The integrated budget is . A steady spatial increase needs a source exceeding deposition, for example sediment resuspension or lateral particle input. In unsteady flow, local depletion can produce even without particle addition.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 330 3 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For a steady no-source particle-laden gravity current, . Simply entraining particle-free ambient fluid increases volume and dilutes particle volume fraction; it cannot create particle buoyancy flux.
A steady increase can occur if sediment resuspension or bed erosion adds more suspended particle buoyancy than settling removes, if a tributary or lateral particle source supplies a positive flux, or if the buoyancy per unit particle amount increases through a change of the surrounding fluid's density. Changes of particle properties or another buoyancy source can also alter the flux, but they go beyond the fixed-particle, fixed-reference model. In a model with a source ,Thus the buoyancy production in a particle-laden current requires in a steady current. In an unsteady current, can be positive even without external addition: local depletion has , so more buoyancy leaves a section than enters it while stored particles are being released. An instantaneous spatial flux increase is not by itself proof of particle production.