Estuarine Floc Mass Distributions from Aggregation/Disaggregation and Bed Sediment Exchange
Estuarine benthos, among other lifeforms of interest to water quality, can be sensitive to size-distributed suspended cohesive flocs. In such a context, tide-dependent floc mass distributions in the Tamar Estuary in the UK are revisited. At the field site close to maximum turbidity, time-series of t...
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MDPI AG
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
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| author | William H. McAnally Ashish J. Mehta Andrew J. Manning Carola Forlini |
| author_facet | William H. McAnally Ashish J. Mehta Andrew J. Manning Carola Forlini |
| author_sort | William H. McAnally |
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| description | Estuarine benthos, among other lifeforms of interest to water quality, can be sensitive to size-distributed suspended cohesive flocs. In such a context, tide-dependent floc mass distributions in the Tamar Estuary in the UK are revisited. At the field site close to maximum turbidity, time-series of the water level, current velocity, salinity, and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) were recorded in 1998 over several tidal cycles. Concurrently, at selected times and elevation, floc mass distributions were derived from in situ observations of the SSC, floc diameters, and settling velocities. A previously developed time-dependent model, revised to account for both multiclass floc aggregation/disaggregation and bed sediment exchange by erosion and deposition, is applied to simulate mass distributions during ebb/flood cycles on 24 June and 5 August. Although the model does not account for the density effects of salinity or sediment advection, limited comparisons between simulated and observed mass distributions indicate generally good agreement in median diameter prediction on both days. This concurrence is due to the primary role of suspended floc dynamics and only a secondary contribution from bed sediment exchange in governing floc properties. For a better prediction of the SSC variation with the tide, the effects of salinity and advection can be incorporated by coupling the modeled floc dynamics with a suitable multi-dimensional hydrodynamic code. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e94c73027f374715baa3e5c7f04a5c62 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2077-1312 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
| spelling | doaj-art-e94c73027f374715baa3e5c7f04a5c622025-08-20T02:42:35ZengMDPI AGJournal of Marine Science and Engineering2077-13122025-03-0113361510.3390/jmse13030615Estuarine Floc Mass Distributions from Aggregation/Disaggregation and Bed Sediment ExchangeWilliam H. McAnally0Ashish J. Mehta1Andrew J. Manning2Carola Forlini3Dynamic Solutions LLC, Knoxville, TN 37919, USADepartment of Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USASchool of Biological and Marine Sciences, Plymouth University, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UKIntera Inc., Gainesville, FL 32605, USAEstuarine benthos, among other lifeforms of interest to water quality, can be sensitive to size-distributed suspended cohesive flocs. In such a context, tide-dependent floc mass distributions in the Tamar Estuary in the UK are revisited. At the field site close to maximum turbidity, time-series of the water level, current velocity, salinity, and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) were recorded in 1998 over several tidal cycles. Concurrently, at selected times and elevation, floc mass distributions were derived from in situ observations of the SSC, floc diameters, and settling velocities. A previously developed time-dependent model, revised to account for both multiclass floc aggregation/disaggregation and bed sediment exchange by erosion and deposition, is applied to simulate mass distributions during ebb/flood cycles on 24 June and 5 August. Although the model does not account for the density effects of salinity or sediment advection, limited comparisons between simulated and observed mass distributions indicate generally good agreement in median diameter prediction on both days. This concurrence is due to the primary role of suspended floc dynamics and only a secondary contribution from bed sediment exchange in governing floc properties. For a better prediction of the SSC variation with the tide, the effects of salinity and advection can be incorporated by coupling the modeled floc dynamics with a suitable multi-dimensional hydrodynamic code.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/3/615cohesive sedimentfloc dynamicsturbidity maximumRiver Tamar, UKerosiondeposition |
| spellingShingle | William H. McAnally Ashish J. Mehta Andrew J. Manning Carola Forlini Estuarine Floc Mass Distributions from Aggregation/Disaggregation and Bed Sediment Exchange Journal of Marine Science and Engineering cohesive sediment floc dynamics turbidity maximum River Tamar, UK erosion deposition |
| title | Estuarine Floc Mass Distributions from Aggregation/Disaggregation and Bed Sediment Exchange |
| title_full | Estuarine Floc Mass Distributions from Aggregation/Disaggregation and Bed Sediment Exchange |
| title_fullStr | Estuarine Floc Mass Distributions from Aggregation/Disaggregation and Bed Sediment Exchange |
| title_full_unstemmed | Estuarine Floc Mass Distributions from Aggregation/Disaggregation and Bed Sediment Exchange |
| title_short | Estuarine Floc Mass Distributions from Aggregation/Disaggregation and Bed Sediment Exchange |
| title_sort | estuarine floc mass distributions from aggregation disaggregation and bed sediment exchange |
| topic | cohesive sediment floc dynamics turbidity maximum River Tamar, UK erosion deposition |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/3/615 |
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