Mangrove Root Sediment Trap

Mangrove pneumatophores and prop roots don't just anchor the tree — they act as a dense field of drag elements that slow tidal currents enough for suspended sediment to fall out of the water column. This simulation models a tidal current flowing through a real root matrix: flow speed decays through the canopy according to a vegetative-drag attenuation model, sediment grains advect with the local current while settling under their Stokes terminal velocity, and any grain whose surroundings have slowed below its resuspension threshold drops out and joins the accreting bed. Adjust root density, current speed and grain size to see how mangroves engineer their own foothold — trapping fine sediment near the seaward edge of a dense stand, and letting coarser material or fast water pass straight through a sparse one.