Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T06:34:05.942Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bedload transport of fine gravel observed by motion-picture photography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2006

Thomas G. Drake ,
Ronald L. Shreve ,
William E. Dietrich ,
Peter J. Whiting  and
Luna B. Leopold
Thomas G. Drake
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Space Sciences and Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024–1567, USA
Ronald L. Shreve
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Space Sciences and Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024–1567, USA
William E. Dietrich
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Peter J. Whiting
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Luna B. Leopold
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Motion pictures taken at Duck Creek, a clear stream 6.5 m wide and 35 cm deep near Pinedale, Wyoming, provide detailed, quantitative information on both the modes of motion of individual bedload particles and the collective motions of large numbers of them. Bed shear stress was approximately 6 Pa (60 dynes cm−2), which was about twice the threshold for movement of the 4 mm median diameter fine gravel bed material; and transport was almost entirely as bedload. The displacements of individual particles occurred mainly by rolling of the majority of the particles and saltation of the smallest ones, and rarely by brief sliding of large, angular ones. Entrainment was principally by rollover of the larger particles and liftoff of the smaller ones, and infrequently by ejection caused by impacts, whereas distrainment was primarily by diminution of fluid forces in the case of rolling particles and by collisions with larger bed particles in the case of saltating ones. The displacement times averaged about 0.2−0.4 s and generally were much shorter than the intervening repose times. The collective motions of the particles were characterized by frequent, brief, localized, random sweep-transport events of very high rates of entrainment and transport, which in the aggregate transported approximately 70% of the total load moved. These events occurred 9% of the time at any particular point of the bed, lasted 1–2 s, affected areas typically 20–50 cm long by 10–20 cm wide, and involved bedload concentrations approximately 10 times greater than background. The distances travelled during displacements averaged about 15 times the particle diameter. Despite the differences in their dominant modes of movement, the 8–16 mm particles typically travelled only about 30% slower during displacement than the 2–4 mm ones, whose speeds averaged 21 cm s−1. Particles starting from the same point not only moved intermittently downstream but also dispersed both longitudinally and transversely, with diffusivities of 4.6 and 0.26 cm2 s−1, respectively. The bedload transport rates measured from the films were consistent with those determined conventionally with a bedload sampler. The 2–4 mm particles were entrained 6 times faster on finer areas of the bed, where 8–16 mm particles covered 6% of the surface area, than on coarser ones, where they covered 12%, even though 2–4 and 4–8 mm particles covered practically the same percentage areas in both cases. The 4–8 and 8–16 mm particles, in contrast, were entrained at the same rates in both cases. To within the statistical uncertainty, the rates of distrainment balanced the rates of entrainment for all three sizes, and were approximately proportional to the corresponding concentrations of bedload.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 192 , July 1988 , pp. 193 - 217
Copyright
© 1988 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbott, J. E. & Francis J. R. D. 1977 Saltating and suspended trajectories of solid grains in a water stream Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 284, 225–254.Google Scholar
Ashida, K. & Michiue M. 1973 Studies on bed-load transport rate in open channel flows. Intl. Assoc. for Hydraulic Research, Intl. Symp. on River Mechanics, Bangkok, 1973, vol. 1, pp. 407–417.Google Scholar
Bagnold R. A. 1956 The flow of cohesionless grains in fluids Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 249, 235–297.Google Scholar
Bagnold R. A. 1973 The nature of saltation and of ‘bed-load’ transport in water Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 332, 473–504.Google Scholar
Bridge J. S. 1978 Origin of horizontal lamination under turbulent boundary layers. Sedimentary Geol. 20, 1–16.Google Scholar
Bridge, J. S. & Dominic D. F. 1984 Bed load grain velocities and sediment transport rates. Wat. Resour. Res. 20, 476–490.Google Scholar
Brodkey R. S., Wallace, J. M. & Ecklemann H. 1974 Some properties of truncated turbulence signals in bounded shear flows. J. Fluid Mech. 63, 209–224.Google Scholar
Corino, E. R. & Brodkey R. S. 1969 A visual investigation of the wall region in turbulent flow. J. Fluid Mech. 37, 1–30.Google Scholar
Dietrich, W. E. & Smith J. D. 1984 Bedload transport in a river meander. Wat. Resour. Res. 20, 1355–1380.Google Scholar
Drake, T. G. & Shreve R. L. 1987 Bed-Load Transport, Duck Creek, Wyoming. 13 minute, 16 mm sound and colour film, Office of Instructional Development, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Einstein H. A. 1950 The bed-load function for sediment transportation in open channel flows. US Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service Tech. Bull. 1026 (reprinted as Appendix B in Sedimentation (ed. H. W. Shen), H. W. Shen, P.O. Box 606, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, 1972).
Engelund, F. & Fredsoe J. 1976 A sediment transport model for straight alluvial channels. Nordic Hydrology 7, 293–306.Google Scholar
Engelund, F. & Fredsoe J. 1982 Hydraulic theory of alluvial rivers Ad. Hydrosci. 13, 187–215.Google Scholar
Fernandez Luque, R. & van Beek, R. 1976 Erosion and transport of bed-load sediment. J. Hydraul. Res. 14, 127–144.Google Scholar
Francis J. R. D. 1973 Experiments on the motion of solitary grains along the bed of water streams Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 332, 443–471.Google Scholar
Grass A. J. 1970 Initial instability of fine bed sand. Proc. ASCE, J. Hydraul. Engng 96, 619–632.Google Scholar
Grass A. J. 1971 Structural features of turbulent flow over smooth and rough boundaries. J. Fluid Mech. 50, 233–255.Google Scholar
Grass A. J. 1974 Transport of fine sand on a flat bed. Proc. Euromech. Colloquium, vol. 48, pp. 33–34. Institute of Hydrodynamics and Hydraulic Engineering, Technical University of Denmark.
Hammond F. D. C., Heathershaw, A. D. & Langhorne D. N. 1984 A comparison between Shields' threshold criterion and the movement of loosely packed gravel in a tidal channel. Sedimentology 31, 51–62.Google Scholar
Helley, E. J. & Smith W. 1971 Development and calibration of a pressure-difference bedload sampler, US Geological Survey Open-File Rep. 73–108.
Hubbell D. W. 1964 Apparatus and techniques for measuring bedload. US Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 1748.Google Scholar
Hubbell D. W., Stevens H. H., Skinner, J. V. & Beverage J. P. 1985 New approach to calibrating bedload samplers. Proc. ASCE, J. Hydraul. Engng 111, 677–694.Google Scholar
Hubbell D. W., Stevens H. H., Skinner, J. V. & Beverage J. P. 1986 Characteristics and use of Helley–Smith type bedload samplers, 23 minute videotape. US Geological Survey Open-File Rep. 86–415W.Google Scholar
Kline S. J., Reynolds W. C., Schraub, F. A. & Rundstadler P. W. 1967 The structure of turbulent boundary layers. J. Fluid Mech. 30, 741–773.Google Scholar
Kuhnle, R. A. & Southard J. B. 1985 Sediment transport fluctuations in a gravel-bed laboratory channel (abstract). Publication of the 3rd Intl Fluvial Sedimentology Conf. August 7–9, 1985, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, p. 25.Google Scholar
Lyles, L. & Woodruff N. P. 1972 Boundary-layer flow structure: effects on detachment of noncohesive particles. Sedimentation (the ‘Einstein Volume’, ed. H. W. Shen), pp. 2–1 to 2–16. H. W. Shen, P.O. Box 606, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
McQuivey R. S. 1973 Summary of turbulence data from rivers, conveyance channels, and laboratory flumes. US Geological Survey Professional Paper 802-B, 66 pp.Google Scholar
Meyer-Peter, E. & Müller R. 1948 Formulas for bedload transport. Intl Assoc. for Hydraulic Structures Res., Rep. of the Second Meeting, Stockholm, 1948, pp. 39–64.Google Scholar
Middleton, G. V. & Southard J. B. 1984 Mechanics of Sediment Movement. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Short Course No. 3, 2nd edn.
Nakagawa H., Tsujimoto, T. & Hosokawa Y. 1980 Statistical mechanics of bed-load transportation with 16 mm film analysis of behaviors of individual sediment particles on a flat bed. Proc. 3rd Intl Symp. on Stochastic Hydraulics, August 5–7, 1980, Tokyo, Japan, pp. 313–324.
Nalluri, C. & Novak P. 1979 Turbulence characteristics in smooth open channel flow. In Symposium on Turbulence, 5th(ed. G. K. Patterson & J. L. Zakin), pp. 191–204. Princeton: Science Press.
Paintal A. S. 1969 The probabilistic characteristics of bed load transport in alluvial channels. Ph.D. dissertion, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Rathbun, R. E. & Kennedy V. C. 1978 Transport and dispersion of fluorescent tracer particles for the dune-bed condition, Atrisco Feeder Canal near Bernalillo, New Mexico. US Geological Survey Professional Paper 1037.Google Scholar
Rossinskiy, K. I. & Lyubomirova K. S. 1969 Jumplike movement of a solid particle at the bottom of a turbulent stream. Soviet Hydrology 1, 38–49.Google Scholar
Sayre, W. W. & Hubbell D. D. 1965 Transport and dispersion of labeled bed material, North Loup River, Nebraska, US Geological Survey Professional Paper 433-C, 48 pp.
Smith J. D. 1978 Measurement of turbulence in ocean boundary layers. Paper presented at Working Conference on Current Measurement, Office of Ocean Engineering, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, January 11–13, 1978, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA.
Sutherland A. J. 1967 Proposed mechanism for sediment entrainment by turbulent flows. J. Geophys. Res. 72, 6183–6194.Google Scholar
Utami, T. & Ueno T. 1987 Experimental study on the coherent structure of turbulent open-channel flow using visualization and picture processing. J. Fluid Mech. 174, 399–440.Google Scholar
Vanoni V. A. 1964 Measurements of critical shear stress for entraining fine sediments in a boundary layer. W. M. Keck Laboratory of Hydraulics and Water Resources, California Institute of Technology, Rep. KH-R-7.Google Scholar
Whiting P. J., Dietrich W. E., Leopold, L. B. & Collins L. 1985 The variability of sediment transport in a fine-gravel stream (abstract). Publication of the 3rd Intl Fluvial Sedimentology Conf. August 7–9, 1985, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, p. 38.Google Scholar
Whiting P. J., Dietrich W. E., Leopold L. B., Drake, T. G. & Shreve R. L. 1988 Bedload sheets in heterogeneous sediments Geology, 16, 105–108.Google Scholar
Williams, P. B. & Kemp P. H. 1971 Initiation of ripples on flat sediment beds. Proc. ASCE, J. Hydraul. Engng 97, 505–522.Google Scholar
Yalin M. S. 1963 An expression for bed-load transportation. Proc. ASCE, J. Hydraul. Engng 89, 221–250.Google Scholar
Zauderer E. 1983 Partial Differential Equations of Applied Mathematics. Wiley, 779 pp.