Transport Systems and Fluxes of Suspended Matter

Abstract

In the previous chapters, the sources, composition, and concentration distribution of suspended matter were discussed, as well as the mechanisms of particle transport and flocculation. In this chapter, the dispersal or concentration processes in the different aquatic environments are described. By necessity this chapter will have to be more qualitative and descriptive than quantitative. Lack of sufficient knowledge of in-situ particle size and settling velocity, of the interaction between waves and currents and its effect on particle behavior, of the bottom boundary layer and the behavior of freshly deposited mud, and of the difficulties of a three-dimensional approach, as discussed in Chapters 5 and 6, limit any quantitative treatment. Therefore the following summary of our knowledge on suspended matter in the various environments is primarily a description of the processes that are involved, together with an evaluation – as far as possible – of their relative importance.