International Journal of Sediment Research 30 (2015) 48-62

Sediment resuspension under action of wind in Taihu Lake, China

Sha-sha ZHENG1, Pei-fang WANG2*, Chao WANG3, and Jun HOU4

Abstract
A field study was undertaken to investigate the changes of the current speed, wave parameters and sediment
resuspension under different wind speeds in the Taihu Lake. The Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and
MIDAS DWR Wave Recorder were used to collect the data of currents and waves, respectively. The
characteristics of sediment resuspension were investigated by a layered sampling technology. The measurement
results showed that the current speed increased in direct proportion with the wind speed. Vertical distributions of
the current speed represented significant inflection points at 0.4 of the relative water depth. Both the upper and
lower layers followed logarithmic distributions. The mean wind speed and wave parameters (wave height and
wave energy density) showed exponential distributions, meanwhile similar distribution was found between the
mean wind speed and current speed. With rising surface wind, a corresponding increase in the concentration and
particle size of the Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) was observed in the water column. Different kinds of
particles could influence the SPM concentration in the water column. The critical wind speed of sediment
resuspension and the corresponding sediment incipient shear stress was found to be 3.7 – 4.0 m s-1 and 0.011 N
m-2, respectively. The results of this study can be used to help understand and predict the changes of flow structure
and water quality induced by different wind disturbances in shallow lakes.

Key words: Wind disturbance, Current, Wave, Sediment resuspension, Taihu Lake

1 Introduction
Wind has often been considered a predominant driving force, which affects hydrodynamic conditions in shallow lakes
(Chubarenko et al., 2001; Anderson and Schwab, 2011). It can affect not only water levels, current speeds and directions,
but also transports of various substances (Mancero-Mosquera et al., 2010). Many researchers have investigated the flow
changes induced by wind disturbances (Longon et al., 2012), and it has been shown that there can be significant
differences in flow structures under small and large magnitude wind disturbances (Han et al., 2008). Below a critical
value, increases in the wind speed are only able to change the flow velocity, whereas little change occurs to the flow
structure (Koçyigit and Falconer, 2004; Chao et al., 2008). Previous measurements of the current speed in water bodies
have utilized acoustic measurement techniques such as the Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (Mazumder et al., 2011),
Aquadopp Profiler (Hoque et al., 2010), and Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (Mancero-Mosquera et al., 2010;
Thompson et al., 2011). Wave profiles can be observed by Capacitive Wave Recorders (Qin et al., 2003),
Surface-following Buoys (Work, 2008), and so on.
Local resuspension from the bed is controlled by the threshold bed shear stress (Thompson et al., 2011). Once the
threshold stress is exceeded, sediment particles can be entrained from the bed to the overlying water body. Sediment
resuspension is dependent on the combined effects of waves and currents, the grain size and bulk characteristics of the
bed material, and any biogenic influences such as biostabilisation (Li et al., 2008) or bioturbation (Pang et al., 2012). Of
all the described factors, wind wave is considered to be the dominant factor which induces sediment resuspension in
shallow lakes (Douglas and Rippey, 2000; Chung et al., 2009). Understanding the distribution and variability of the
SPM is of great importance since the SPM plays a leading role in controlling the penetration of the light into the water
and hence has a huge impact on the primary productivity and ecology (Turner and Millward, 2002; Johengen et al.,
2008). It can also transport chemicals and resuspended contaminants (Zhang et al., 2009). In recent years, contaminants
release during the process of sediment resuspension has become a main internal source of pollutants in some shallow

1
Ph.D. Student, Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Department on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education,
College of Environment, Hohai University, 1 Xikang Road, Nanjing, China. E-mail: zhengshasha@hhu.edu.cn
2
Prof., Dr., Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Department on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, College
of Environment, Hohai University, 1 Xikang Road, Nanjing, China. Corresponding author, E-mail: pfwang2005@hhu.edu.cn
3
Prof., Dr., College of Environment, Hohai University, 1 Xikang Road, Nanjing, China. E-mail: cwang@hhu.edu.cn
4
Assis. Prof., Dr., College of Environment, Hohai University, 1 Xikang Road, Nanjing, China. E-mail: hjy_hj@hhu.edu.cn
Note: The original manuscript of this paper was received in Jan. 2013. The revised version was received in May 2014. Discussion
open until Jan. 2016.
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lakes (Ahlgren et al., 2011).
In order to estimate the quantities of released pollutants, it is necessary to understand the process of sediment
resuspension. With this goal in mind, this field investigation was conducted to identify the effect of the wind on the
current, wave and sediment resuspension processes in the Taihu Lake. Based on the data collected during the
investigation, variations of the current, wave and SPM distribution, critical wind speed and bed shear stress for
sediment resuspension are described in this paper. Meanwhile, correlations between the wind speed and the above
factors were determined as part of this study. In addition, since numerical simulation models have been widely used in
studying the current, wave and sediment resuspension processes (Chao et al., 2008; Carniello et al., 2011), the field
observed values can provide practical data to compliment related numerical simulations.

2 Materials and methods

2.1 Study site

Taihu Lake, the third largest freshwater lake in China, is situated in the southern part of Jiangsu province. Its depth
ranges from 1 to 2.5 m (average 1.9 m) with a total water surface area of about 2,338 km2 and a yearly volume around
4.43 billion m3. It is important for the ecology and fishery production, and is an important drinking water source for
many local cities. Meiliang Bay is a semi-enclosed bay which is situated in the northern parts of the Taihu Lake, with a
water surface area of 129.3 km2 and water depth of 1–2 m (Huang et al., 2004). Previous studies indicated that not only
nutrients but also heavy metals were at high levels in the Meiliang Bay of the whole Taihu Lake (Zhu et al., 2013; Liu et
al., 2014b). This area is subject to multiple sources of pollution, including urban runoff, industrial sewage, and
agricultural effluent from the city of Wuxi. On the other hand, the Meiliang Bay is the drinking water source of Wuxi
City. Water quality changes caused by wind disturbance have attracted a lot of attention from many people (You et al.,
2007; Chung et al., 2009). Therefor a site (31°25′19″N, 120°12′37″E) located in Meiliang Bay was selected for this
study (Fig. 1). The average water depth of the sampling area is about 1.85 m.

Fig. 1 Location of the study site at Meiliang Bay in Taihu Lake

2.2 Field observation and sampling

Field observations were made from May 1–10, 2012, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. The conditions of wind, wave and current
in the study site were recorded during the observation period. The wind speed and direction were observed three meters
above the water surface by an NZPH-1 Handheld Aerovane every 2 minutes. The water fluctuation (waves) was
recorded concurrently with the flow intensity, at an 8 Hz frequency, using an MIDAS DWR Wave Recorder. Waves
were directly measured for 2 minutes every 10 minutes. The highly accurate Wave Recorder was mounted on the
sediment surface with a stainless steel stent. Waves were analyzed using software attached to the Wave Recorder. An
ADCP was employed to observe the current conditions in the field mounted 20 cm below the water surface. Profiles of
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the current velocities and acoustic signals were measured by the ADCP. The ADCP used here was RiverSurveyor S5,
with four symmetrical velocity transducers of 3 MHz and current data output every second throughout the observation
process.
During the field observation, water samples were collected at depths of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.9, 1.2, and 1.8 meters
above the sediment surface using a layered sampling technology (Qian et al., 2011). The water turbidity was measured
by a HACH 2100P Portable Turbidity Meter in the field. Sediment cores were collected using a Peterson grab sampler
(WHL 15-HL-CN) and all water and sediment samples were finally transported to a laboratory and analyzed with in 6
hours.

2.3 Analytical methods

The SPM concentration of water samples were measured by using the gravimetric method. 100 ml water samples were
filtered through 0.45 μm cellulose acetate membranes by a vacuum filter, and the membranes were dried in an oven at
105 oC for 4 hours.
The particle size distributions of water samples were measured using a Malvern Mastersize 2000 Particle Size
Analyzer. The percentages of clay (<3.9 μm), silt (3.9–63 μm), sand (63–2,000 μm), and the median particle sizes were
then calculated.
For quality control purposes, all sampling equipments were rinsed with ultrapure water. Analytical blanks and three
replicates of samples were used in the determination of the SPM concentrations.

3 Results and discussion

3.1 Current speed conditions under different wind disturbances

3.1.1 Statistical analysis of wind

Wind direction is an important factor influencing the distributions of temperature and wind speed in shallow lake
regions (You et al., 2007). Based on the wind direction frequency statistics of the observation periods (Fig. 2A), east
and south winds occupied 66% of the total values with the average wind speed ranging from 1.18 m s-1 to 6.98 m s-1
(Fig. 2B). The observed minimum and maximum instantaneous values were 0.3 m s-1 and 8.7 m s-1, respectively.
Previous study (You et al., 2007) reported that in summer time, the directions of the prevailing wind in Taihu Lake were
southeast, and the dominant wind speed range was 1.7–6.0 m s -1 . It can be seen from Fig. 2B that

(A) N (0)
NNW 30 NNE
NW NE
20

WNW ENE
10

(270) W 0 E (90)

WSW ESE

SW SE
SSW SSE
S (180)

Fig. 2 Wind direction frequency (%) sketch (A) and mean wind speed (B) during observation periods
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the largest wind speed fluctuation occurred on May 7. Slightly higher values observed in this study than the previous
studies may be attributed to the inclusion of the perennial wind speed values in the Taihu Lake. The inserted error bars
shown in Fig. 2, Fig. 3 and Fig. 6 represent standard deviations of the measured values.

3.1.2 Essential conditions of current speed

The mean current speeds and directions representing the ensemble-averaged velocity and direction from top to bottom
during the observation periods are shown in Fig. 3. The mean current speeds presented are generally less than 30 cm s-1
(Fig. 3A). Previous studies (Qian et al., 2011) reported that when the wind with a speed varying from 1 m s-1 to 6.5 m s-1
influenced the water of the Taihu Lake, the flow velocities were about 1.5–21.5 cm s-1. Fig. 2B and Fig. 3A show that
the trends of the mean wind speed and current speed were similar. It can be seen that the current speed was affected by
the wind speed to a great extent (see section 3.2.2 for detailed explanation), and the measured mean current composed
mainly of the wind-driven current. The largest mean current speed was recorded on May 7 in response to the wind
speed changes. During the observation periods, as the average current speed increased, a corresponding instantaneous
current speed variation was noted. The mean current directions maintained at about 180 degrees, which deviated slightly
from the prevailing wind direction. From the reports published by other investigators (Chao et al., 2008; Wu et al.,
2013), the wind shear generated on the surface of the lake forced the surface layers of the water column to move in the
direction of the wind, and produced opposite movements in the bottom layers, whereas the current direction of the
middle layers changed greatly. Hence, the mean current direction was not exactly consistent with the wind direction.
The instantaneous directions of the current speed represented great changes, especially on May 2 and 5 (Fig. 3B). This
might be attributed to the dramatic variations in the wind directions recorded at that time.

Fig. 3 Mean current speed (A) and current direction (B) under different wind disturbances

3.1.3 Vertical distribution of current speed

Most previous studies which have reported vertical distributions of the current speed focused on open channels
(Dohmen-Janssen and Hanes, 2005; Huai et al., 2012). There have been few studies on shallow lakes. Generally, the
vertical distribution of flow velocity in the open channel was considered to follow logarithmic or exponential pattern (Li
et al., 1998; Wang and Yu, 2007). Following the ascending order of mean wind speeds, the measured current profiles
under different wind disturbances are shown in Fig. 4. From this figure, it can be seen that the vertical distributions of
velocity in the Taihu Lake were different from that in the traditional open channel. A general trend of increase in the
current speed was observed with the increase of the wind speed. Previous studies (Weyhenmeyer et al., 1997; Han et al.,
2008) reported that the main driving force of the water flow in shallow lakes was wind, and the flow velocity was
significantly affected by the magnitude of the wind.

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 In this study, all of the 10 velocity distributions were similar. The flow velocity increased from the water surface to
about one third of the depth of the water column, and then decreased towards the sediment surface. Under the force
from the prevailing wind, circulation would develop in the Meiliang Bay of the Taihu Lake. The direction of the
circulation deviated from the prevailing wind direction to a certain degree (Chao et al., 2008). The wave direction was
generally consistent with the prevailing wind direction, which made the wave hinder the water movement. In addition,
since the study site was not very far from the lakeshore, the flow pattern was influenced by the longshore currents due
to the resistance from the lakeshore. Liu et al. (2014a) studied the vertical distribution of longshore currents and also
found a similar distribution. Interestingly, the current profile resembled the distribution of density currents which often
occurred in reservoirs and lakes (Pang et al., 2001). Sediment resuspension induced by wind resulted in a nonuniform
distribution of particles in the lake water. The obvious concentration difference of particles satisfied the conditions of
the formation of density currents. In general, the flow pattern was mainly determined by the wind field, lake boundary
and lake landscape.

Fig. 4 Current speed profiles under different wind disturbances

In order to make further analysis on the current speed distribution, normalization was performed in calculating the
water depth and current speed. This data transformation helped establish a relationship between the relative current
speeds and water depths. The relative current speed = u/ u , relative water depth = h/H, where u was the observed
current speed, u was the mean current along the total water depth, h was the measurement height above the lake
bottom, and H was the total water depth (1.85 m). Fig. 5A represents the relative current speed profile where the mean
wind speed range was 1.18–6.98 m s-1. It was observed that the vertical distributions of the current speed were divided
into two parts, and the cut-off point was at a relative water depth of about 0.4. Table 1 shows that, in both the upper
water and the lower water, logarithmic distributions were found between the relative current speed and relative water
depth: y=aln(x+b)+c (a, b, c were constants). The values of R2 were only 0.5806 (upper water) and 0.3434 (lower water)
showing that the fitting relations were not good. This might be due to the dramatic flow structure changes under
different wind disturbances.
Table 1 Correlations between relative current speed and water depth at different wind speed ranges
Number Wind speed (m s-1) Fitting curve function R2 p
○ y＝－17.9138ln(x＋35.1322)＋64.8573 0.5806 0
A 1.18–6.68
﹡ y＝＋0.3227ln(x＋1.4263)－0.0792 0.3434 0
○ y＝－12.8962ln(x＋38.9545)＋48.1558 0.5804 0
B 1.18–2.48
﹡ y＝＋0.0907ln(x＋0.1427)＋0.2075 0.4674 1.67E-7
○ y＝－8.5393ln(x＋7.1574)＋18.6152 0.8628 0
C 3.17–4.87
﹡ y＝＋6.5740ln(x＋15.5790)－18.2755 0.6987 1.66E-15
○ y＝－7.5759ln(x＋7.9780)＋17.2216 0.9009 0
D 5.57–6.68
﹡ y＝＋0.2946ln(x－0.7733)＋0.5902 0.8443 5.01E-8

In order to better present the vertical distributions of the current speed, the wind speeds were divided into different
ranges. It can be noted from Fig. 4 that the current speed can be divided into three distinct groups (by dotted lines)
based on different ranges of wind speeds. In addition, previous study (Qin et al., 2003) had determined that the critical
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range of the wind speed affecting the flow velocity distribution in the Taihu Lake was 3.7 m s-1–4.0 m s-1. Han et al.
(2008) reported that the wind-driven current would play a leading role in shallow lakes when the wind speed reaches
6.0 m s-1. For the purpose of further discussions, wind speeds were divided into three different ranges, i.e. 1.18–2.48 m
s-1, 3.67–5.37 m s-1, and 6.07–6.98 m s-1. Figures 5B–D show the relative current speed profiles under the three wind
speed ranges. Logarithmic fittings were found in both the upper water and the lower water. The flow structure behaved
discriminatively at different wind speed ranges. The higher the wind speed was, the better the fitting was (Table 1). The
improved R2 values in Table 1 confirmed the validity of the approach above of the wind speed range partition. At
present, such fitting curve approach to investigate vertical distributions of the current speed in shallow lakes is still
unproven. More work is required in future studies.

Fig. 5 Relative current speed profiles, A–D represent mean wind speed at the range of 1.18–6.98 m s-1,
1.18–2.48 m s-1, 3.67–5.37 m s-1 and 6.07–6.98 m s-1, respectively

3.2 Wind wave conditions under different wind disturbances

3.2.1 Essential conditions of wind wave

Figures 6A–D show some of the wind wave parameters under different wind speeds. Wave height induced by water
level oscillations and wind speed variations can visually reflect the size of the wave (Carniello et al., 2011). The mean
significant and maximum wave heights were 2.56–31.97 cm and 6.45–48.50 cm, respectively (Fig. 6A). According to
the results of Qin et al. (2003), the significant wave height ranged from 5 cm to 30 cm when wind speed was between 1
m s-1 and 6 m s-1 in Taihu Lake. Wu et al. (2005) reported that the significant and maximum wave heights were
2.16–27.97 cm and 4.09–46.34 cm in South Taihu Lake when wind speed varied from 1 m s-1 to 6.2 m s-1. The two wave
heights display similar trends. It was noted that the larger the waves were, the larger the disparities were. From Fig. 2B
and Fig. 6A, it can be seen that a sharp increase in the wave height occurred in response to the abrupt increase in the
wind speed. The wave energy is closely related to wave height; therefore, the change in wave energy density resembles
wave height variations. Figures 6A–B show that, when the significant wave height was below 4 cm, the wave energy
density was very small. The mean wave periods are exhibited in Fig. 6C. It shows that the significant wave period
varied around 2 s, and the mean wave periods were less than 2 s. Qin et al. (2003) also reported that the mean wave
periods were 1.0–2.5 s in the Taihu Lake. The small standard deviations except on May 9 indicated that the wave
periods changed little under different wind speeds. Figure 6D shows the mean direction of wind-waves propagation
under different wind directions. The wave directions mainly varied from 90 degrees to 180 degrees, which generally

International Journal of Sediment Research, Vol. 30, No. 1, 2015, pp. 48–62 - 53 -
agreed with the direction of the prevailing wind. It should be noted that the direction of the wind-waves propagation is
not necessarily equal to the wind direction (You, 2005).

Fig. 6 Mean wave height (A), wave energy density (B), wave period (C) and wave direction (D) under different wind disturbances

3.2.2 Correlations among wind speed, current speed and wind wave
Figure 7 shows the significant correlations among the average wind speed, current speed and wind wave parameters. A
significant exponential relationship was found between the wind speed and current speed (Fig. 7A), indicating that the
wind force influenced the hydrodynamic conditions remarkably. Based on the study of these two factors,
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Mancero-Mosquera et al. (2010) also concluded that the relationship between these two factors was largely exponential.
The exponential relationships between the wind speed and wave parameters, together with the significant and maximum
wave height and wave energy, are shown in Figs. 7B–D. The high values of R2 show that wave heights were dominantly
affected by the wind speed. Wu et al. (2005) concluded that the suitable relation of the wind speed and wave height was
power fitting. The wave energy increased proportionately with the square of the wave height, therefore, the wave energy
density increased sharply with the wave height, especially when the wind speed exceeded 6 m s-1.

Fig. 7 Correlations among mean wind speed, current speed and wind wave

In order to investigate the application potential of the derived equations (Fig. 7), some comparisons (except for the
wave energy density) are shown in Table 2. In general, the results calculated by the equations derived from this study
were slightly lower than the observed values obtained by other researchers (Qin et al., 2003; Wu et al., 2005). Given
that different researchers used different observation sites at the Taihu Lake, such minor variations in the observed values
were to be expected. Since the relationships between the wind speed, current speed and wave parameters were close,
correlation analysis was performed to determine the interactions of these factors (Table 3). From this table, it can be
seen that positive correlations exist between all of these factors. This also illustrates the validity of the derived equations
from a different direction. However, to determine the exact relations between the current speed, wave height and wind
speed, more intensive research is needed and standardization of sampling sites need to be taken into consideration.

Table 2 Comparisons of current speed and wave height under different wind speed
Wind speed Current speed (cm s-1) Significant wave height (cm) Maximum wave height (cm)
(m s-1) Referencea This article Referenceb This article Referenceb This article
1.1 1.21 0.47 2.16 1.45 6.19 4.66
2.1 5.06 4.61 5.11 5.31 9.70 9.78
3.0 7.75 8.58 12.59 9.21 17.40 15.06
4.2 10.50 14.26 17.50 15.10 25.43 23.24
4.8 16.22 17.27 20.87 18.38 27.60 27.89
5.4 19.53 20.41 23.60 21.90 29.71 32.95
6.7 31.75 27.64 32.97 30.47 46.34 45.54
a Qin et al., 2003
b Wu et al., 2005

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 Table 3 Correlation coefficients between mean wind speed, current speed and wave parameters
Wind Current Significant Maximum Wave
speed speed wave height wave height energy density
Wind speed 1
Current speed 0.992** 1
Significant wave height 0.992** 0.993** 1
Maximum wave height 0.987** 0.987** 0.997** 1
Wave energy density 0.932** 0.945** 0.965** 0.967** 1
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (p < 0.01)

3.3 Variation of sediment resuspension under different wind disturbances

3.3.1 Vertical distributions of turbidity and SPM concentration

Figure 8 shows the vertical distribution of the turbidity and SPM concentrations under different wind speeds. The
average values of the turbidity in the ten events were found to be in the range of 12–214 NTU when the wind speed
increased from 1.18 m s-1 to 6.98 m s-1. Under the same conditions, the average SPM contents were in the range of
13–206 mg L-1. Sediment resuspension in the Taihu Lake have been observed by some researchers. Qin et al. (2003)
found that in the northern part of the Taihu Lake, the contents of SPM were about 20 mg L-1, 40 mg L-1 and 200 mg L-1
at the wind speeds of 2.6 m s-1, 5.0 m s-1 and 6.5 m s-1, respectively. Zhang et al. (2004) demonstrated that the SPM
contents were 18 mg L-1, 60 mg L-1 and 178 mg L-1 under similar wind speeds. The results obtained in this study were in
agreement with the conclusions above.

Fig. 8 Vertical distributions of turbidity (A) and SPM concentration (B) under different wind disturbances

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 Field observations showed visible effect of the surface wind on the turbidity and SPM contents. These data indicated
that wind-wave could cause sediment resuspension by significantly changing the bed shear stress. From Fig. 8, the
values of the turbidity and SPM increased sharply when the wind speed exceeded 6 m s-1. Previous studies (Qin et al.,
2003; Zhang et al., 2004) concluded that sediments were resuspended in a larger scale of the Taihu Lake when the wind
speed was over 6.5 m s-1. It can be seen that the turbidity and SPM concentrations increased significantly at the bottom
of the water column (20 cm above the sediment surface). When the wind speed reached about 7 m s-1, the values of the
turbidity and SPM were nearly 400 NTU and 600 mg L-1, respectively, at the bottom layer, whereas the values were
only 132 NTU and 94 mg L-1 at the surface layer. These results showed that the wind-wave disturbance had a major
influence on the contents of the SPM at the bottom. As the sediment was disturbed by the turbulent water body, particles
of different sizes were carried to the overlying water. After a period of time, large particles settled down due to gravity,
while small particles remained suspended in the upper water (Qian et al., 2011).
It was noted that the vertical distribution of the turbidity and SPM concentration (Fig. 8) did not match the current
profile (Fig. 4) very well, especially in the lower water. The current speed increased from the water surface to about one
third of the depth of the water column, and then decreased towards the sediment surface. However, the turbidity and
SPM concentration increased constantly from the water surface to the sediment surface, with a dramatic increase at the
water column of 20 cm above the sediment surface. In response to the frictional force generated by the rough sediment
surface, the current speed decreased gradually in the bottom water column (Yang et al., 2006). After the sediment
resuspension event, a part of the particles were transported into the upper water by the water movement, while other
particles gathering at the bottom water resulted in higher concentration of SPM (You et al., 2007).

3.3.2 Vertical distributions of particle size

Median particle size (d50) is an important parameter characterizing particles size. It is defined as the value of the
particle diameter at 50% in the cumulative distribution. The physical meaning of d50 is that the particles with sizes
greater than it account for 50% of the total mass, and the particles with sizes less than it also account for 50% of the
total mass. Figure 9 shows the vertical distributions of the d50 in the water column under different wind disturbances.
The d50 values increased from 6.01 μm to 19.54 μm when the wind speed was in the range of 1.18–6.98 m s-1. Zhang et
al. (2007) reported that the d50 in the water body under different disturbances were 5.51–13.33 μm in the Meiliang Bay
of the Taihu Lake. The d50 in the bottom water layer was higher than that in the upper water layer. Because of the gravity,
larger particles settle to the bottom water layer after the sediment resuspension event, faster than the fine particles,
which would stay in the water column for a longer period of time (Qian et al., 2011). Generally speaking, the values of
d50 increased with the higher wind speed. Water turbulence was an important factor which influenced the sediment
resuspension level. When the current speed increased, more particles with larger sizes were entrained into the overlying
water by the intensive water flow. Hence, the value of d50 increased accordingly.

Fig. 9 Vertical distributions of median particle size under different wind disturbances

Following the determination of the vertical distributions of particle size in the water column, it was necessary to
determine the composition variations of the particles. In this study, particles in the water were divided into three groups:
clay (<3.9 μm), silt (3.9–63 μm) and sand (63–2,000 μm). Figures 10A–J show the vertical distributions of the particle
composition with the average wind speed increased successively from 1.18 m s-1 to 6.98 m s-1. The percentage of clay
decreased as the wind speed varied from 1.18 m s-1 to 5.37 m s-1, whereas the silt proportion showed an increase in the
range of wind speed considered (Figs. 10A–H). When the wind speed exceeded 6 m s-1, the proportions of clay and silt
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showed reversed variations (Figs. 10I–J). From this figure, the percentage of sand was very small when the wind speed
was below 3.67 m s-1 (Figs. 10A–D). With increased water turbulence, the proportion of sand gradually increased,
especially when the wind speed was over 6 m s-1 (Figs. 10I–J). As indicated in previous studies, flow structures changed
distinctly when the wind speed reached about 3.7 m s-1 and 6.0 m s-1 in the Taihu Lake, and the SPM concentration
showed a marked increase as well. Hence, the particle composition varied remarkably at these two wind speeds.

Percentage (%) Percentage (%) Percentage (%) Percentage (%)

0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
1.8
(A) (B) (C) (D)
1.5
Water depth (m)

1.2

0.9

0.6

0.3
0.05

Percentage (%) Percentage (%) Percentage (%) Percentage (%)

0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
1.8
(E) (F) (G) (H)
1.5
Water depth (m)

1.2

0.9

0.6

0.3
0.05

Percentage (%) Percentage (%)

0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
1.8
(I) (J)
1.5
Water depth (m)

1.2

0.9

0.6

0.3
0.05
Fig. 10 Vertical distributions of particle composition under different wind disturbances, A–J represent mean
wind speed at 1.18, 1.75, 2.48, 3.67, 4.16, 4.47, 4.79, 5.37, 6.07 and 6.98 m s-1, respectively

In general, the percentages of clay and silt decreased from the surface to the bottom; in the contrary, the percentage of
sand increased gradually. The three kinds of particle concentration changed significantly in the bottom water column
(about 20 cm above the sediment surface), which indicated that particle compositions in this water layer were
influenced by sediment resuspension. The reason for this phenomenon might be linked with the SPM concentration
changes near the sediment surface. Zuo et al. (2012) found that the volume concentrations of clay, silt and sand showed
an obvious inflexion with the water depth changes, and the inflexion site was in substantial agreement with that of the
turbidity or SPM concentration. From Fig. 10, it can be seen that the sand proportion increased when wind disturbance
strengthened. The addition of sand proportion may be the main reason for an increase in water turbidity, especially
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under large wind disturbance.
Flocculation is the term used to describe the combination of many small, suspended particles into large, loosely
packed, aggregate particles called ‘‘flocs’’ that settle faster than their component particles (McCave, 1984). Flocculation
is an important mechanism controlling the transport of fine cohesive particles. Flocculation is promoted by large
particles concentrations and turbulence, because these factors increase the frequency of particle collisions. With the
increased wind speed, the flow velocity and SPM concentration increased obviously which could accelerate the
formation of flocs. The value of d50 increased accordingly. However, flocs disaggregation by turbulent shear would also
limit the growth and abundance of flocs (Hill et al., 2013). Therefore, d50 values did not rise remarkably even though the
water body suffered strong disturbance (Fig. 9). The variation of particle size in water column is associated with two
mechanisms: vertical exchange and horizontal advection of particles (Velegrakis et al., 1997). The contemporaneous
increases in the current speed and SPM concentration indicated that local sediment resuspension was the primary
determinant of particle transport. Of course, because of the existence of lake circulation, horizontal advection of
particles might also contribute to the change of particle sizes to a certain extent.

3.3.3 Correlations among wind speed, turbidity and SPM concentration

Reported mathematical formulas linking mean turbidity or SPM with wind speed were power function (Cózar et al.,
2005) or exponential function (You et al., 2007) in shallow lakes. The equations obtained in this study followed the
exponential pattern in agreement with the study by You et al. (2007) (Figs. 11A–B). The turbidity and wind speed have
a closer relation than that of the SPM concentration and wind speed. SPM is considered to be the primary factor
controlling the water column turbidity in many water areas. Water turbidity is determined not only by the concentration
of SPM but also by the composition of this matter, such as grain size, shape and so on (Babin et al., 2003; Van der
Woerd and Pasterkamp, 2008). Therefore, the turbidity cannot be equal to the SPM concentration in the water column.
Although the fitting effect was not as good as the turbidity, the average SPM concentration in the overlying water was
still correlated well with the wind speed (R2=0.9840), suggesting that using the wind speed to calculate the SPM
concentration was quite reliable.

Fig. 11 Correlations between mean wind speed and turbidity (A), SPM concentration (B), turbidity and SPM concentration (C)

Compared to the measurement of the SPM concentration, determination of the turbidity is relatively easy. If the
conversion formula of these two factors is available, the distribution of the SPM content in the water column can be
determined. Hence, many scholars tried to find out the quantitative relationship between the turbidity and SPM content
International Journal of Sediment Research, Vol. 30, No. 1, 2015, pp. 48–62 - 59 -
(Lewis, 1996; Pavanelli and Pagliarani, 2002). Values for the turbidity and SPM are commonly assumed to be
equivalent since the turbidity and SPM concentration are usually highly correlated. The linear relationship between the
turbidity and SPM concentration is shown in Fig. 11C. Previous studies (Liu and Huang, 2009; Philippart et al., 2012)
also obtained linear correlations of these two factors. Regression analysis revealed that the SPM concentration could be
calculated from the turbidity value and the correlation was strong (R2=0.9558) as shown in Fig. 11C.

3.3.4 Incipient motion of sediment resuspension

Sediment resuspension induced by wind wave is a usual phenomenon which often occurs when the bottom stress is
sufficiently large to entrain material from the bed (Cózar et al., 2005). Therefore, the wave-current interaction could
change the bottom shear stress in shallow lakes. For wind speed less than 3.7 m s-1, the mean SPM concentrations were
smaller than 30 mg L-1. Zhang et al. (2007) indicated that this part of SPM was the original components including
insoluble inorganic and organic matter and plankton. SPM concentrations increased distinctly when the wind speed
reached 3.7–4.0 m s-1, indicating that partial sediment suspension occurred at that moment. In this study, the incipient
motion of sediment referred to the threshold condition where a few particles moved. This coincided with the definition
given by White (1970). The incipient shear stress under this condition was calculated using the equations obtained by
Sheng and Lick (1979) and Xue (2006). Based on the calculation, the sediment incipient shear stress was determined to
be 0.011 N m-2. Other studies (Sheng and Lick, 1979; James et al., 2007) found that the incipient shear stress of
sediment resuspension in lakes were in the range of 0.01–0.1 N m-2. Qin et al. (2003) reported that the critical wind
speed of sediment resuspension was around 4 m/s and the incipient shear stress of sediment resuspension was about
0.03–0.04 N m-2 in the Taihu Lake. In his study, general transport of particles was regarded as the incipient motion of
sediment; therefore, the incipient shear stress was slightly higher than what this study determined.

4 Conclusions
Analysis of field observations in this study shows the variations of the current speed, wave parameters and sediment
resuspension under different wind disturbances. The mean current speed varied from 1.87 cm s-1 to 28.70 cm s-1 when
wind speed showed variations from 1.18–6.98 m s-1. The present study suggests that the wind speed not only affects the
flow velocity but modifies the flow pattern as well. Vertical distributions of the current speed were divided into two
parts at the cut-off point 0.4 of the relative water depth. The relative current speed and relative water depth were found
to follow a logarithmic distribution.
Wave parameters, especially the wave height and wave energy density, are expected to change under different wind
disturbances. In the present study, the wind speed and wave parameters followed an exponential distribution.
Meanwhile, a similar distribution was also found between the wind speed and current. Close correlations showed that
wind had a large influence on current and wave. The equations derived from this study for computing the current speed,
significant and maximum wave height were y=56.3929exp(0.0661x)-60.1771, y=26.5412exp(0.1200x)-28.8353 and
y=28.4590exp(0.1430x)-28.6489, respectively. Comparison of the calculated and measured values suggested that these
equations might be helpful in computing current speed and wave height.
This study highlighted the effect of the surface wind on turbidity, SPM concentration and particle size in the water
column. The critical wind speed of sediment resuspension was determined to be 3.7 – 4.0 m s-1, while the corresponding
sediment incipient shear stress was 0.011 N m-2. Large scale sediment resuspension was observed when the wind speed
exceeded 6 m s-1. Fitting functions linking the turbidity or SPM with the wind speed followed an exponential
distribution whereas the relationship between the SPM concentration and turbidity was linear. This observation could
help understand the release of sediment contaminants in resuspension process in shallow lakes.

Acknowledgements
We are grateful for the grants from the National Key Basic Research Development Program (“973” project) of China
(No. 2010CB429006), and the National Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar (No. 51225901),
National Science Funds for Creative Research Groups of China (No. 51421006), and PAPD.

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