Circular Particle Chuting in Salted Water Column Simulation
Adnya Pratiwi*, Mutiara Rachmat Putri, Rima Rachmayani

Doctorate Program in Earth Sciences, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Technologies, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
*adnya.priscilla[at]gmail.com

Abstract

In marine sediment sample treatment, the homogenization process usually done prior to marine sediment sample analysis in order to get an average result of chemical composition contained in the sample. This is a necessary step because the particles do not sink in a straight direction from the surface. The density of the particle and the density of the water column change the direction of sinking particle, make the particles distributed unevenly throughout the sea bed. In a paleoclimatology and paleoceanography study where the layers of sediment in the core are being dated to decipher the succession of environmental event, the uneven vertical distribution of particles in the sediment core could pose a bias in the data interpretation. Even though the bias is reduced by the homogenization process during sample treatment, it is unclear as to how the particle ^chuting^ in the water column and how significant is the uneven particle distribution in the seabed affecting marine sediment data interpretation. This study aims to investigate numerically how the particles of different density settle in the water column of certain density based on Immersed Boundary-Lattice Boltzmann method to solve the fluid-particles interaction problem. We will also look at the distribution of particles settled on the base floor under the present of current in the water column. We assume the particle form as a circular form. The result from this study may accompany the interpretation of marine sediment data.

Keywords: Sedimentation- Immersed Boundary-Lattice Boltzmann

Topic: Interdisciplinary Geosciences