Predicting Interfacial Diffusion Coefficients for Fluxes across the Sediment-Water Interface

Abstract

Calculations of interfacial diffusion coefficients are often based on tracer flux or penetration into permeable media or sediments. Based on previous investigations, a new empirical relationship for tracer-based interfacial diffusion coefficients is derived. This relationship is a powerful tool for estimating interfacial fluxes over a range of environmentally relevant conditions. Support for this relationship was found in experiments targeting the slip velocity at porous media–boundary layer interfaces. Slip measurements from flume experiments using flat permeable sediment beds and from previous studies using high permeability media were converted to interfacial diffusion coefficients based on the momentum flux needed to drive the observed interstitial flow. Slip-based estimates compared well with the tracer-based predictions over the entire range of flow-permeability conditions. This study presents a relationship for predicting fluxes across the sediment-water interface that is driven by permeability-scale processes. Predicted fluxes are comparable to those documented for other processes driving interfacial transport, such as bed topography and sediment transport.