Abstract
In the arid and semiarid regions of the southwestern United States, a large portion of the natural water recharge is through channel beds and alluvial deposits in river basins. Water transmission in these beds varies with time, location, depth and extent of alluvium, and hydraulic characteristics of flows, sediment loads, and morphology of the channels. An alluvial profile in an ephemeral stream channel was found to have layers with relatively high clay and silt accumulation. Samples from a pit in the channel were subjected to a micromorphological examination using thin sections. Clay and silt were found to have accumulated on sand and gravel particles and around aggregates. In the laboratory, samples of alluvium material were dispersed. The clay and silt fractions were collected, dried, and then mixed again with the washed material. The hydraulic conductivity of the mixed material was 30% less than that for the nondispersed sample. These results are attributed to the orderly arrangement of clay and silt on the surfaces and between the larger sand and gravel particles of the nondispersed samples. (Key words: Sediment; porous medium; infiltration; permeability)
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