Deposition and resuspension of fine particles in a riverine ‘dead zone’

Abstract

AbstractParticulate matter suspended in the River Severn (Shropshire, UK) consists chiefly of clay‐sized mineral particles, together with living and dead micro‐organisms (algae and bacteria). Its concentration depends strongly on discharge, but the particle size distribution shows no systematic variability. For most samples, the particle volume is log‐normally distributed with respect to diameter, the mean diameter being ca. 9 μm. The particles are mainly aggregates, including some with linear dimensions of the order of tens or hundreds of micrometres. Particle density depends appreciably on size, decreasing from ca. 2.5 × 106 g m−3 at a diameter of 2.5 μm to ca. 1.3 × 106 g m −3 at 20 μm. The collision efficiency factor for particle aggregation is estimated to be 0.01–0.03. At low discharge, the ‘dead zone’ in the River Severn at Leighton is a well defined region of stagnant water behind a gravel bar. The rate of deposition of fine particles on its bed is of the order of tens of grams per square metre per day. Resuspension requires a critical bed shear velocity of 0.03–0.04 m s−1, which occurs at main river discharges greater than about 150 m3 s−1. Under such conditions the gravel bar is underwater and the dead zone is a region of highly turbulent return flow. A simple mechanistic model of particle dynamics in the dead zone accounts reasonably well for particle accumulation rates when run with parameter values based on measured particle and hydraulic properties. Calculations with the model suggest that most of the sedimentation flux to the dead zone bed is due to particles with equivalent sphere diameters in the range 30–240 μm. Simulations indicate that deposition proceeded continuously during spring and summer, whereas repeated deposition and resuspension occurred in autumn and winter.