Water and sediment transport mechanisms in a large river-connected lake.

Using the finite volume method, a 2-D water-sediment coupled model was developed to investigate the transport mechanisms of water and sediment in Poyang Lake, the largest river-connected lake in China. Simulating water and sediment transport processes in an average water year revealed that the total volume of water and the amount of suspended sediment transported from the five main rivers upstream of Poyang Lake were approximately 1.56 × 10¹¹ m³ and 1.25 × 10⁷ t, respectively. The outputs of water and sediment from the lake to the downstream Yangtze River were approximately 2.17 × 10¹¹ m³ and 1.53 × 10⁷ t, respectively. During the wet season, especially between July and September, nearly 1.06 × 10¹⁰ m³ of water and 1.89 × 10⁶ t of suspended sediment were transported upstream from the Yangtze River into the lake due to the high external water levels, which accounted for 4.88% and 12.35%, respectively, of the total annual transport from the lake into the Yangtze River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]