Hydrodynamic Analysis of Turbidity Currents Measured in Dez Dam Reservoir

Dez Dam is one of the most important dams in Iran. The total initial storage volume of the reservoir was 3.3 Billion cubic meters. To find the characteristics of the turbidity current that may occur in the reservoir and understand its effects on sedimentation, measurements were made in this reservoir from 8th December 2002 to 30th June 2003. During this period, seven events of turbidity current events were recorded. Focusing on the velocity profiles results showed that generally the measured water entrainment coefficients (Ew) were higher, as compared with the existing laboratory data. This state strongly depended on the non-uniformity of the cross sections, tortuosity of the channel and bed roughness that increased the water entrainment. Also, a statistical analysis was performed on the dimensionless velocity profiles using SPSS software, and the results were compared with the experimental data.