Distributions of contaminant concentration and particle size in fluvial sediment

The piper procedure for particle size distribution of fluvial sediment was evaluated to determine if it can also be used as part of an approach for me asuring concentration of contaminants on specific particle size fractions ( e.g., clay, fine silt, coarse silt, and sand). Actual distributions of part icle size and a contaminant (Cs-137) were represented by the results of a s ettling column procedure. These results were compared with results from the piper procedure. Particle size distribution results were similar for both procedures. To calculate the distribution of contaminant concentration on p article size fractions, two different approaches for analyzing information from the piper procedure were used. Results from one of these pipet-based a nalyses compared very well with the distribution of contaminant concentrati ons measured with the settling column procedure; the other analysis based o n the piper data did not provide good results. The new procedure is especia lly useful for contaminated sediment applications. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scienc e Ltd. All rights reserved.