Sediment
Encyclopedia
Weathering
Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soils and minerals as well as artificial materials through contact with the Earth's atmosphere, biota and waters...
and erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
, and is subsequently transported
Sediment transport
Sediment transport is the movement of solid particles , typically due to a combination of the force of gravity acting on the sediment, and/or the movement of the fluid in which the sediment is entrained...
by the action of fluid
Fluid
In physics, a fluid is a substance that continually deforms under an applied shear stress. Fluids are a subset of the phases of matter and include liquids, gases, plasmas and, to some extent, plastic solids....
s such as wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself.
Sediments are most often transported by water (fluvial
Fluvial
Fluvial is used in geography and Earth science to refer to the processes associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them...
processes), wind (aeolian processes) and glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s. Beach sands and river channel
Stream channel
Stream channel is the physical confine of a stream consisting of a bed and stream banks.Stream channels exist in a variety of geometries. The stream channel development is controlled by both water and sediment movement. There is a difference between low gradient streams and high gradient streams...
deposits are examples of fluvial transport and deposition, though sediment also often settles out of slow-moving or standing water in lakes and oceans. Desert sand dunes and loess
Loess
Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
are examples of aeolian transport and deposition. Glacial moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
deposits and till
Till
thumb|right|Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material , and this characteristic, known as matrix support, is diagnostic of till....
are ice-transported sediments.
Classification
Sediment can be classified based on its grain sizeParticle size (grain size)
Particle size, also called grain size, refers to the diameter of individual grains of sediment, or the lithified particles in clastic rocks. The term may also be applied to other granular materials. This is different from the crystallite size, which is the size of a single crystal inside the...
and/or its composition.
Grain size
| φ scale | Size range (metric) | Size range (inches) | Aggregate class (Wentworth) | Other names |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| < -8 | > 256 mm | > 10.1 in | Boulder Boulder In geology, a boulder is a rock with grain size of usually no less than 256 mm diameter. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive.... |
|
| -6 to -8 | 64–256 mm | 2.5–10.1 in | Cobble Cobble (geology) A cobble is a clast of rock with a particle size of to based on the Krumbein phi scale of sedimentology. Cobbles are generally considered to be larger than pebbles and smaller than boulders . A rock made predominantly of cobbles is termed a conglomerate.... |
|
| -5 to -6 | 32–64 mm | 1.26–2.5 in | Very coarse gravel Gravel Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble... |
Pebble Pebble A pebble is a clast of rock with a particle size of 4 to 64 millimetres based on the Krumbein phi scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered to be larger than granules and smaller than cobbles . A rock made predominantly of pebbles is termed a conglomerate... |
| -4 to -5 | 16–32 mm | 0.63–1.26 in | Coarse gravel | Pebble |
| -3 to -4 | 8–16 mm | 0.31–0.63 in | Medium gravel | Pebble |
| -2 to -3 | 4–8 mm | 0.157–0.31 in | Fine gravel | Pebble |
| -1 to -2 | 2–4 mm | 0.079–0.157 in | Very fine gravel | Granule Granule Granule is a generic term used for a small particle or grain. The generic term is employed in a variety of specific contexts.* Granule , visible structures in the photosphere of the Sun arising from activity in the Sun's convective zone... |
| 0 to -1 | 1–2 mm | 0.039–0.079 in | Very coarse sand Sand Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal... |
|
| 1 to 0 | 0.5–1 mm | 0.020–0.039 in | Coarse sand | |
| 2 to 1 | 0.25–0.5 mm | 0.010–0.020 in | Medium sand | |
| 3 to 2 | 125–250 µm Micrometre A micrometer , is by definition 1×10-6 of a meter .In plain English, it means one-millionth of a meter . Its unit symbol in the International System of Units is μm... |
0.0049–0.010 in | Fine sand | |
| 4 to 3 | 62.5–125 µm | 0.0025–0.0049 in | Very fine sand | |
| 8 to 4 | 3.9–62.5 µm | 0.00015–0.0025 in | Silt Silt Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body... |
Mud Mud Mud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds... |
| > 8 | < 3.9 µm | < 0.00015 in | Clay Clay Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals... |
Mud |
| >10 | < 1 µm | < 0.000039 in | Colloid Colloid A colloid is a substance microscopically dispersed evenly throughout another substance.A colloidal system consists of two separate phases: a dispersed phase and a continuous phase . A colloidal system may be solid, liquid, or gaseous.Many familiar substances are colloids, as shown in the chart below... |
Mud |
Composition
Composition of sediment can be measured in terms of:- parent rockRock (geology)In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
lithologyLithologyThe lithology of a rock unit is a description of its physical characteristics visible at outcrop, in hand or core samples or with low magnification microscopy, such as colour, texture, grain size, or composition. It may be either a detailed description of these characteristics or be a summary of... - mineralMineralA mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
composition - chemical make-up.
This leads to an ambiguity in which clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
can be used as both a size-range and a composition (see clay minerals).
Sediment transport
Sediment is transported based on the strength of the flow that carries it and its own size, volume, density, and shape. Stronger flows will increase the lift and drag on the particle, causing it to rise, while larger or denser particles will be more likely to fall through the flow.Particle motion
Rivers and streams carry sediment in their flows. This sediment can be in a variety of locations within the flow, depending on the balance between the upwards velocity on the particle (drag and lift forces), and the settling velocityTerminal velocity
In fluid dynamics an object is moving at its terminal velocity if its speed is constant due to the restraining force exerted by the fluid through which it is moving....
of the particle. These relationships are given in the following table for the Rouse number
Rouse number
The Rouse number is a non-dimensional number in fluid dynamics which is used to define a concentration profile of suspended sediment and which also determines how sediment will be transported in a flowing fluid...
, which is a ratio of sediment fall velocity to upwards velocity.
where
-
is the fall velocity -
is the von Kármán constantVon Kármán constantIn fluid dynamics, the Von Kármán constant , named for Theodore von Kármán, is a dimensionless constant describing the logarithmic velocity profile of a turbulent fluid flow near a boundary with a no-slip condition... -
is the shear velocityShear velocityShear velocity, also called friction velocity, is a form by which a shear stress may be re-written in units of velocity. It is useful as a method in fluid mechanics to compare true velocities, such as the velocity of a flow in a stream, to a velocity that relates shear between layers of flow.Shear...
| Mode of Transport | Rouse Number |
|---|---|
| Bed load Bed load The term bed load or bedload describes particles in a flowing fluid that are transported along the bed. Bed load is complementary to suspended load and wash load.Bed load moves by rolling, sliding, and/or saltating .... |
>2.5 |
| Suspended load Suspended load Suspended load is the portion of the sediment that is carried by a fluid flow which settle slowly enough such that it almost never touches the bed... : 50% Suspended |
>1.2, <2.5 |
| Suspended load Suspended load Suspended load is the portion of the sediment that is carried by a fluid flow which settle slowly enough such that it almost never touches the bed... : 100% Suspended |
>0.8, <1.2 |
| Wash load Wash load Wash load is the portion of sediment that is carried by a fluid flow, usually in a river, such that it always remains close the free surface . It is in near-permanent suspension and is transported without deposition, essentially passing straight through the stream... |
<0.8 |
If the upwards velocity approximately equal to the settling velocity, sediment will be transported downstream entirely as suspended load
Suspended load
Suspended load is the portion of the sediment that is carried by a fluid flow which settle slowly enough such that it almost never touches the bed...
. If the upwards velocity is much less than the settling velocity, but still high enough for the sediment to move (see Initiation of motion), it will move along the bed as bed load
Bed load
The term bed load or bedload describes particles in a flowing fluid that are transported along the bed. Bed load is complementary to suspended load and wash load.Bed load moves by rolling, sliding, and/or saltating ....
by rolling, sliding, and saltating
Saltation
Saltation may refer to:* Saltation , an evolutionary hypothesis emphasizing sudden and drastic change* Saltation , a process of particle transport by fluids* Saltation , the antithesis of Continuous Integration...
(jumping up into the flow, being transported a short distance then settling again). If the upwards velocity is higher than the settling velocity, the sediment will be transported high in the flow as wash load
Wash load
Wash load is the portion of sediment that is carried by a fluid flow, usually in a river, such that it always remains close the free surface . It is in near-permanent suspension and is transported without deposition, essentially passing straight through the stream...
.
As there are generally a range of different particle sizes in the flow, it is common for material of different sizes to move through all areas of the flow for given stream conditions.
Fluvial bedforms
Sediment motion can create self-organized structures such as rippleRipple marks
In geology, ripple marks are sedimentary structures and indicate agitation by water or wind.- Defining ripple cross-laminae and asymmetric ripples :...
s, dune
Dune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...
s, antidune
Antidune
An antidune is a bedform found in fluvial environments. It occurs where there is supercritical flow, meaning that the Froude number is greater than 1.0 or the flow velocity exceeds the wave velocity; this is also known as upper flow regime. In antidunes, sediment is deposited on the stoss side and...
s on the river or stream bed
Stream bed
A stream bed is the channel bottom of a stream, river or creek; the physical confine of the normal water flow. The lateral confines or channel margins, during all but flood stage, are known as the stream banks or river banks. In fact, a flood occurs when a stream overflows its banks and flows onto...
. These bedforms are often preserved in sedimentary rocks and can be used to estimate the direction and magnitude of the flow that deposited the sediment.
Surface runoff
Overland flow can erode soil particles and transport them downslope. The erosion associated with overland flow may occur through different methods depending on meteorological and flow conditions.- If the initial impact of rain droplets dislodges soil, the phenomenon is called rainsplash erosion.
- If overland flow is directly responsible for sediment entrainment but does not form gullies, it is called "sheet erosion".
- If the flow and the substrate permit channelization, gullies may form; this is termed "gully erosion".
Key fluvial depositional environments
The major fluvialFluvial
Fluvial is used in geography and Earth science to refer to the processes associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them...
(river and stream) environments for deposition of sediments include:
- DeltasRiver deltaA delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
(arguably an intermediate environment between fluvial and marine) - Point barPoint barA point bar is a depositional feature of streams. Point bars are found in abundance in mature or meandering streams. They are crescent-shaped and located on the inside of a stream bend, being very similar to, though often smaller than towheads, or river islands.Point bars are composed of sediment...
s - Alluvial fanAlluvial fanAn alluvial fan is a fan-shaped deposit formed where a fast flowing stream flattens, slows, and spreads typically at the exit of a canyon onto a flatter plain. A convergence of neighboring alluvial fans into a single apron of deposits against a slope is called a bajada, or compound alluvial...
s - Braided riverBraided riverA braided river is one of a number of channel types and has a channel that consists of a network of small channels separated by small and often temporary islands called braid bars or, in British usage, aits or eyots. Braided streams occur in rivers with high slope and/or large sediment load...
s - Oxbow lakeOxbow lakeAn oxbow lake is a U-shaped body of water formed when a wide meander from the main stem of a river is cut off to create a lake. This landform is called an oxbow lake for the distinctive curved shape, named after part of a yoke for oxen. In Australia, an oxbow lake is called a billabong, derived...
s - LeveeLeveeA levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
s - WaterfallWaterfallA waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
s
Aeolian processes: wind
Wind results in the transportation of fine sediment and the formation of sand dune fields and soils from airborne dust.Glacial processes
Glaciers carry a wide range of sediment sizes, and deposit it in moraineMoraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
s.
Mass balance
The overall balance between sediment in transport and sediment being deposited on the bed is given by the Exner equationExner equation
The Exner equation is a statement of conservation of mass that applies to sediment in a fluvial system such as a river. It was developed by the Austrian meteorologist and sedimentologist Felix Maria Exner, from whom it derives its name.-The equation:...
. This expression states that the rate of increase in bed elevation due to deposition is proportional to the amount of sediment that falls out of the flow. This equation is important in that changes in the power of the flow changes the ability of the flow to carry sediment, and this is reflected in patterns of erosion and deposition observed throughout a stream. This can be localized, and simply due to small obstacles: examples are scour holes behind boulders, where flow accelerates, and deposition on the inside of meander
Meander
A meander in general is a bend in a sinuous watercourse. A meander is formed when the moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley. A stream of any volume may assume a meandering course, alternately eroding sediments from the outside of a bend and depositing them on the...
bends. Erosion and deposition can also be regional: erosion can occur due to dam removal
Dam removal
Dam removal is the process of removing out-dated, dangerous, or ecologically damaging dams from river systems. There are thousands of out-dated dams in the United States that were built in the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as many more recent ones that have caused such great ecological damage,...
and base level
Base level
The base level of a river or stream is the lowest point to which it can flow, often referred to as the 'mouth' of the river. For large rivers, sea level is usually the base level, but a large river or lake is likewise the base level for tributary streams...
fall. Deposition can occur due to dam emplacement that causes the river to pool, and deposit its entire load or due to base level rise.
Shores and shallow seas
Seas, oceans and lakes accumulate sediment over time. The sediment could consist of terrigenous material, which originates on land, but may be deposited in either terrestrial, marine, or lacustrine (lake) environments; or of sediments (often biological) originating in the body of water. Terrigenous material is often supplied by nearby rivers and streams or reworked marine sediment (e.g. sandSand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
). In the mid-ocean, living organisms are primarily responsible for the sediment accumulation, their shells sinking to the ocean floor upon death.
Deposited sediments are the source of sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
s, which can contain fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s of the inhabitants of the body of water that were, upon death, covered by accumulating sediment. Lake bed sediments that have not solidified into rock can be used to determine past climatic
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
conditions.
Key marine depositional environments
- LittoralLittoralThe littoral zone is that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to...
sands (e.g. beach sands, runoff river sands, coastal bars and spits, largely clasticSedimentary rockSedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
with little faunal content) - The continental shelf (siltSiltSilt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
y clayClayClay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
s, increasing marine faunal content). - The shelf margin (low terrigenous supply, mostly calcareousCalciteCalcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 380-470°C, and vaterite is even less stable.-Properties:...
faunal skeletons) - The shelf slope (much more fine-grained silts and clays)
- Beds of estuaries with the resultant deposits called "bay mudBay mudBay mud consists of thick deposits of soft, unconsolidated silty clay, which is saturated with water; these soil layers are situated at the bottom of certain estuaries, which are normally in temperate regions that have experienced cyclical glacial cycles...
".
One other depositional environment which is a mixture of fluvial and marine is the turbidite
Turbidite
Turbidite geological formations have their origins in turbidity current deposits, which are deposits from a form of underwater avalanche that are responsible for distributing vast amounts of clastic sediment into the deep ocean.-The ideal turbidite sequence:...
system, which is a major source of sediment to the deep sedimentary
Sedimentary basin
The term sedimentary basin is used to refer to any geographical feature exhibiting subsidence and consequent infilling by sedimentation. As the sediments are buried, they are subjected to increasing pressure and begin the process of lithification...
and abyssal basins
Abyssal plain
An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between 3000 and 6000 metres. Lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains cover more than 50% of the Earth’s surface. They are among the flattest, smoothest...
as well as the deep oceanic trench
Oceanic trench
The oceanic trenches are hemispheric-scale long but narrow topographic depressions of the sea floor. They are also the deepest parts of the ocean floor....
es.
Any depression in a marine environment where sediments accumulate over time is known as a sediment trap
Sediment trap (geology)
In geology, a sediment trap is any topographic depression where sediments substantially accumulate over time. The size of a sediment trap can vary from a small lagoon to a large basin such as the Persian Gulf....
.
Erosion and agricultural sediment delivery to rivers
One cause of high sediment loads from slash and burnSlash and burn
Slash-and-burn is an agricultural technique which involves cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create fields. It is subsistence agriculture that typically uses little technology or other tools. It is typically part of shifting cultivation agriculture, and of transhumance livestock...
and shifting cultivation
Shifting cultivation
Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned. This system often involves clearing of a piece of land followed by several years of wood harvesting or farming, until the soil loses fertility...
of tropical forests. When the ground surface is stripped of vegetation and then seared of all living organisms, the upper soils are vulnerable to both wind and water erosion. In a number of regions of the earth, entire sectors of a country have become erodible. For example, on the Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
high central plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
, which constitutes approximately ten percent of that country's land area, most of the land area is devegetated, and gullies have eroded into the underlying soil in furrows typically in excess of 50 meters deep and one kilometer wide. This siltation
Siltation
Siltation is the pollution of water by fine particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments, and to the increased accumulation of fine sediments on bottoms where they are undesirable...
results in discoloration of rivers to a dark red brown color and leads to fish kills.
Erosion is also an issue in areas of modern farming, where the removal of native vegetation for the cultivation and harvesting of a single type of crop has left the soil unsupported. Many of these regions are near rivers and drainages. Loss of soil due to erosion removes useful farmland, adds to sediment loads, and can help transport anthropogenic fertilizers into the river system, which leads to eutrophication
Eutrophication
Eutrophication or more precisely hypertrophication, is the movement of a body of water′s trophic status in the direction of increasing plant biomass, by the addition of artificial or natural substances, such as nitrates and phosphates, through fertilizers or sewage, to an aquatic system...
.
Dregs
Sediment in wineWine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
, beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
, Turkish coffee
Turkish coffee
Turkish coffee is a method of preparing coffee where finely powdered roast coffee beans are boiled in a pot , with sugar according to taste, before being served into a cup where the dregs settle...
or other beverages is known as dregs.
See also
- Bar (river morphology)Bar (river morphology)A bar in a river is an elevated region of sediment that has been deposited by the flow. Types of bars include mid-channel bars , point bars , and mouth bars...
- Beach cuspsBeach cuspsBeach cusps are shoreline formations made up of various grades of sediment in an arc pattern. The horns are made up of coarser materials and the embayment contains all the finer grain sediment. They can be found all over the world and are most noticeable on shorelines with coarser sediment such as...
- BiorhexistasyBiorhexistasyThe Theory of Biorhexistasy describes climatic conditions necessary for periods of soil formation separated by periods of soil erosion. Proposed by pedologist H...
- BioswaleBioswaleBioswales are landscape elements designed to remove silt and pollution from surface runoff water. They consist of a swaled drainage course with gently sloped sides and filled with vegetation, compost and/or riprap...
- DecantationDecantationDecantation is a process for the separation of mixtures. This is achieved by carefully pouring a solution from a container in order to leave the precipitate in the bottom of the original container...
- ErosionErosionErosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
- Exner equationExner equationThe Exner equation is a statement of conservation of mass that applies to sediment in a fluvial system such as a river. It was developed by the Austrian meteorologist and sedimentologist Felix Maria Exner, from whom it derives its name.-The equation:...
- Particle size (grain size)Particle size (grain size)Particle size, also called grain size, refers to the diameter of individual grains of sediment, or the lithified particles in clastic rocks. The term may also be applied to other granular materials. This is different from the crystallite size, which is the size of a single crystal inside the...
- RegolithRegolithRegolith is a layer of loose, heterogeneous material covering solid rock. It includes dust, soil, broken rock, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, some asteroids, and other terrestrial planets and moons.-Etymology:...
- SandSandSand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
- Sediment precipitationSediment precipitationSediment precipitation is a weather condition that occurs when a mix of rain and sediment fall from the sky as precipitation. It usually occurs in arid desert regions such as west Texas or Arizona. It occasionally happens in the grasslands as it did in Bexar County, Texas on March 18, 2008....
- Sediment trapSediment trap (geology)In geology, a sediment trap is any topographic depression where sediments substantially accumulate over time. The size of a sediment trap can vary from a small lagoon to a large basin such as the Persian Gulf....
- Sedimentary depositional environmentSedimentary depositional environmentIn geology, sedimentary depositional environment describes the combination of physical, chemical and biological processes associated with the deposition of a particular type of sediment and, therefore, the rock types that will be formed after lithification, if the sediment is preserved in the rock...
- SettlingSettlingSettling is the process by which particulates settle to the bottom of a liquid and form a sediment. Particles that experience a force, either due to gravity or due to centrifugal motion will tend to move in a uniform manner in the direction exerted by that force...
- Surface runoffSurface runoffSurface runoff is the water flow that occurs when soil is infiltrated to full capacity and excess water from rain, meltwater, or other sources flows over the land. This is a major component of the water cycle. Runoff that occurs on surfaces before reaching a channel is also called a nonpoint source...