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Effects of Gravity Erosion on Particle Size Distribution of Suspended Sediment

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Experimental Erosion

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Abstract

Gravity erosion generates an enormous volume of sediments on steep slopes throughout the world, yet its effect on the particle size distribution of suspended sediments (PSDSS) remains poorly understood. In this chapter, experiments were conducted in a field mobile laboratory in which mass movements were triggered on steep slopes under simulated rainfall. A suite of indexes such as median sediment size (d50), sediment heterogeneity (H), fractal dimension (D), and enrichment/dilution ratio (Red) were used to evaluate the effect of mass movement on PSDSS. Mass movements led to a drastic increase in the sediment concentration and the enrichment of fine particles, which developed into hyperconcentrated flows. \( R_{\text{ed}}{\text{s}} \) for clay, silt, and sand fractions were 13.9, 1.4, and 0.7 respectively. The d50, H, and D were significantly correlated with slope failures. The changes of PSDSS after mass movements reflected a combined complex effect of soil sources, erosion types, selective detachment, and deposition processes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Hydraulic Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China

    Xiangzhou Xu

  2. Department of Geography, Urban, Environment and Sustainability Studies, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN, USA

    Tongxin Zhu

  3. State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Hongwu Zhang

  4. School of Hydraulic Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China

    Lu Gao

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  1. Xiangzhou Xu
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  2. Tongxin Zhu
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  3. Hongwu Zhang
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  4. Lu Gao
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Xu, X., Zhu, T., Zhang, H., Gao, L. (2020). Effects of Gravity Erosion on Particle Size Distribution of Suspended Sediment. In: Experimental Erosion. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3801-8_12

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