Settling velocities of fine suspended particles in the Changjiang Estuary, China

Point-sampled suspended sediment concentration profiles (grain size largely<32 μm) were measured in August 1978, April 1990, and May 1990 in the Changjiang Estuary. They were selectively fit with the Rouse equation in order to calculate the median settling velocities ws,50 of fine suspended particles in the Changjiang Estuary, East China Sea. Calculated settling velocities ranged from 0.4 to 4.1 mm s−1. Furthermore, ws values increased with the mean concentration C of sediment in suspension. The best-fit equation for the field settling velocity of fine particles in the Changjiang Estuary can be expressed by the power law: ws=2.37 C0.84 (r2<0.3).