Talk:Sedimentation

Hi, this page is for discussing our presentation of sedimentation. Willow 11:50, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

Settling and Sedimentation are distinct concepts

First, settling and sedimentation are very important concepts in earth sciences, namely sedimentology (which is not physics!). Having said that, let me point out why they should not be merged.

Sediment transport has three parts, start, ongoing, end. The start can be erosion, or a mass movement that merges into a mudflow that merges into a hyperconcentrated flow that merges into a normal flow. The ongoing is by suspended transport, saltation, or bedload transport. The end is sedimentation, resulting in sediment accumulation, deposition, accretion. Erosion - transport - sedimentation is an established concept.

Settling on the other hand refers exclusivly to the tendency of suspended particles to fall under the influence of some force, notably gravity in an earth science context. Thus, the end point of settling is sedimentation. Just the end point! And sedimentation does not have to be preceded by settling. Boulders rolling on the bottom are not settling, for instance, since they are always matrix supported.

Thus, don't merge, but make the division of concepts strict as I have outlined here. 24.127.208.87 (talk) 17:49, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

I suspect that this distinction only applies in the earth sciences. Certainly in physical chemistry, we use sedimentation all the time to mean gravity-driven transport, i.e. what you call settling. For me settling is a term I come across in engineering, e.g. hindered setting corresponds to type 3 sedimentation in the article.

- However all mention of forces other than gravity is completely wrong, in my opinion. Electrophoresis has no place in this article. Anyone disagree? AlanParkerFrance (talk) 23:18, 3 January 2013 (UTC)