VIMS
Center for Coastal Resources Management

Sediments

Sediments are particles of minerals, rocks, and organic material that may be transported by water, wind, or ice.  Sediment processes include erosion, transport, and deposition, which occur in many environments, such as uplands, banks along streams and estuaries, shorelines, shallow nearshore environments, stream channels, and estuary mouths.

In the Chesapeake Bay, sediments that are suspended in the water column have wide-reaching consequences for shoreline management, water quality, and wetlands and beaches.

Sediment research in CCRM explores sediment budgets (quantifying sediment processes in a specified area), sediment cells (self-contained reaches of shoreline where sediment processes occur), and bank erosion (an important source of sediment to Chesapeake Bay and tributaries).