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Abstract Clay is the main component that contributes to sediment cohesiveness. Salinity impacts its transport, which controls the electrochemical force among the sediment grains. Here, we quantify the impacts of salinity on the erosion threshold, yield stress, and the microstructures of a fluorescently labeled smectite clay, laponite, by combining flume experiments, rheometer measurements, and macro‐ and microscopic imaging. We show that the critical shear stress for clay erosion,τb,crit, increases by one order of magnitude with increasing salinity when salinity <1.5 ppt and slightly decreases when salinity >1.5 ppt showing a weaker dependency upon salinity. We further show that the yield stress,τy, of the clay remains roughly a constant at salinity less than 1.5 ppt and decreases by over one order of magnitude at salinity larger than 1.5 ppt. This change in the dependency ofτb,critand yield stress on salinity corresponds to a change in the gelatinous state of clay, from gel‐like structures to phase‐separated structures as salinity increases. Our results provide a quantitative characterization of the dependency of clay erosion threshold and yield stress on salinity and highlight the importance of the clay gelatinous state in controlling clay transport.
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This content will become publicly available on September 1, 2026
Salinity Reduces Yield Stress and Erosion Threshold in Sand‐Clay Mixtures: Evidence From Rheometry and Flume Experiments
Abstract Sand‐clay mixtures are common in both freshwater and saltwater environments, yet how they behave under different levels of salinity remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate the impact of salinity on the rheological properties and erosion threshold of sand‐clay mixtures through systematically controlled flume experiments and rheological measurements. Mixtures with a representative bentonite‐to‐sand ratio typical of natural estuarine and coastal sediments were prepared at salinities ranging from 0 to 35 parts per thousand (ppt), spanning freshwater to seawater conditions. We measured viscosity, flow‐point stress, and yield stress of the mixtures using a rheometer and determined the critical bed shear stress in a water‐recirculating flume. Our results indicate that as salinity increases from 0 to 35 ppt, the critical bed shear stress decreases by about two orders of magnitude, from about 60 Pa at 0 ppt to less than 1 Pa at 35 ppt. Similarly, both the flow‐point stress and yield stress decreased by over two orders of magnitude with increasing salinity. These changes correspond to a salinity‐induced transition of the sand‐bentonite mixture from a cohesive, strong‐gel state in freshwater (0 ppt), to a weak‐gel state between 3 and 10 ppt, and finally to a fluid‐like state above 10 ppt. Our research highlights the important role of salt in controlling the rheological properties and erosion threshold of fresh, non‐consolidated deposits of sand‐clay mixtures, with implications for predicting coastal landscape evolution and designing erosion‐control strategies.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2150796
- PAR ID:
- 10656937
- Publisher / Repository:
- AGU
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Water Resources Research
- Volume:
- 61
- Issue:
- 9
- ISSN:
- 0043-1397
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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