Effect of stem-generated turbulence on sediment resuspension within rigid vegetation canopies in waves

Abstract

浅水湖泊沉积物再悬浮过程促进了沉积物内源性物质的释放，造成湖泊水体内源污染，加剧湖泊水质污染与生态恶化.开展刚性植被不同分布格局下的沉积物再悬浮水槽试验，能为浅水草型湖泊、滨海湿地等水环境治理与生态修复提供理论参考.本研究通过开展实验室波浪水槽试验，检验了3种直径12种密度的刚性模型植被对波浪扰动白洋淀沉积物再悬浮的影响，通过测定不同植被情景不同波浪条件下的瞬时速度和沉积物再悬浮浓度，详细阐述了植被产生的紊动能对沉积物再悬浮临界状态的影响，构建并验证了沉积物再悬浮植被紊流模型，预测了沉积物再悬浮的临界速度，为湿地生态恢复与保护提供参考.结果表明：1）植被的存在能有效增加近床面的紊动能；2）紊动能是控制沉积物再悬浮的关键性因素；3）沉积物再悬浮的临界波速与植被的固相体积分数相关.;Sediment resuspension in shallow lakes promotes the nutrients release, which leads to the internal pollution, degrading the water quality and lake ecology. This research aims to study the impact of rigid vegetation on wave-driven sediment resuspension through wave flume experiments. It could provide a theoretical reference for environmental management and ecological restoration of shallow lakes and coastal wetlands. Vegetation canopies were constructed by rigid cylinders considering three diameters and 12 vegetation densities. The near-bed instantaneous velocity was measured within vegetation canopies and under different wave conditions by a Nortek Vectrino at sampling rate of 200 Hz. Suspended sediment concentrations were measured using an optical backscatter with frequency of 20 Hz. The vegetation-generated turbulence was positively linear with the root mean square of wave velocity. This vegetated turbulence increased with an increasing ratio (A_w/S) of wave excursion (A_w) to stem spacing (S) when A_w/S>1, and was similar with bare bed case when A_w/S<1. The concentration of sediment resuspension increased with growing solid volume fraction. The critical state of resuspension was initiated when the suspended sediment concentration exceeded the background level. Higher solid volume fraction generated higher turbulence, which promoted a small critical wave velocity. A vegetation-generated turbulence model for sediment resuspension was proposed and validated using the measured turbulence in the model canopy. Therefore, we confirmed that the magnitude of stem-generated turbulence is a function of solid volume fraction. This model proved the key role of turbulent kinetic energy to control the initial sediment resuspension. Based on this, a threshold model of critical velocity for sediment resuspension was proposed and validated. It could predict the critical near-bed wave velocity for sediment resuspension within rigid vegetation canopy or sheath with diameters of 0.32 cm to 1.2 cm. The applicable particle size was limited to 85-280 μm.