Seminar Mitchell Jans

Sediment gravity flows (SGFs) are dense, sediment-laden currents that move downslope under their own weight. Although these flows are an efficient sediment transport process in continental shelves and lacustrine and marine basins, mechanistic understanding of cohesive SGFs remains limited due to complex clay mechanical-chemical couplings that alter sediment permeability and flow rheology. In this work we develop a computational fluid dynamics model that accurately predicts these flows based on independent measurements of the relation between sediment solid fraction and rheological yield stress. In particular, the model captures the three primary flow regimes (mud slides, mud flows, and turbidity currents) observed in lock-exchange experiments with slurries containing smectite or kaolinite clay. Overall, we demonstrate the importance of intrinsic sediment material properties and extrinsic sediment properties in the development and self-sustaining behavior of cohesive SGFs.