Shaghude, Yohanna W.; Nyandwi, Ntahondi; Muzuka, A. N. N.; Dubi, Alfonse M.; Mwaipopo, O. U.
Description:
Sediment grain size distribution, carbonate content and current velocities for the Kunduchi area
are used to determine its hydrodynamic setting and sediment characteristics. The sediment mean
grain size generally decreases northward. The sediments consist of medium to coarse sand south
of the Tegeta River and fine sand further north. The sediment sorting values, which lack a northsouth
trend, vary from moderately well sorted to poorly sorted. The skewness of the sediment vary
from near-symmetrical to very negatively skewed while the peakedness (kurtosis) varies from
platykurtic to leptokurtic. The carbonate content increases with distance offshore, whereas the
siliciclastic component decreases with distance offshore. The siliciclastic/carbonate transition of
the investigated area is characterized by a narrow transition with no inter-fingering of the two
facies. The lack of inter-fingering of the two facies suggests that there is a limited offshore
transport of land-derived sediments. This is further supported by the drogue experiment results,
which shows that the predominant surface current flows northward irrespective of the tidal phase