The Settlement of Solid Matter in Fresh and Salt Water

Abstract

IN a letter under the above heading in your issue of June 20, Mr. W. H. Wheeler discusses the effect of dissolved salt in promoting the subsidence of alluvial matter in water. He takes exception to the conclusion of Mr. Slidell that the mixture of sea water with river water exercises a preponderating influence on the formation of deltas. The question at issue is not one that can be settled simply by a consideration of the specific gravity and viscosity of the solutions employed, and Mr. Wheeler has made it the subject of experimental investigation. There can be little doubt that it is only in the case of very finely divided solid matter in suspension that the addition of salt solution causes increased precipitation, and so far his results can scarcely be called into question. They are confirmed by the investigations on the deposition of sediment by Carl Barus and Bodländer, to whose papers references are given below.