Trends of Sediment Resuspension and Budget in Southern Lake Michigan Under Changing Wave Climate and Hydrodynamic Environment

Authors

Longhuan Zhu, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Pengfei Xue, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Guy Meadows, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Chenfu Huang, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Jianzhong Ge, State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research
Cary D. Troy, Lyles School of Civil Engineering
Chin H. Wu, UW-Madison College of Engineering

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-2024

Department

Great Lakes Research Center

Abstract

Sediment suspension and transport driven by waves and currents play a significant role in both the ecological and physical environments of large lakes. Lake Michigan has faced a rapidly increasing water level associated with intensified wind waves in the past decade. To investigate the spatiotemporal characteristics of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and associated coastal sediment budgets in southern Lake Michigan, a 30-year (1991–2020) hindcast was performed using a coupled wave-current-sediment model (SWAN-FVCOM-CSTMS). We found that in southern Lake Michigan, the basin-wide mean SSC increased, and the coastal sediment loss accelerated dramatically, corresponding with intensified waves, currents and lake water level rises over the past decade. The basin-wide mean SSC, coastal sediment loss, wave height, wind speed, current speed, and water level in southern Lake Michigan are highly correlated. Spatially, the results reveal decreases in coastal SSC and sediment loss in the western portion of the southern basin, while the eastern sectors show an increase in both metrics. This reflects a clear shift in the wave climate and hydrodynamic environment. The alterations in long-term coastal sediment budgets imply that considerable shoreline transformations are being influenced by modifications in the wave climate. Understanding the spatiotemporal characteristics of SSC and coastal sediment budgets is crucial for strategic water resource management and coastal infrastructure planning.

Publisher's Statement

© 2024 The Authors. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JC020180

Publication Title

Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans

Recommended Citation

Zhu, L., Xue, P., Meadows, G., Huang, C., Ge, J., Troy, C., & Wu, C. (2024). Trends of Sediment Resuspension and Budget in Southern Lake Michigan Under Changing Wave Climate and Hydrodynamic Environment. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 129(4). http://doi.org/10.1029/2023JC020180
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p2/687

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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Publisher's PDF