Sediment vs. Decantation

Sedimentnoun

A collection of small particles, particularly dirt, that precipitates from a river or other body of water.

Sedimentverb

(transitive) To deposit material as a sediment.

Sedimentverb

(intransitive) To be deposited as a sediment.

Sedimentnoun

The matter which subsides to the bottom, from water or any other liquid; settlings; lees; dregs.

Sedimentnoun

The material of which sedimentary rocks are formed.

Sedimentnoun

matter deposited by some natural process

Sedimentverb

deposit as a sediment

Sedimentverb

settle as sediment

Sedimentnoun

matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid; dregs

Sedimentnoun

particulate matter that is carried by water or wind and deposited on the surface of the land or the seabed, and may in time become consolidated into rock

Sedimentverb

settle as sediment

Sedimentverb

(of a liquid) deposit a sediment

Sedimentverb

deposit (something) as a sediment

Sediment

Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand and silt can be carried in suspension in river water and on reaching the sea bed deposited by sedimentation; if buried, they may eventually become sandstone and siltstone (sedimentary rocks) through lithification.

Decantationnoun

the act of decanting the supernatant liquid from a solid sediment

Decantationnoun

The act of pouring off a clear liquor gently from its lees or sediment, or from one vessel into another.

Decantation

Decantation is a process for the separation of mixtures of immiscible liquids or of a liquid and a solid mixture such as a suspension. The layer closer to the top of the container—the less dense of the two liquids, or the liquid from which the precipitate or sediment has settled out—is poured off, leaving the other component or the more dense liquid of the mixture behind.