Suspended sediment hysteresis in a salt-wedge estuary: Fraser River, Canada

Abstract Suspended sediment transport in the Fraser River estuary, British Columbia, Canada, is affected by fluvial and tidal time lag, or hysteresis. Fluvial hysteresis is evident after mobile sediment is exhausted early in the spring freshet and the peak in daily sediment concentration precedes the peak in river discharge. Tidal hysteresis is apparent over tidal cycles as the peak in sediment concentration generally follows the peak in velocity. This is a consequence of settling lag resulting from enhanced shear velocities during decelerating currents.