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Fine-sediment dynamics: towards an improved understanding of sediment erosion and transport

  • SEDIMENTS, SEC 2 • PHYSICAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES • RESEARCH ARTICLE
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

Using Ells River, Alberta, Canada bed sediments, this study aims to determine (1) the erosion, transport, and deposition characteristics of cohesive bottom sediments, and (2) the influence of the microbial community in this regard.

Materials and methods

A 2-m annular flume was used to generate bed shear to assess cohesive sediment dynamics for eroded beds with consolidation/biostabilization periods of 1, 3, and 7 days. Additional optical particle sizing, image analysis, densitometry, and microbial analysis were employed to further the analysis with respect to bed erosion and eroded floc characteristics.

Results and discussion

Sediment dynamics can influence the benthic and planktonic community health within aquatic systems. The critical bed shear stress for erosion increased from 0.05 to 0.19 Pa (for 1- to 7-day runs). Consolidation (dry density) increased with time and depth and eroded biofilm biomass was observed to increase with time. The community structure of the eroded sediment did not change with time suggesting a stable well-established and highly selected community. Hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria were present within the microbial consortium. The sediment was highly hydrophobic (96 %) due to a high natural oil content which likely had a profound effect on sediment dynamics, flocculation, and sediment cohesion. Eroded sediment settled poorly, which will result in the long-range transport of associated contaminants.

Conclusions

The Ells River possesses some unique properties which should be considered when assessing contaminant source, fate, and effect. The most significant of these are small floc size, the hydrophobicity of the sediment, and the biological community as these were found to be influential in both the erosion and flocculation processes. It is important that any management strategies and operational assessments of reclamation strategies that may have implication on river health incorporate the sediment compartments (SS and bed sediment), biology, and the energy dynamics within the system in order to better predict the downstream flux of sediments.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the staff of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development in Fort McMurray for their support with the sampling equipment and shipping of samples. The review comments of V. Wendling (Grenoble University, France) were also appreciated.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environment Canada, Water Science and Technology Directorate, P.O. Box 5050, Burlington, Ontario, L7R 4A6, Canada

    Ian G. Droppo, Bommanna G. Krishnappan, Christina Jaskot & Brian Trapp

  2. McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    Liana D’Andrea

  3. Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

    Mahendran Basuvaraj & Steven N. Liss

Authors
  1. Ian G. Droppo
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  2. Liana D’Andrea
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  3. Bommanna G. Krishnappan
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  4. Christina Jaskot
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  5. Brian Trapp
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  6. Mahendran Basuvaraj
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  7. Steven N. Liss
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ian G. Droppo.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Sabine Ulrike Gerbersdorf

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(DOCX 22 kb)

Table S1

(DOC 97 kb)

Fig. S1

Schematic of 2 m annular flume. (PPTX 74 kb)

Fig. S2

COM images of eroded flocs from the a 1-day and b 7-day peak-erosion shear. (PPT 214 kb)

Fig. S3

Rate of change in erosion rate following the critical bed shear stress for erosion (type 1B). Regression lines provided on graph. (PPTX 259 kb)

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Droppo, I.G., D’Andrea, L., Krishnappan, B.G. et al. Fine-sediment dynamics: towards an improved understanding of sediment erosion and transport. J Soils Sediments 15, 467–479 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-014-1004-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-014-1004-3

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