Suspended sediment distribution under varied currents in the largest river-connected lake of China

Poyang Lake was selected as the research area. Based on laboratory experiment, field investigation and numerical simulation, the spatial distributions of suspended sediment (SS) under the gravity-flow, jacking-flow and back-flow patterns were quantitatively analysed. An annular flume experiment was conducted to determine the critical starting shear stresses of the sediments in the flood and dry seasons. By numerical experiment, the SS transport under different flow patterns was explored. Several results stand out. (1) The critical starting shear stresses of the sediments in the flood and dry seasons were 0.35 N·m −2 and 0.29 N·m −2 , respectively. (2) Due to the strongest flow disturbance and scouring effect, SS under the gravity-flow pattern was characterized by the highest loads. The lowest SS was observed during the jacking-flow pattern, which could be attributed to the lowest water level gap between the lake and external rivers. The loads ranged from 0.053 kg·m −3 to 0.068 kg·m −3 . (3) Under the back-flow pattern, SS in the north lake was evidently influenced by the Yangtze River, and the mean value was approximately 0.12 kg·m −3 . With the gradually weakened back-flow impact, the SS load was decreased from the north to the middle of the lake.