Sediment transport

Part of a series on
Sediments
By origin Terrigenous (lithogenous) Biogenous Cosmogenous Hydrogenous
By texture Roundness Sorting Grain size boulder cobble gravel pebble granule sand silt clay colloid Other oolite scree till
By composition Manganese nodules Oolitic aragonite sand Tektites
By process Sedimentation Sedimentary budget Sediment transport coastal Weathering Erosion Aeolian (windborne) transport Biomineralization Bioturbation Compaction Concretion Exner equation Fluvial processes Glacier flow ice-sheet dynamics ice rafting Lithification Siltation Turbidity currents
By structure Sedimentary structures Bedforms cross-bedding duness graded bedding ripple marks Alluvial fan Alluvial river Fault Fold Paleocurrent indicators sole markings imbrication River delta Sediment–water interface Sedimentary basin Soft-sediment deformation Unconformity Vegetation-induced
Soil sediment Soil matrix pore space permeability morphology texture value color Catena Soil horizon Humus Humin Soil salinity Hydropedology Mineralization Microbial calcite precipitation
Marine sediment Abyssal fan Aragonite aragonite sea oolitic aragonite sand Calcite calcite sea Amorphous calcium carbonate Calcification Continental rise Bay mud Bioirrigation Coastal sediment transport Coastal sediment supply Evaporites Marine clay pelagic red clay Marine regression transgression Pelagic turbidite contourite hemipelagite Salt tectonics Sedimentary basin Tidal bundle
Biogenous sediments Calcareous ooze biogenic calcification calcareous nannoplankton Siliceous ooze biogenic silica silicification diatomaceous earth radiolarite Microfossil Reverse weathering
Sedimentary ecology Soil biomantle Soil zoology soil pathogens Pedodiversity Soil biodiversity Rhizosphere root microbiome
Sedimentary carbon Soil carbon storage Soil carbon Coal Peat
Sedimentary rock Badlands Carbonates limestone dolomite Clastic conglomerate breccia sandstone mudrock Evaporite Chalk Chert Greywacke Iron-rich Organic-rich Phosphorite Siliceous
Related History geology geological paleontology soil science Legacy sediment Principles cross-cutting relationships lateral continuity original horizontality Provenance Sedimentary record Sedimentology Stratigraphy Rock cycle calcium silica carbonate-silicate Paleolimnology Biosignature
Category
v t e

Sediment 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. Sediment transport due to fluid motion occurs in rivers, oceans, lakes, seas, and other bodies of water due to currents and tides. Transport is also caused by glaciers as they flow, and on terrestrial surfaces under the influence of wind. Sediment transport due only to gravity can occur on sloping surfaces in general, including hillslopes, scarps, cliffs, and the continental shelf—continental slope boundary.

Sediment transport is important in the fields of sedimentary geology, geomorphology, civil engineering, hydraulic engineering and environmental engineering (see applications, below). Knowledge of sediment transport is most often used to determine whether erosion or deposition will occur, the magnitude of this erosion or deposition, and the time and distance over which it will occur.