Investigations of the distribution of suspended sediments in the upper pool of the reservoir for the Nurek hydroelectric station, which were carried out in [1973][1974][1975], showed that a bottom density current exists [1][2]. It was established that the bottom current transports the bulk of suspended sediments in the reservoir and, consequently, the pattern of the distribution of the density current also determines the deposition process of the suspended particles and the formation of bottom deposits. The purpose of this article is to analyze certain results of investigations conducted in the Nurek reservoir in 1975-1976 and to develop a method for calculating the parameters of the bottom turbidity current and thickness of the bottom deposits on the basis of solvinghydrodynamic equations for a density current. The distributions of the suspended load concentration, temperature, and velocity of the stratified current were measured by a complex of instruments specially developed at the department of physics of the sea and land waters, Physics Faculty, Moscow State University.Problems of the dynamics of density currents as applied to the problem of the formation of bottom deposits are being studied primarily under laboratory conditions. The leading work in this area is by Soviet specialists [7,8]. Modeling does not always permit obtaining quantitative evaluations of the investigated parameters. Therefore, data from full-scale investigations are needed for improving the existing methods of calculating the characteristics of stratified currents and predicting the siltation of reservoirs.The main parameter of a density current is the difference between the densities of the liquid in the bottom current and in the overlying water layers Ap. In a freshwater basin this quantity is determined by thermal and mechanical stratification. The relationship of the indicated types of stratification depends on the seasonal supply regime of the water body and has a substantial effect on the dynamics of the density current. For a bottom current with a high concentration of suspended sediment the density of the liquid is calculated by the formula p-= ( t--S/ps) p= (T) +8,where S is the weight concentration of suspended material in the water; Pw(T) is the density of pure water; PS is the density of the suspended material (PS-2.5 g/cmS).The quantity Ap(S, T) is determined from the expressionwhere Ap(S) = [1--(pw/PS)]AS is the difference in densities due to the increased turbidity of ~he bottom current (at 5=C ~ T~ 20~ the vertical average value of the density of pure water Pw = i g/cm s with an accuracy to 0.2%); ~Pw(T) is the part of the difference of densities determlned by thermal stratification. Figure la shows a graph of the change over the flow width of the ratio of the magnitude of the concentration of suspended sediment averaged over the thickness of the bottom current H ~b= l/h [ s (z),~z //-41