Sediment

Sediment is traversable matter, not solid terrain. It shifts between the bed and the water and can smother productive rock when too much accumulates.

At a glance

Begins onThe bedA uniform floor and painted strokes set the initial mass.

Lifted byFast waterBottom flow and terrain wakes cause erosion.

Returns inCalm waterSettling moves suspended mass back to the bed.

SuppressesLiving filmBurial and suspended grains reduce productive growth.

How it moves

Strong bottom flow and terrain wakes lift bed mass. The shared current then carries and disperses it. Calm water lets it settle again.

What it does to film

Bed coverage reduces the surface capacity available to film. Suspended sediment also suppresses growth. A chemically rich site can therefore remain poor when it is heavily buried.

How to author it

Paint sediment as a soft starting condition over navigable floor. It does not create a wall or alter species clearance. Runtime erosion may reshape it without changing the authored strokes.

Where the mass goes

Sediment has no silent decay sink. It remains on the bed, remains suspended, or leaves through an open boundary recorded by the sediment ledger.