siltation

Noun

siltation (usually uncountable, plural siltations)

1. (usually) The (typically undesirable) increase in concentration and or of deposition of water-borne silt in a body of water.
   • They are also heavily engineered upstream: a dam built upstream in neighboring India can critically stanch the flow of freshwater down here, increasingly the chances of salinity and siltation.2009 March 20, Somini Sengupta, “In Silt, Bangladesh Sees Potential Shield Against Sea Level Rise”, in New York Times
   • The roster of perils includes, but is not limited to: overfishing, which promotes the growth of algae that compete with corals; agricultural runoff, which also encourages algae growth; deforestation, which leads to siltation and reduces water clarity; and dynamite fishing, whose destructive...2014, Elizabeth Kolbert, chapter 7, in The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Henry Holt and Company