A laboratory study on the generation of estuarine negatively, neutrally and positively buoyant bio-mediated flocs

In estuaries and coastal areas, the mixing of inorganic and organic sediments results in the production of bio-mediated flocs. Their densities depend on the ratio between the light organic fraction and the mineral ballast. Transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) are ubiquitous in estuarine and marine environments. Because of their positive buoyancy, they form biofilms at the water surface. In order to investigate how the bio-mediated flocculation...