Wind Resuspension of Sediments in a Prairie Lake

Abstract

We measured levels of inorganic suspended solids in Little Wall Lake, Iowa, and concluded that sediment resuspension occurred when wind velocities exceeded critical velocities as calculated from wave theory. The percentages of the lake bed subject to resuspension for winds of given velocities were calculated, as were the percentages of time that winds of such velocities could be expected. We concluded that only a small percentage of the lake bed is subject to resuspension most of the time. The techniques to calculate wind effects and to summarize the data on frequency of wind mixing used in this study should be generally applicable to problems of sediment resuspension in other shallow lakes.