Response of the benthic nepheloid layer to near-inertial internal waves in southern Lake Michigan

Time series measurements of water transparency, water temperature, and current velocity were made at a station located in 58 m of water in southern Lake Michigan during the summer of 1995. Currents generated by near‐inertial internal waves are correlated with variations in the thickness and in the vertical distribution of suspended sediment in the benthic nepheloid layer. Although a direct causal link between internal wave action and changes in the nepheloid layer could not be established, the data suggest that local resuspension by shoaling internal waves maintains the layer during the stratified period. The origin and maintenance of the benthic nepheloid layer is most likely the result of local resuspension due to a combination of internal wave action and longer‐term processes.