1. What is the Hjulstrom Curve?
21 October 2013
What is the Hjulstrom Curve?
Learning Objectives:
To understand how the Hjulstrom Curve works.
Learning Outcomes: C
Essential – you will know how the data is shown and can read off the curve.
Stretch – you will explain the relationship between the variables and the processes. B A*
Challenge – you will understand their link to the drainage basin system.

2. The 3 Cs
Capacity – the total sediment load of a river at a particular point or location.
Calibre – the size of a particular pebble or particle.
Competence – the size of the largest sediment particle that can be carried by that river at a particular time or location.

3. How is material transported downstream?

4. Jan 2013
(4 marks)
1 (a) There are three types of load – bedload, suspended load and dissolved load. Bedload consists of that which remains on the bottom of the river channel and represents the largest material, such as cobbles and boulders. At times of lower flow, it also includes smaller particles, including sand. Suspended load is that held within the body of the water and includes smallest and smaller particles of clay, silt and sand, depending on the speed of the water. Dissolved load is that which is held in solution where certain types of rock such as chalk and limestone are present within the water, thus are not visible.
Allow 1 mark for a list of either types (two or more) and size (two or more) if different sizes identified e.g. clay and boulders, a further mark is available for an accurate figure indicating size of each e.g and 600mm.
4×1 (4 marks)

5. Hjulstrom’s Curve
For a particle to be picked up (sediment entrainment) the critical erosion velocity must be reached. The settling velocity is the velocity at which particles can no longer be carried
Hjulstroms curve shows the relationship between velocity and competence (the size of the largest particle that can be carried by the river)

6. Particles are eroded from the river bed
Particles are deposited on the river bed
Particles are transported within the river flow
Entrainment Curve – the approximate velocity needed to pick up sediment
Critical settling velocity Curve – the velocities at which particles of a given size become too heavy to transport

7. Sink or Swim

8. Silt at 5cm sec1

9. Clay at 5cm sec1

10. Sand at 0.5cm sec1

11. Pebble at 55cm sec1

12. Gravel at 500cm sec1

13. Boulder at 100cm sec1

14. Sand at 0.1cm sec1

15. Jan 2013 1 (b) (i) Clay Particles of 0.001mm are eroded at 400cm/sec
Pebbles of 10mm are deposited at 60-70cm/sec. (2 marks)

16. Jan 2013
1 (b) (ii) Generally, the largest particles are transported at the fastest speeds, so pebbles of 10.0mm and above are transported at speeds over approx cm/sec and cobbles are transported at speeds of approx. 200 to 400cm/sec. Silt is transported at very low speeds – just above 0.1cm/sec. This is also true for clay – which is something of an anomaly as it remains being transported at the lowest speeds – suspended within the water.
3×1 (3 marks)