Jorge E San Juan
Postdoctoral scholar
I investigate the impact of water salinity on the transport of fine cohesive sediments. I want to understand how salinity-induced changes in the macrostructure of the sediment influence erosion and deposition mechanisms. That way, we can better approach environmental issues related to the sedimentation of coastal habitats and engineering problems associated with the vulnerability of coastal infrastructures.
We use smectite clays (laponite and bentonite) in laboratory flumes to study erosion thresholds regarding turbulence intensity and flow shear stress. To account for the hydrodynamics, we use a Particle Image Velocimetry system to measure the instantaneous 2-dimensional velocity fields eroding a cohesive sediment bed (clay). The erosion is monitored inside a grid-turbulence tank and a recirculating flume by image processing time series of the clay's surface imagery. These images come from a Laser-Induced Fluorescence method on the fluorescence-labeled laponite and high-contrast pictures of the bentonite.
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