The Influence of Ship Waves on Sediment Resuspension in the Large Shallow Lake Taihu, China

Minsheng Bu, Yiping Li, Jin Wei and Chunyan Tang
Additional contact information
Minsheng Bu: Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Yiping Li: Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Jin Wei: Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Chunyan Tang: Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 19, 1-12

Abstract: Sediment resuspension induces endogenous nutrient release in shallow lakes, which has been demonstrated to be associated with eutrophication. In addition to natural wind-driven resuspension, navigable shallow lakes (such as Lake Taihu, China) also experience resuspension from human activities, such as ship waves. Both processes determine the intensity, frequency, and duration of sediment resuspension, and may consequently affect the pattern of cyanobacteria blooms in the lake. In this study, acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV), Optical Backscatter Sensor (OBS), and temperature wave tide gauge (instrument model :RBR duo TD|wave) were placed in an observation platform in the lake to obtain high-frequency flow velocities, suspended sediment concentration (SSC), and wave parameters before, during, and after a cargo ship passed by. We found that the ship wave disturbance intensity is greatly influenced by the draft depth. The movement generated by ship disturbance is primarily horizontal rather than vertical. Compared with the wind-induced wave, the disturbance caused by the ship waves has a high intensity, short duration, and narrow range of influence. The maximum total shear stress under ship disturbance can reach 9~90 times the critical shear stress under a natural state. Therefore, the effect of ship waves on sediment resuspension near the channel of Lake Taihu is much greater than that of wind-induced waves. These findings represent an important step towards understanding the quantitative relationship between ship wave disturbance and sediment resuspension, and lay the foundation for future research in order to understand and control the eutrophication of shallow lakes.

Keywords: hydrodynamics; ship waves; sediment resuspension; wind-induced wave (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/19/7055/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/19/7055/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:19:p:7055-:d:420276

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().