these are no simple questions really...in this case your pond is not a stagnant BOW, nor do you have simple flow through like i do (creek entering one end and departing the other).....you have upwelling groundwater (convection currents) which undoubtedly affect both formation of a thermocline and clarification.
OK, you guys win!!!!
I'll tell you what I was really getting at, and to be sure it isn't specific to the quarry.
In Nebraska, a runoff event will bring silt into more stagnant systems (like earthen ponds), and as the silt settles, the single celled algae are the first to be able to ramp up photosynthesis because the sunlight penetrates sequentially deeper and deeper. For example; It rains three inches and the water becomes completely turbid. Virtually no sunlight penetration for 48 hours. Then the following 48 hours you have sunlight penetration of 6-18 inches. Then the 48 hours after that you have sunlight penetration of 18-24 inches, etc. etc. This sequential increase in sunlight penetration benefits organisms that can utilize the upper tier of the water column.
Therefore, in places like Nebraska where clay particles like to stay in suspension for extended periods of time, you have a marked increase in the ratio of non-rooted (single celled algae) to rooted (sago) plants.
So generally speaking, rainy springs tend to yield ponds with more filamentous and single celled algae during the summer and early fall, while dry springs tend to yield ponds with more submergent vegetation.
Make sense?
This equation however has little or no validity in watershed with heavy particulate runoff like sand, because it settles so quickly that there is not an extended advantage to plants that utilize the upper water column.
