but is elongate and installed permanently in the bed of an alluvial channel. Artificial clasts are labelled with short lengths of ferrite rod and are seeded upstream from the sensor, replacing bed particles. The entrainment of seeded clasts takes them over the sensor where they distort the magnetic field and produce a change in inductance that is detected and recorded. A field installation demonstrates the value of the sensor by revealing for the first time in coarse-grained alluvium the spasmodic nature of particle motion reminiscent of kinematic waves. It also illustrates the importance of pebble clusters in delaying particle entrainment.     

侧限条件下充填散体压缩承载和传力特性

充填散体的压缩承载和传力特性对防控充填开采矿山的地表变形具有重要意义。通过河卵石、碎石、尾矿、河砂、尾砂5种散体材料和7组不同粒径河卵石的侧限压缩试验,以及河卵石数值模拟压缩试验,分析了其压实过程和粒径对其变形、承载的影响,揭示了散体压缩过程中的传力特性。结果表明：散体压缩过程可分为空隙压密、颗粒破碎压密和压实固结3个阶段,且散体类型和粒径对其非线性压实过程基本没有影响,但对其内部结构重组过程有较大影响;压缩过程中,存在一个临界密实度使不同粒径河卵石的承载能力次序发生反转,且河卵石散体平均变形模量与颗粒特征因子呈负指数关系;基于河卵石数值模拟压缩试验得到的散体内部力链强度分布和“压力拱”,很好地证实了室内压缩试验中散体垂直应力沿加载方向呈递减的趋势,以及侧向应力在整个散体高度上先增后减这一试验结果。     

Controls on the alluviation of oxbow lakes by bed‐material load along the Sacramento River,California

Differences in the nature and quantity of sediment filling oxbow lakes have significant implications for the evolution of meandering rivers and the development of floodplains, influencing rates of meander migration and the valley width over which migration takes place. In an effort to identify the controls on the alluviation of oxbow lakes by coarse bed material, this study examined the sedimentary records stored within oxbow lakes of the Sacramento River of California, USA, and found that the volume of gravel in storage correlated negatively with the diversion angle separating flow between the river channel and the entrance into each lake. A method was devised for estimating the original channel bathymetry of the studied lakes and for modelling the hydraulic and sediment‐transport effects of the diversion angle within channels recently abandoned by meander cut‐off. The diversion angle determines the width of a flow separation within the abandoned‐channel entrance, reducing the discharge diverted from the river channel and thus limiting the ability of the abandoned channel to transport bed material. Aggradation rates are faster within entrances to abandoned channels with high diversion angles, resulting in the rapid isolation of lakes that store only a small volume of coarse‐grained sediment. Aggradation rates are slower within channel entrances where diversion angles are low, resulting in the slow transitioning of such channels into oxbow lakes with a larger and more extensive accumulation of coarse‐grained sediment. These findings compare well with observations in other natural settings and the mechanism which is described for the control of the diversion may explain why some oxbow lakes remain as open‐water environments for centuries, whereas others are filled completely within decades of cut‐off.     

河流砾—砂过渡（GST）研究进展

河流从上游山区流经下游宽阔地带时,所搬运物质在磨损和分选作用下逐步变细,当沉积物减小到中粗卵砾级别时（10~20 mm）,会在相对短距离内（几倍河道宽度）快速转变为极粗砂（1~2 mm）,这种粒度突变现象被称为砾—砂过渡（gravel-sand transition,GST）。对河流砾—砂过渡进行了系统调研,介绍了其在河流中的基本特征;分析了砾—砂过渡的发生机理,包括粒度突变的外因假说、2~10 mm粒径空缺的内因解释,以及GST中加剧砾砂流动性差异的过程;也介绍了GST的空间普适性、其前后的河流转变和位置稳定性。GST的深入研究对于理解河流演化、泥沙运移、洪水风险管理、沉积物源分析具有重要意义。     

基底侵蚀对高速流动性滑坡运动性影响的模拟分析

高速流动性滑坡运动距离远,破坏性强。这类滑坡在运动过程中常裹挟大量的松散物质,导致滑坡的体积和致灾范围增大,该现象被称为基底侵蚀效应。以往的研究指出基底侵蚀效应对这类滑坡的运动性有显著的影响,但却很少有研究考虑其对滑体性质的影响,以及如何对其进行量化。因此,本文基于动量守恒原理建立了考虑基底侵蚀效应的滑坡运动模型,利用有限差分法求解,并依据滑坡的侵蚀深度来计算侵蚀导致的滑坡性质变化。利用改进的模型对陕西泾河南岸的西庙店滑坡进行模拟分析。结果表明,滑坡运动可分为启动加速阶段（0~5 s）和运动减速阶段（5~14 s）。在启动加速阶段,基底侵蚀程度低,对滑体运动的影响较弱。而在运动减速阶段,基底侵蚀效应降低了滑带土强度,对该滑坡的运动产生了明显的促进作用,致使其发生远程运动。此外,对比考虑和不考虑基底侵蚀两种工况的模拟结果还发现,考虑这种影响时,模拟所得的运动范围及地形与实测吻合良好,而未考虑时模拟所得运动范围明显偏小。因此,本文的模型可对这类滑坡的运动过程进行更为有效的模拟。     

Threshold for particle entrainment into suspension

ABSTRACT Laboratory observations regarding the limit conditions for particle entrainment into suspension are presented. A high‐speed video system was used to investigate conditions for the entrainment of sediment particles and glass beads lying over a smooth boundary as well as over a rough bed. The results extend experimental conditions of previous studies towards finer particle sizes. A criterion for the limit of entrainment into suspension is proposed which is a function of the ratio between the flow shear velocity and particle settling velocity. Observations indicate that particles totally immersed within the viscous sublayer can be entrained into suspension by the flow, which contradicts the conclusions of previous researchers. A theoretical analysis of the entrainment process within the viscous sublayer, based on force–balance considerations, is used to show that this phenomenon is related to turbulent flow events of high instantaneous values of the Reynolds stress, in agreement with previous observations. In the case of experiments with a rough bed, a hiding effect was observed, which tends to preclude the entrainment of particles finer than the roughness elements. This implies that, as the ratio between particle and roughness element sizes becomes smaller, progressively higher bed shear stresses are required to entrain particles into suspension. On the other hand, an overexposure effect was also observed, which indicates that a particle moving on a smooth bed is more prone to be entrained than the same particle moving on a bed formed by identical particles.     

Sandy gravel accumulation in a fluvial environment

Particle size, pebble shape, pebble fabric, discharge and flow velocity data are used to introduce a model of sandy gravel formation in Welsh gravel-bed rivers. The development of contact-imbrication of the typically very bladed and very platy cobbles and larger pebbles subsequently acts to significantly affect the depositional modes and patterns of small pebbles and sand particles. An important distinction is drawn between sand deposition, which can occur at or below the bed surface, and pebble and cobble deposition, which is merely a surface phenomenon.     

Morphology and evolution of bars in a wandering gravel-bed river; lower Fraser river, British Columbia, Canada

A hierarchical typology for the channels and bars within aggradational wandering gravel-bed rivers is developed from an examination of a 50 km reach of lower Fraser River, British Columbia, Canada. Unit bars, built by stacking of gravelly bedload sheets, are the key dynamic element of the sediment transfer system, linking sediment transport during individual freshets to the creation, development and remoulding of compound bar platforms that have either a lateral or medial style. Primary and secondary unit bars are identified, respectively, as those that deliver sediment to compound bars from the principal channel and those that redistribute sediment across the compound bar via seasonal anabranches and smaller channels. The record of bar accretion evident in ground-penetrating radar sequences is consistent with the long-term development of bar complexes derived from historical aerial photographs. For two compound bars, inter-annual changes associated with individual sediment transport episodes are measured using detailed topographic surveys and longer-term changes are quantified using sediment budgets derived for individual bars from periodic channel surveys. Annual sediment turnover on the bars is comparable with the bed material transfer rate along the channel, indicating that relatively little bed material bypasses the bars. Bar construction and change are accomplished mainly by lateral accretion as the river has limited capacity to raise bed load onto higher surfaces. Styles of accretion and erosion and, therefore, the major bar form morphologies on Fraser River are familiar and consistent with those in gravelly braided channels but the wandering style does exhibit some distinctive features. For example, 65-year histories reveal the potential for long sequences of uninterrupted accretion in relatively stable wandering rivers that are unlikely in braided rivers.     

河流冲刷过程中表层床沙粗化对不平衡输沙的影响

在分析前人的不平衡输沙研究成果的基础上,针对非均匀沙河床,提出了床沙交换速率的新物理概念,计算研究了不同床沙交换速率时表层床沙的粗化过程及非均匀沙含沙量恢复饱和过程.研究表明,由于较细泥沙的冲刷率总大于较粗泥沙,因此在床面薄层内泥沙随冲刷迅速粗化,致使挟沙力降低,不平衡输沙距离较均匀沙情况大大延长.床沙交换速率愈慢,则冲刷距离愈长.