Silt Turbidity And Suspended Sediments In The Aquatic Environment

The impacts of siltation and suspended sediments on water quality and resident aquatic organisms is one of the most common problems facing resource managers today. Most construction activities in or near a watercourse have the potential to result in decreased shoreline stability and/or an increase in siltation, suspended sediments and turbidity. This annotated biliography was prepared in response to requests from seveal Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources biologists and technicians in the Southern Region. The author attempted to assemble and summarize reference material on various aspects of this topic including sources of suspended solids, physical/chemical processes, impacts to water quality and aquatic life, and remediations. This bibliography is intended to prove a consolidation and synthesis of information which is readily available for day-to-day use by field staff. Almost 1200 references are cited.

This literature review of the effects of turbidity and suspended material in aquatic environments covers the following subjects: definitions, units of measure, and methods of measurement; origins; and effects in aquatic environments. Turbidity, regardless of the multiplicity of definitions, units of measure, and methods of measurement, is an expression of the optical properties of water that cause light to be scattered and absorbed rather than transmitted in a straight line. Turbidity is not the same as siltation, although the terms have been used synonymously in the past. The various units of measure include the Jackson Turbidity UNIT (JTU), Formazin Turbidity Unit (FTU), and Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU). The methods of measuring percent transmission or the weight per volume concentration of suspended particulates are based on either gravimetric or optical techniques.

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