Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Measuring Protein Binding to F-actin by Co-sedimentation
Published on: May 18, 2017
Boltzmann Distribution of Sediment Transport
A Abramian1, O Devauchelle1, G Seizilles1
1Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, 1 rue Jussieu, 75238 Paris, France.
Abstract:
The coupling of sediment transport with the flow that drives it allows rivers to shape their own bed. Cross-stream fluxes of sediment play a crucial, yet poorly understood, role in this process. Here, we track particles in a laboratory flume to relate their statistical behavior to the self-organization of the granular bed they make up. As they travel downstream, the transported grains wander randomly across the bed's surface, thus inducing cross-stream diffusion. The balance of diffusion and gravity results in a peculiar Boltzmann distribution, in which the bed's roughness plays the role of thermal fluctuations, while its surface forms the potential well that confines the sediment flux.
Related Concept Videos
Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution: Problem Solving
This distribution function f(v) is defined by saying that the expected number N (v1,v2) of particles with speeds between v1 and v2 is given by
Phloem and Sugar Transport
Short-distance Transport of Resources
Facilitated Transport
Primary Active Transport
Secondary Active Transport

