Papers Published in the International Journal of Sediment Research Vol.36 No.4 2021

Papers Published in the International Journal of Sediment Research

Volume 36, No.4, 2021

Pages 449-565 (August 2021)

1. Interfacial instability of sand patterns induced by turbulent shear flow
Sk Zeeshan Ali, Subhasish Dey
Pages 449-456

4. Bioremediation perspective of historically contaminated sediment with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Pages 479-488

6. Factors infl uencing the removal of fi ne non-cohesive sediment by vortex settling basin at small river abstraction works
Kuria Kiringu, Gerrit Basson
Pages 501-511

7. Comparative study of multilayer perceptron-stochastic gradient descent and gradient boosted trees for predicting daily suspended sediment load: The case study of the Mississippi River, U.S.
Sadra Shadkani, Akram Abbaspour, Saeed Samadianfard, Sajjad Hashemi, Amirhosein Mosvai, Shahab S. Band
Pages 512-523

1. Interfacial instability of sand patterns induced by turbulent shear flow
Sk Zeeshan Ali, Subhasish Dey
Pages 449-456
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1001627920301360
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.12.005
Abstract: When a turbulent shear flow above a plane sand surface entrains sand grains, it generates a variety of sand patterns. Fluvial sand forms two major interfacial patterns: meso-scale dunes and antidunes, and large-scale bars. Measurements have evidenced that under erosive conditions, meso-scale patterns either change to or coexist with large-scale patterns. However, it remains elusive what exactly drives the switching of interfacial patterns and how the switching occurs. Here, we show—combing a flow model with a grain transport model, allowing for both the surface and suspended sand fluxes—that the switching of patterns emerges from the shear-driven complex feedback between grain transport and topographic perturbations. The switching predominantly depends on the magnitudes of the Rouse number and the grain size to undisturbed flow depth ratio. The model offers quantitative predictions of the maximum amplification of sand patterns and unveils a new attraction–repulsion phenomenon.
Keywords: Instability; Sand patterns; Turbulent flow; Sediment transport

2. Channel morphologic processes of a highly sinuous bend approaching neck cutoff by bank erosion in the middle Yangtze River
Zhiwei Li, Hanyuan Yang, Junqiang Xia, Meirong Zhou, Shanshan Deng, Yingzhen Wang
Pages 457-467
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1001627921000019
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2021.01.001
Abstract: The distal reach of the Lower Jingjiang River (LJR) in the middle of the Yangtze River consists of five adjacent bends, among which the Qigongling Bend is a Ω-shaped meander with a mean sinuosity of 2.2 and the narrowest neck 525 m in width. This bend is slowly approaching neck cutoff owing to progressive bank erosion. An abnormal phenomenon has occurred in this bend since the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) began to operate in 2003 which is erosion in the inner bank zone and deposition in the outer bank zone. This problem has not been fully understood because of the interplay of changes in water-sediment, bank erosion, and artificial bank revetment. In this study, aerial and remote sensing images, hydrological data, channel topography, and an existing bank erosion model are used to reveal channel morphodynamics of this bend and the trend of the potential neck cutoff induced by bank erosion. The study results show that the clear water released from the TGR has provided by forcefully eroded the point bar of inner bank but failed to scour the outer bank due to the protection of bank revetment since the 1990s. Thus far, the outer bank zone near the bend apex has increasingly widened in conjunction with the formation of 2 emerging sand bars. Consequently, the thalweg of the main channel has laterally shifted toward the inner bank by roughly 800 m. More severely, the rate of bank retreat on the upstream side of the bend neck was about 4.5 m/yr in 2010–2019, but the downstream side of this neck was experienced slight deposition. Bank erosion could be accelerated by progressively increasing erosion and eventually trigger the occurrence of neck cutoff in the next few decades, thereby significantly altering the quasi-equilibrium regime of channel morphodynamics in the LJR.
Keywords: Meander bend; Channel morphology; Bank erosion; Neck cutoff; Bank revetment

3. Effects of length and application rate of rice straw mulch on surface runoff and soil loss under laboratory simulated rainfall
Misagh Parhizkar, Mahmood Shabanpour, Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja, Demetrio Antonio Zema, Siyue Li, Nobuaki Tanaka, Artemio Cerdà
Pages 468-478
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S100162792030127X
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.12.002
Abstract: Forest land affected by deforestation yields high soil and water losses. Suitable management practices need to be found that can reduce these losses and achieve ecological and hydrological sustainability of the deforested areas. Mulch has been found to be effective in reducing soil losses; straw mulch is easy to apply, contributes soil organic matter, and is efficient since the day of application. However, the complex effects of rice straw mulch with different application rates and lengths on surface runoff and soil loss have not been clarified in depth. The current paper evaluates the efficiency of rice straw mulch in reducing the hydrological response of a silty clay loam soil under high intensity and low frequency rainfall events (tap water with total depth of 49 mm and intensity of 98 mm/h) simulated in the laboratory. Surface runoff and soil loss at three lengths of the straw (10, 30, and 200 mm) and three application rates (1, 2, and 3 Mg/ha) were measured in 50 cm (width) × 100 cm (length) × 10 cm (depth) plots with disturbed soil samples (aggregate soil size < 4 mm) collected in a deforested area. Bare soil was used as control experiment. Runoff volume and erosion were significantly (at p < 0.05) lower in mulched soils compared to control plots. These reductions were ascribed to the water absorption capacity of the rice straw and the protection cover of the mulch layer. The minimum runoff was observed for a mulch layer of 3 Mg/ha of straw with a length of 200 mm. The lowest soil losses were found with straw length of 10 mm. The models developed predict runoff and erosion based on simple linear functions of mulch application rate and length, and can be used for a suitable hydrological management of soil. It is concluded that, thanks to rice straw mulch used as an organic soil conditioner, soil erosion and surface runoff are significantly (at p < 0.05) reduced, and the mulch protection contributes to reduce the risk of soil degradation. Further research is, however, needed to analyze the upscaling of the hydrological effects of mulching from the plot to the hillslope scale.
Keywords: Straw mulch; Soil erosion; Mulch application rate; Mulch length; Rainfall simulator

4. Bioremediation perspective of historically contaminated sediment with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Pages 479-488
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1001627920301244
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.11.004
Abstract: The purpose of the current study is to compare the influence of different aerobic conditions (biostimulation (BS), bioaugmentation (BA), and a combination of biostimulation and bioaugmentation (BB)) on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) degradation and compare the degraded amount with single step XAD-4 extraction as a new tool for bioavailability assessment for chronically contaminated sediment samples obtained from territory of Autonomous Province Vojvodina of Serbia (S1, S2, and S3). A great number of papers dealing with biodegradation of PAHs in spiked sediment or soil have been published, but to the authors’ knowledge, a limited number of papers studied aged, historically polluted sediment and a sum of chosen U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) PAHs. A significant reduction (up to 67%) in PAH concentration was observed, while the percentage of reduction varied depending on the sediment sample and treatment used. BS treatment successfully stimulated growth of indigenous bacteria. Further, PAH-degrading strain Sphingomonas paucimobilis F8 inoculated in BA and BB treatment survived for up to 7 weeks after it was suppressed by unfavorable conditions or native microbes. Degraded amounts generally showed good correlation with results obtained from XAD-4 extraction. Results obtained in the current study represent a good start for standardizing a XAD-4 extraction technique as a simplified, easier, and lower cost method for bioavailability assessment.
Keywords: Contaminated sediment; Bioavailability; PAH; Biodegradation

5. Multifractal features of the particle-size distribution of suspended sediment in the Three Gorges Reservoir, China
Jinlin Li, Xiubin He, Jie Wei, Yuhai Bao, Qiang Tang, Jean de Dieu Nambajimana, Gratien Nsabimana, Dil Khurram
Pages 489-500
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1001627920301281
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.12.003
Abstract: The Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) in China is the largest hydroelectric project in the world, but the threat of sediment affecting ecological sustainability of the reservoir is a topic of concern. Sediment particle-size distribution (PSD) is informative in understanding sediment transport dynamics and biochemical functions. It is, therefore, important to quantitatively characterize the distribution of sediment particles. In the current study, fractal theory is applied to determine the PSD of suspended sediment in the TGR. The results show that the volumetric fractal dimension (D_v) exhibits a significant seasonal difference (p<0.05), reflecting sediment source and hydrodynamic sorting control the granularity of suspended sediment in the TGR. More specifically, suspended sediment particles are coarser in the wet season than in the dry season for the Yangtze River, and the opposite is true for the Ruxi River, an important tributary. The generalized dimension spectrum, D(q)–q, and multifractal singularity spectrum, f[α(q)]–α(q), were calculated for each suspended sediment sample. Thereafter, the parameters, D(0), D(1), D(2), α(0), Δα(q), and Δf[α(q)], were determined to characterize the PSD. As a result, the coarser suspended sediment during the wet season is characterised by a more complex PSD pattern, with a wider range of particle sizes, greater heterogeneity, and greater homogeneity of distribution over the measurement interval. However, the multifractal structure of the PSD of suspended sediment is more complex during the dry season than during the wet season, with higher local dispersion and variability. The findings of the current study highlight that multifractal analysis provides important insight for understanding the PSD of suspended sediment in the TGR.
Keywords: Particle-size distribution; Suspended sediment; Multifractal features; Flow regulation; Three Gorges Reservoir

6. Factors influencing the removal of fine non-cohesive sediment by vortex settling basin at small river abstraction works
Kuria Kiringu, Gerrit Basson
Pages 501-511
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1001627920301359
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.12.004
Abstract: Diverted sediment causes a wide range of problems at small diversion works. The difference in water levels between low flows and floods, low investment capital and presence of cohesive sediment and fine non-cohesive sediment coupled with a requirement for a high level of supply assurance makes the design of such hydraulic structures complex. Vortex settling basins (VSBs) offer a promising alternative to conventional settling structures or hydro-cyclones. In the current study, parameters affecting the trapping of particles >75 μm were numerically investigated using ANSYS Fluent and were validated by physical modeling. It was established that the inlet velocity needs to be maintained at 0.26 m/s, the underflow to inflow ratio should be between 0.05 and 0.10, the cylinder height to cylinder diameter ratio should be greater than 0.5, and the positioning of the inlet pipe to cylinder height ratio should be greater than 0.7, with a cone of slope ratio of 2:1 (V:H) and the cylinder diameter to inlet diameter ratio should be 8.2. These parameters form the basic design guidelines for VSB use at small diversion works (<100 L/s duty capacity).
Keywords: Vortex settling basin; Sediment trapping efficiency; River diversion works; ANSYS Fluent; Numerical modeling

Pages 512-523
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1001627920300986
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.10.001
Abstract: Monitoring sediment transport is essential for managing and maintaining rivers. Estimation of the sediment load in rivers is fundamental for the study of sediment movement, erosion, and flood control. In the current study, three machine learning models-multi-layer perceptron (MLP), multi-layer perceptron-stochastic gradient descent (MLP-SGD), and gradient boosted tree (GBT) -were utilized to estimate the suspended sediment load (SSL) at the St. Louis (SL) and Chester (CH) stations on the Mississippi River, U.S. Four evaluation criteria including the Correlation Coefficient (CC), Nash Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE), Scatter Index (SI), and Willmott's Index (WI) were utilized to evaluate the performance of the used models. A sensitivity analysis of the models to the input variables revealed that the current day discharge variable had the most effect on the SSL at both stations, but in the absence of current-day discharge data (Q_t), a combination of input parameters including SSL_t-3, SSL_t-2, SSL_t-1, Q_t-3, Q_t-2, Q_t-1 can be used to estimate the SSL. The comparative outcomes indicated the high accuracy of MLP-SGD-5 model with a CC of 0.983, SI of 0.254, WI of 0.991, and NSE of 0.967 at station CH and the MLP-SGD-6 model with a CC of 0.933, SI of 0.576, WI of 0.961, and NSE of 0.867, respectively, at station SL. The results of MLP models were improved by SGD optimization. Therefore, the MLP-SGD method is recommended as the most accurate model for SSL estimation.
Keywords: Suspended sediment transport; Ensemble learning; Multilayer perceptron; Stochastic gradient descent; Machine learning

8. Adsorption of cobalt by using inorganic components of sediment samples from water bodies
Rocío Montes de Oca-Palma, Marcos Solache-Ríos, Melania Jiménez-Reyes, José Juan García-Sánchez, Perla Tatiana Almazán-Sánchez
Pages 524-531
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1001627920301232
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.11.003
Abstract: The adsorption of cobalt ions was evaluated using sediment samples from water bodies to investigate the adsorption properties of sediment and the behavior of these natural materials in the presence of nuclear and industrial waste. The two sediments (S1 and S2) were treated to eliminate humic and fulvic acids and then they were characterized by several techniques. The minerals found in both the sediments (X-ray diffraction) were quartz and albite; plus, goethite and muscovite in S1, and kaolinite and montmorillonite in S2. Point of zero charge (PZC) of S1 and S2 was 6.00 and 5.22, respectively. The specific area of S1 (63.3 m²/g) is higher than S2 (1.5 m²/g). Adsorption kinetics data for S1 and S2 were best fitted to the pseudo second-order model. The removal efficiency of S1 for cobalt was 96% with an adsorption capacity (q_e) of 0.93 mg/g, and for S2 was 45% with a q_e of 0.40 mg/g. The experimental data of the adsorption isotherms were adjusted to Langmuir and Freund lich models for S1 and S2, respectively. The thermodynamic parameters (enthalpy, entropy, and Gibb's free energy) indicated that the adsorption processes were endothermic, spontaneous, and chemisorption mechanism. The results show that the adsorption capacities of the sediments depend on their composition. These water sediments have important adsorption properties for cobalt, and they can be used in the treatment of nuclear and industrial aqueous wastes.
Keywords: Water-body sediment; Cobalt ions; Adsorption;

9. Phosphate mineral accumulation in lake sediment to form a secondary phosphate source: A case study in lake sediment around Eppawala Phosphate Deposit (EPD) in Sri Lanka
Nimila Dushyantha, Nalin Ratnayake, Hemalal Panagoda, Chulantha Jayawardena, Amila Sandaruwan Ratnayake
Pages 532-541
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1001627920301268
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.12.001
Abstract: Global phosphorus scarcity will result in significant consequences for future food security with the depletion of current phosphate reserves. Therefore, exploration of new phosphorus sources is essential to address future phosphorus scarcity. The current study investigated the geochemical potential of lake sediment around the Eppawala Phosphate Deposit (EPD) in Sri Lanka to be used as a low-grade phosphorus source for agricultural purposes. Jaya-Ganga is a man-made water canal that drains through the EPD feeding three lakes, namely, upstream Ihalahalmilla Lake and Koon Lake, and downstream Kiralogama Lake with respect to the EPD. Three cores (cores A, B, and C) were collected from the above three lakes and major oxides and minerals distributions along the cores were analyzed. Notable high enrichment of phosphorus pentoxide (P₂O₅) content and high P₂O₅ solubility values were measured in the top 60 cm sediment layer in Core B and throughout the Core C compared to the Core A. This high enrichment of P₂O₅ content in the same sediment columns were confirmed by the comparison with the Upper Continental Crust (UCC) values and literature survey. According to the X-ray Diffraction (XRD) results, phosphate minerals, such as fluorapatite, crandallite, and millisite were abundantly found in the same sediment columns. Therefore, these phosphate minerals can be considered as pathfinding minerals for soluble phosphates in sediment cores. Thus, sediment with high P₂O₅ content and high solubility in downstream Kiralogama Lake showed the potential for application of these sediments as a direct phosphate source in agricultural purposes. Furthermore, the current study has introduced a new area of interest, i.e., soil and sediments around major phosphate deposits, for the exploration of new phosphate sources to meet future phosphorus demand.
Keywords: Phosphorus; Sediment cores; Major oxides; Solubility; Phosphate minerals;

10. The settling of resuspended lake sediment related to physicochemical properties of particles of different sizes: Implication for environmental remediation
Zhao Wei, Youze Xu, Yanyan Zhao, Yuanyuan Zhao, Leilei Bai, Helong Jiang, Changhui Wang
Pages 542-554
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1001627920301256
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.11.005
Abstract: Sediment resuspension is an important way for shallow lake internal pollution to interact with the overlying water column, and the pollution risks are reasonably related to the retention of resuspended sediment particles in overlying water. In the current study, the settling of resuspended sediment particles was comprehensively investigated under different disturbances using five urban lake sediments. The results show that the particle size distributions of resuspended sediment from different lakes exhibited similar variations during settling with disturbance, although varied settling times were observed under static conditions. During settling with and without disturbance, sediment particle sizes were mainly within 8e63 mm at the initial stage, and were < 8 mm in the later stages of settling. Based on these settling characteristics, the sediment particle size was divided into sand (> 63 mm), silt (8-63 mm), and very fine silt and clay (< 8 mm) fractions. Kinetic analysis suggested that sediment settling for different particle sizes could be well described by the first- and second-order kinetic equations, especially when settling was disturbed (r²= 0.727e0.999). The retention of resuspended sediment could be enhanced as particle sizes decreased and disturbance intensities increased. Furthermore, a water elutriation method was successfully optimized, with separation efficiencies of 56.1%e83%, to separate sediment particles into the defined three particle size fractions. The chemical compositions of sediment were found to change with different particle sizes. Typically, calcium tended to form large-size sediment, while the total contents of aluminum, iron, magnesium, and manganese showed significantly negative correlations with sediment particle sizes (p < 0.01) and tended to distribute in small-size particles (e.g., <8 mm). Overall, the sediment particle size related settling dynamics and physicochemical properties suggested the necessity on determining the pollution of resuspended sediment at different particle sizes for restoration of shallow lakes.
Keywords: Sediment settling; Particle size distribution; Physicochemical properties; Sediment pollution

11. The effects of adsorptive materials on microbial community composition and PAH degradation at the sediment cap–water interface
Giovanna Pagnozzi, Danny D. Reible, Kayleigh Millerick
Pages 555-565
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1001627920301104
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.10.006
Abstract: Capping with layers of inert or adsorptive materials is used to control the release of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in sediment but little is known about microbial degradation processes in these materials. A rich native microbial community inhabits the sediment bed, and capping media can influence enrichment and biodegradation activity of benthic microorganisms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of capping media (sand, organoclay, and powdered activated carbon [PAC]) on microbial communities under oxic conditions typical of the cape water interface, where naphthalene degradation (model PAH) is likely to be maximized. Bench scale experiments compared naphthalene concentrations, nahAc biomarker abundance, microbial community composition, and cellular attachment in systems amended with adsorptive and non-adsorptive capping materials. Results indicate that activated carbon promoted and enhanced bioactivity; PAC treatments showed high biodegradation rates, nahAc biomarker levels, and attached biological growth consistent with enrichment of the PAH degrading genus Pseudomonae. In contrast, sand did not enhance biological activity compared to media-free systems. Naphthalene strongly influenced microbial community composition at the species level in all treatments except organoclay, which promoted biological signatures commonly associated with impeding degradation activity. Data overall suggest that adsorptive capping materials can both promote (PAC) and inhibit (organoclay) bioactivity in the surficial layer of caps, indicating that media selection is critical to the design of bioactive capping systems.
Keywords: Sediments; Capping; Aerobic biodegradation; PAH; PAC