Marine sedimentMarine sediment, or ocean sediment, or seafloor sediment, are deposits of insoluble particles that have accumulated on the seafloor. These particles have their origins in soil and rocks and have been transported from the land to the sea, mainly by rivers but also by dust carried by wind and by the flow of glaciers into the sea. Additional deposits come from marine organisms and chemical precipitation in seawater, as well as from underwater volcanoes and meteorite debris.
SedimentSediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand and silt can be carried in suspension in river water and on reaching the sea bed deposited by sedimentation; if buried, they may eventually become sandstone and siltstone (sedimentary rocks) through lithification.
Sediment transportSediment transport is the movement of solid particles (sediment), typically due to a combination of gravity acting on the sediment, and the movement of the fluid in which the sediment is entrained. Sediment transport occurs in natural systems where the particles are clastic rocks (sand, gravel, boulders, etc.), mud, or clay; the fluid is air, water, or ice; and the force of gravity acts to move the particles along the sloping surface on which they are resting.
Suspended loadThe suspended load of a flow of fluid, such as a river, is the portion of its sediment uplifted by the fluid's flow in the process of sediment transportation. It is kept suspended by the fluid's turbulence. The suspended load generally consists of smaller particles, like clay, silt, and fine sands. The suspended load is one of the three layers of the fluvial sediment transportation system. The bed load consists of the larger sediment which is transported by saltation, rolling, and dragging on the riverbed.
Shear stressShear stress (often denoted by τ (Greek: tau)) is the component of stress coplanar with a material cross section. It arises from the shear force, the component of force vector parallel to the material cross section. Normal stress, on the other hand, arises from the force vector component perpendicular to the material cross section on which it acts. The formula to calculate average shear stress is force per unit area.: where: τ = the shear stress; F = the force applied; A = the cross-sectional area of material with area parallel to the applied force vector.
Fluvial processesIn geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluvioglacial is used. Fluvial processes include the motion of sediment and erosion or deposition on the river bed. The movement of water across the stream bed exerts a shear stress directly onto the bed.
Shear modulusIn materials science, shear modulus or modulus of rigidity, denoted by G, or sometimes S or μ, is a measure of the elastic shear stiffness of a material and is defined as the ratio of shear stress to the shear strain: where = shear stress is the force which acts is the area on which the force acts = shear strain. In engineering , elsewhere is the transverse displacement is the initial length of the area. The derived SI unit of shear modulus is the pascal (Pa), although it is usually expressed in gigapascals (GPa) or in thousand pounds per square inch (ksi).
Sorting (sediment)Sorting describes the distribution of grain size of sediments, either in unconsolidated deposits or in sedimentary rocks. This should not be confused with crystallite size, which refers to the individual size of a crystal in a solid. Crystallite is the building block of a grain. Very poorly sorted indicates that the sediment sizes are mixed (large variance); whereas well sorted indicates that the sediment sizes are similar (low variance).
Stress (mechanics)In continuum mechanics, stress is a physical quantity that describes forces present during deformation. An object being pulled apart, such as a stretched elastic band, is subject to tensile stress and may undergo elongation. An object being pushed together, such as a crumpled sponge, is subject to compressive stress and may undergo shortening. The greater the force and the smaller the cross-sectional area of the body on which it acts, the greater the stress. Stress has units of force per area, such as newtons per square meter (N/m2) or pascal (Pa).
Cauchy stress tensorIn continuum mechanics, the Cauchy stress tensor , true stress tensor, or simply called the stress tensor is a second order tensor named after Augustin-Louis Cauchy. The tensor consists of nine components that completely define the state of stress at a point inside a material in the deformed state, placement, or configuration. The tensor relates a unit-length direction vector e to the traction vector T(e) across an imaginary surface perpendicular to e: or, The SI units of both stress tensor and traction vector are N/m2, corresponding to the stress scalar.
