Debris and Accumulations
in Bed Loads

Some material that is in the bed load of a stream for the most part looks like that of a bank. However there are some major differences. First of all due to the fact that it has gotten ground over and over again until the consistency is a lot finer than that of a shore. In second place, this is always saturated by water and has a much higher viscosity. The content of moisture oils the gravel and allows the heavier material to go down to the bottom. As well to its high specific gravity, and the precise conditions for settling contained in its environment, there is an additional feature that speeds up the process of the settling of the gold. This is the typical action of the bed load, which is the accumulation of debris that is held in the area between bedrock and the bottom of the stream. The gold that had been deposited by the stream load throughout the decline of speed of the after flood stage is now dispersed to some extent regularly at altering depths. The bed load is in addition being carried down the stream and this means that the part of the bed between the rock and the floor of the stream is also being moved down the stream. This could be called sand flow or flow of sand and comes about in a very slow manner. This movement is in part as a result of gravity and in part as a result of the force and the weight of the water in the stream. This movement does not only have to do with the gravel and sand but with the big rocks that are not attached firmly to the bedrock. While the bed moves down the stream a great amount of activity is taking place.

The downwards movement to the level of the sea depresses the grains of gravel and sand against each other and allows them to let loose pressure that then assists to develop the process of the gold going towards the bedrock. The minerals that are heavier also have a propensity of travelling down the stream and the journey to bedrock takes a curved course. At some point after a good amount of time has gone by, the gold arrives to the bedrock and at this point is no longer able to sink to any further extent therefore it begins moving down stream along with the bedrock. If in these journeys the gold happens to come across a crevice, it will in most cases gravitate to the bottom of the crevice where only extremely strong flood stages can remove it in order to be transported more. One other remarkable result that takes place in settling is the building up of pay streaks. While it advances downwards the speed of the settling begins to slow down and sands that are slower become further compressed and the lubrication of the water is reduced. In other words when some pieces begin to slow down, other flakes of gold catch up to them and when they unite they settle collectively. If the journey is a long one, and there is a large amount of flakes that are to settle, a good amount of gold flakes can mingle and settle together. This accumulation or accumulations were the pay streaks the operators of old bucket dredges used to recover in many occasions when these machines were in operation. There are a number of ways these pay streaks can be accumulated in placers. These can be become accumulated in a small and concentrated area, they can also accumulate over a larger area, and they are able to accumulate on top of the whole layer of the placer.