resuspended

Resuspended refers to material that has been disturbed from a settled or immobilized state and reentered into suspension in a fluid, typically water or air. The term is used in environmental science, microbiology, and industrial contexts to describe a return to a dispersed phase after deposition or aggregation.

In hydrology and limnology, sediment resuspension occurs when fluid forces entrain particles from bed sediments into the water column. This is driven by bed shear stress, turbulence, waves, and wind. Resuspension raises turbidity and can mobilize nutrients and contaminants, influencing water quality and ecosystem function. The process can be episodic (during storms) or chronic in highly mixed systems. Critical thresholds for motion are often described by the Shields parameter and related metrics.

In atmospheric science, resuspension denotes the re-entrainment of dust, pollen, and other particulates from surfaces back into air. Factors include wind speed, surface texture, moisture, and human activity, and resuspension contributes to ambient and indoor particulate matter.

In laboratory practice, resuspension means returning settled material to a dispersed state, such as re-suspending cells after centrifugation or washing solids from a container. Methods range from gentle pipetting to vortexing, chosen to balance uniformity and viability.

Resuspension is a common consideration in environmental monitoring, industrial hygiene, and experimental workflows, because it affects turbidity, exposure risk, nutrient cycling, and experimental outcomes.