Sediment transport refers to the movement of solid particles (sediment) due to forces exerted by fluid flow, which can be water (in rivers, lakes, and oceans) or air (in deserts and other arid environments). This process plays a crucial role in shaping landscapes, forming sedimentary rocks, and influencing ecosystems.
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Sediment transport is movement of grains by a flowing fluid, through motion close to a bed or within a particle suspension. A flow's shear stress and fluctuating forces compete with grain weight, contacts and friction. The Shields parameter compares a bed-stress scale with the submerged grain-weight scale and helps organize the threshold for movement.
Bedload transport carries grains along or near the bed, while suspended sediment balances settling against upward mixing and entrainment. The transport budget changes the bed itself: mass conservation in the Exner equation relates downstream flux divergence to erosion or deposition. A flow entering an erodible reach can take a finite distance to establish its transported grain population, described by sediment transport saturation. These couplings make a bed an evolving part of the fluid problem rather than a fixed rough wall. Measuring both transported material and bed-height change tests whether the sediment budget closes.