We examine the settling of monodisperse heavy particles released into a fluid when the resulting motion is sufficiently vigorous that the particle cloud initially assumes the form of a turbulent thermal. A laboratory study is complemented by numerical simulations of particle cloud dynamics in both homogeneous and stratified ambients. In the homogeneous ambient, the cloud generated by a total buoyancy excess . Criteria for three distinct modes of particle deposition in a stratified ambient are developed.