Our recent study on maerl sediment dynamics has found that the settling velocity of maerl is primarily governed by the grain shape properties of maerl. A grain shape parameter known as the convexity has been linked to the settling velocity via the Ferguson and Church model (Ferguson and Church, 2004). Due to the grain shape of maerl and roughness, it experiences a greater drag than the natural quartz grain. Detailed measurements of maërl grain shape using microscopic image analysis confirm this link.
Maërl tends to form beach deposits with a low percentage of sand and it is hypothesised that the lower settling velocity of maerl results in this preferential transport of biogenic maerl sediments compared to quartz sands and gravels. Maërl samples found in open marine, intertidal, and beach environments show a different linear relationship between roughness and grain size, due to different degrees of abrasion. A combination of different wave climates and transport histories result in this increased spatial variability of grain textures.
The paper and study then goes on to discuss to what extent a general equation for maërl settling velocity is possible or not and to whether the sediment mobility of maerl can be predicted using the settling velocity as an input parameter.
Ferguson, R., & Church, M. (2004). A Simple Universal Equation for Grain Settling Velocity Journal of Sedimentary Research, 74 (6), 933-937 DOI: 10.1306/051204740933
Joshi, S., Duffy, G., & Brown, C. (2014). Settling Velocity and Grain Shape of Maerl Biogenic Gravel Journal of Sedimentary Research, 84 (8), 718-727 DOI: 10.2110/jsr.2014.51
