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Grain‐size characteristics of fine‐grained unflocculated sediments I:‘one‐round’ distributions
Author(s) -
KRANCK KATE,
SMITH P. C.,
MILLIGAN T. G.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
sedimentology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.494
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1365-3091
pISSN - 0037-0746
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3091.1996.d01-27.x
Subject(s) - geology , grain size , particle size distribution , geochemistry , geomorphology , mineralogy , paleontology , particle size
A simple physical model of gravitational settling from an unsorted, unflocculated source suspension is presented and an equation derived to describe the grain‐size spectra of the resulting bottom sediment. Results of grain‐size analyses of sediments from a variety of environments and geographical locations are shown to conform with the postulated model. The characteristic size spectrum, termed ‘one‐round’ sediment, identifies a deposit which has settled from suspension with no subsequent reworking resulting in modification of the grain‐size distribution. The distribution of settling rates of grains in the suspension may be inferred from an analytical form fit to the bottom sediment grain‐size spectrum, along with knowledge of certain physical characteristics of the fluid (e.g. mean velocity profile).