SEICHE-INDUCED RESUSPENSION IN LAKE-KINNERET - A FLUORESCENT TRACER EXPERIMENT

In warm-monomictic Lake Kinneret, wind-induced internal waves with amp litudes of up to 10 meters are common during April - October. This stu dy was aimed to follow the horizontal and vertical transport of resusp ended particles due to internal wave activity using fluorescently-dyed sediment particles (lake sediments and lyophilized algal cells) as tr acers. Color-coded (5 colors) tracers were deployed along a transect p erpendicular to the shore, and their dispersion was followed by recove ry of labeled particles in sediment traps and in bottom sediment sampl es using epifluorescence microscopy. Wind-induced internal seiches as the driving force for resuspension were followed using a thermistor ch ain and a current velocity profiler. Examination of sediment trap and bottom sediment samples indicated particle transport from the hypolimn ion to the epilimnion that could be linked to the seiche activity. Hor izontal transport of particles was most distinct for littoral sediment s whereby particles placed at 5 m depth were exposed to a strong long shore transport.