Abstract
In order to assess the motion of sediment in a water body by making field measurements, it is necessary to determine the location of the bed/water interface and the densities of the substrata. Devices that are presently used to locate the bed surface, directly or indirectly, depend on the density or shear strength of the sediment. However, the accuracy that is required for determining the mass of sediment on the bed and in motion precludes the use of fathometers and bottom sensors that are in use today.
The purpose of the study whose results are presented in this paper was to determine the feasibility of using a bed referenced electrical probe for continuous monitoring of the densities of the sediment layers on and immediately above the bed surface. The study was made in the laboratory and involved alternating current (1000 Hz) conductivity measurements on a number of soil samples with different pore fluid chemical compositions and densities. The results clearly established the feasibility of the method for measuring strata densities. In addition, it was found that changes in soil structure, which affects the erodibility, can also be detected.
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© 1986 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
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Ariathurai, R., Arulanandan, K. (1986). An Electrical Method to Measure In-Situ Sediment Densities. In: Mehta, A.J. (eds) Estuarine Cohesive Sediment Dynamics. Lecture Notes on Coastal and Estuarine Studies, vol 14. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4936-8_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4936-8_11
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
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