Sediment-Water Interactions.

The settling and storage of fine-grained sediments in the interstices of fluvial gravel beds can have significant implications on both sediment conveyance in catchments and aquatic habitat quality. Given that suspended fine-grained sediment (<263 μm) moves not only as individual particles, but also as particle aggregates or flocs, there has been a relatively recent research emphasis on characterizing these structures and the conditions which enhance their growth and settling in freshwater aquatic environments (Kranck et al. 1993; Droppo and Ongley 1994; Petticrew 1996; Liss et al. 1996; de Boer 1997; Phillips and Walling 1999). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]