4.2 SSC-Q hysteresis
Temporal analyses on discharge and suspended sediment concentrations was conducted to understand the behaviour of the suspended sediment hysteresis loops. In this study, hysteresis loops were plotted based on the average monthly Q values against SSC values to obtain the variability patterns (Figure 5). Hysteresis loops for the 3 hydrological years were represented by clockwise hysteresis (Figure 5a-c), with a higher SSC-value on the rising limb than that for the same discharge on the falling limb. For instance, at the discharge of 25 m3/s, SSC was higher during the rising stage as compared to the falling stage (110 mg/L versus 80 mg/L in 2013, 288 mg/L versus 153 mg/L in 2015, and 220 mg/L versus 90 mg/L in 2016). The patterns across the 3 hydrological years suggest the sediment availability is depleted by the end of the ablation season (the beginning of the falling limb), resulting in clockwise hysteresis loops. For clarity, the clockwise hysteresis loop for the entire 2016 is shown in Figure 5d.