Introduction to the Physics of Cohesive Sediment Dynamics in the Marine Environment

1. Introduction.2. Boundary layer flow.2.1 Hydrodynamics and mass balance.2.2 The boundary layer.2.3 The effect of surface waves.3. The nature of cohesive sediment.3.1 The composition of cohesive sediment.3.2 Skeleton fabric composition of cohesive sediment.3.3 Geotechnical classification of cohesive sediment.3.4 Cohesive sediment in the marine environment.4. Flocculation processes.4.1 Introduction.4.2 Fractal structure of mud flocs.4.3 Flocculation model.4.4 Flocculation time.5. Settling and sedimentation.5.1 Introduction.5.2 Settling velocity and floc size.5.3 Deposition and sedimentation.6. Sediment-fluid interaction.6.1 Introduction.6.2 Sediment-fluid interaction - literature overview.6.3 Sediment-induced buoyancy effects.6.4 Sediment-fluid interaction in the benthic boundary layer.7. Self-weight consolidation.7.1 Introduction - classical theory.7.2 The Gibson consolidation equation.7.3 Special cases of the Gibson equation.7.4 Material functions for the Gibson equation.7.5 Application of Gibson's equation.7.6 Fractal description of bed structure.7.7 Consolidation as an advection-diffusion process using fractal theory.7.8 Material functions for fractal approach.7.9 Application of fractal approach.7.10 Approximated solution of consolidation equation.8. Mechanical behaviour.8.1 The seafloor as a multi-phase system.8.2 Stress-strain relations.8.3 Failure mechanisms.8.4 Cyclical behaviour.8.5 Strain-rate dependent behaviour.9. Erosion and entrainment.9.1 Phenomenological description of erosion.9.2 Literature on erosion.9.3 Classification scheme for erosion.9.4 Entrainment of fluid mud layers.9.5 Erosion as a drained/undrained process.10. Biological effects.10.1 The role of vegetation.10.2 Bio-deposition.10.3 Bio-stabilisation.10.4 Bio-destabilisation.11. Gas in cohesive sediment.11.1 Introduction.11.2 Gas-related processes in sediment.11.3 Biogenic gas production.11.4 Thermodynamic equilibrium of gas in water.11.5 Bubble mechanics.11.6 Channel formation.References.Appendix A: Nomenclature.Appendix B: Definitions and useful relations.Appendix C: Measuring techniques.C.1 Composition and properties of the sediment-water mixture.C.2 Particle size distribution.C.3 Sediment concentration and density.C.4 Rheological parameters.C.5 Soil mechanical parameters.C.6 Settling velocity.C.7 Erodibility.Appendix D: Tensor analysis.D.1 The stress tensor.D.2 The strain tensor.D.3 The strain-rate tensor.D.4 Momentum and energy equations.Appendix E: The 1DV Point Model.E.1 The 1DV-equations.E.2 Numerical implementation of the 1DV-equations.E.3 Requirements for numerical accuracySubject index.