CLASTIC TRANSPORT

AND FLUID FLOW

SEDIMENTOLOGI - 5
 Weathered rocks and mineral fragments are
transported from source areas to depositional sites
(where they are subject to additional transport and
redeposition).
 Sediment transport mechanisms:
1. Downslope transport  mass movement
2. Fluid flow
3. Grain settling
 Mass Wasting
 Mass wasting processes are important mechanisms of sediment
transport.
 Although they move the soil and rock debris only short distances
downslope, these processes play a crucial role in sediment transport by
getting the products of weathering into the longer-distance sediment
transport system.
 In dry mass-wasting processes, fluid plays either a minor role or no role at
all.
 In rock or talus falls, clasts of any size simply fall freely.
 Downslope movement of bodies of rocks or sediment in slumps or slides
glide downslope without significant internal folding or faulting. Fluids near
the base provides lubrication and promotes failure along slippage surface.
Loss of intergrain cohesion caused by
saturation of pores….
Different kinds of mass movements,
variable velocity and other factors.
From weathering to deposition  sorting and
modification of clastic particles.
Effects of transport on rounding and
sorting
Fluid Flow
 Fundamental physical properties of fluids
1. Density (ρ)
2. Viscosity (µ)
Control the ability of fluid to erode and transport particles.
 Viscosity  resistance to flow, or deform under shear stress.
 Viscosity of various fluids:
Air  low
Water  low
Ice  high
 Viscosity changes due to the changes of temperature or by mixing with
other materials.
 Types of Fluids
 Newtonian Fluids  viscosity remains constant, no matter the amount
of shear applied for a constant temperature. These fluids have a linear
relationship between viscosity and shear stress.
Example: water, mineral oil, gasoline, alcohol.
 Non-Newtonian Fluids  when shear is applied to non-Newtonian
fluid, the viscosity of the fluid changes.
Example : water with >30% sand, cohesive clay.
 Bingham Plastics  a viscoplastic material that behaves as a rigid
body at low stresses but flows as a viscous fluid at high stress.
Example : debris flows, mayonaise
 Fluid Mechanics
LAMINAR vs. TURBULENT FLOW
Two modes of flow dependent upon:
1. Velocity
2. Fluid viscosity
3. Bed roughness
 Laminar Flow: streamlined, uniform current. Requires:
 Low fluid velocity, or
 High viscosity, or
 Smooth beds
 Turbulent Flow: discontinuous, distorted, flow with considerable
motion perpendicular to primary flow direction.
 Eddy viscosity
 Shear stress for fluid undergoing turbulence require an extra term to account
for Eddy Viscosity.
 Reynolds Number (Re)

 U= mean velocity (m/s)

 L= water depth (m)
 ρ= density (kg/m3)
 µ= viscosity (kg/ms)
When µ dominates, Re is small (<500), flow is laminar, example low velocity, shallow, or
ice flows.
 When U and/or L high, flow becomes turbulent (>2000).
Flow Regimes
Flow regime and its relationship to bed forms and other characteristics
(Lewis, 1984).
Sediment Transport
Particle Transport
3 modes:
1. Traction (rolling, sliding)
2. Saltation (bouncing)
3. Suspension (floating)
Particle Settling
Deposition by Fluid Flows
(water/wind)
 Deposition  decrease in velocity
 Decrease in slope
 Increase in bed roughness
 Low of water volume
 Deposition  permanent or temporary
 River channels, point bars, beaches, reentrained and transported
 Sediment deposits characterictics:
 Layers, lack of size grading
 Variable sorting
Deposition by Mass Transport
 Transport by gravity
 Fluid is lubricant (reduces), support particles
 Flow stops when sediments are deposited
 Subaqueous or subaerial
 Categories:
1. Rock fall
2. Slide
3. Sediment gravity flows
 Debris flows
 Grain flows
 Fluidized flows
 Deposition by Sediment Gravity
 Flows
Mass flows (grain supported, cohesionless flow)
1. debris slurrylike flows of highly concentrated, poorly
sorted mix of sediment and water, bingham plastics,
slope 10⁰ – 30⁰
2. Grain  avalanching of cohesionless sediment (sand)
on steep slope (>30⁰)
 Fluid flows (fluid has a greater proportion than grain)
1. Fluidized/Liquefied
2. Turbidity
Turbidity Currents
 Sediment proportion to water less than 50%
 Move due to density contrasts
 Higher Reynolds numbers