<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd">
  <dc:contributor>Daniel Livsey</dc:contributor>
  <dc:contributor>Samantha C. McGill</dc:contributor>
  <dc:creator>Rachel Allen</dc:creator>
  <dc:date>2024</dc:date>
  <dc:description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;The settling velocity (&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;w&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;i&gt;s&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;span&gt;) in estuarine environments can impact whether a region is eroding or accreting sediment on the bed, yet determining this rate can be an indirect process requiring a number of assumptions. Accurate determination of&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;w&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;i&gt;s&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;is especially needed for numerical models to reproduce observed sediment concentrations at the appropriate timescale. We collected information on suspended sediment flocculation at a channel site (13&amp;nbsp;m deep) and a shallows site (4&amp;nbsp;m deep) within South San Francisco Estuary, alongside timeseries of flow, wave statistics, turbulent shear, and bottle samples analyzed for both&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;w&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;i&gt;s&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;and particle size. Using the measurements of floc size and settling velocity, we performed a sensitivity analysis on the unknown parameters in the general explicit formula for settling velocity. The collected particle size distribution data show that multiple classes of flocs are present; these are characterized as flocculi, microflocs, and macroflocs. We show that&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;w&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;i&gt;s&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;of flocculi is closest to&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;w&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;i&gt;s&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;for the full distribution. The determined parameter values lead to near-bed mass-weighted settling velocities (standard deviation) of 1.18 (0.55) and 0.22 (0.15) mm/s at the channel and shallows sites, respectively. Modeling efforts can use this work to help select an appropriate sediment model and parameter values.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</dc:description>
  <dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
  <dc:identifier>10.1029/2022JC019402</dc:identifier>
  <dc:language>en</dc:language>
  <dc:publisher>American Geophysical Union</dc:publisher>
  <dc:title>Observations of flocs in an estuary and implications for computation of settling velocity</dc:title>
  <dc:type>article</dc:type>
</oai_dc:dc>