Suspended Matter and Sediment Transport

Abstract

Although in a general way the transport paths and depositional areas of sediments in the North Sea are reasonably well known, there are still important gaps, such as the contribution of sediment derived from seafloor erosion, the extent of reworking of older deposits and mixing of older material with recently supplied material, and the deposition rates in a number of areas. Sufficient quantitative knowledge on transport and mixing of material of different origin and on the fate of material supplied from a specific source is not available to predict the behavior and concentration of contaminants associated with these sediments. A second problem concerns the question to what extent contaminants associated with sediments behave conservatively.