Table 1. Summary of water quality parameters.

Treatment	TSC	Light	Light attenuation (%)	Coal deposition (vials)	Coal deposition (pods)	Temperature	Dissolved oxygen	pH
	n = 35–39	n = 12	n = 12	n = 36	n = 22–27	n = 30	n = 27	n = 9
Control	0	177 ± 8.59	–	0	0	26 ± 0.15	8.5 ± 0.02	8.1 ± 0.02
Low	38 ± 6	99 ± 9.39	44	11 ± 1.99	2.3 ± 0.24	26 ± 0.13	8.3 ± 0.03	8.0 ± 0.00
Moderate	73 ± 11	21 ± 3.76	88	38 ± 4.94	11 ± 1.48	26 ± 0.10	8.3 ± 0.02	8.0 ± 0.00
Medium	202 ± 32	1.9 ± 0.70	99	126 ± 24	25 ± 3.16	27 ± 0.09	8.2 ± 0.02	8.0 ± 0.00
High	275 ± 36	1.1 ± 0.32	99	241  ± 37	46 ± 4.25	26 ± 0.10	8.3 ± 0.02	8.0 ± 0.00

Mean (±s.e.m.) total suspended coal (TSC) (mg l⁻¹), light (PAR, μmol photons m⁻²s⁻¹), light attenuation (% rel. to 0 mg coal l⁻¹), coal deposition rates (mg cm⁻² day⁻¹) in glass vials and deposition pods, temperature (°C), dissolved oxygen (mg l⁻¹) and pH. Note: Mean deposition of particulate matter in control treatments (7.3 mg l⁻¹ for TSC, 5.2 and 0.7 mg cm⁻² day⁻¹ for vials and pods, respectively) was subtracted from all coal treatments to depict only coal suspension and deposition. Variation in TSC and deposition over time are presented in Supplementary Material Fig. S1. n = total replicates per treatment over the experiment duration.