ABSTRACT
Open-water sediment disposal occurs with many applications such as land reclamation, dredging, and contaminated sediment isolation, all of which require knowledge of how particle clouds behave in the presence of currents and waves. Clouds typically form a self-similar thermal plus a trailing stem. In “weak” currents, cloud behavior is similar to that in quiescent conditions, with clouds being advected by the ambient current. Depending on particle size, however, transport can produce a sediment loss of ~10% or more, corresponding to sediment found in the trailing stem. Waves have a modest affect on cloud descent but result in increased growth.
