Abstract

Suspension and transport of particulate material is critical to a wide variety of environmental and industrial processes. In this talk, the fundamental mechanics of particulate transport in open channel flow are reviewed as an introduction to predicting and understanding the dynamics of buoyancy-driven sediment-laden flow, turbidity current. Turbidity currents represent some of the largest movements of material on the planet’s surface, yet how they traverse vast distances on the seafloor remain enigmatic. Here experiments, and field work, are used to highlight the potential importance of coherent flow structures and non-local mixing. Lessons learnt from turbidity current hydrodynamics are then applied to revise particulate transport in classical shear flow, providing an insight as to why classical models are poor at predicting sediment transport in real-world environments.