• Title/Summary/Keyword: Antarctic Science

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Physical Oceanographic Characteristics between Hawaii and Chuuk Observed in Summer of 2006 and 2007 (2006년과 2007년 여름에 관측한 Hawaii-Chuuk 사이의 물리특성)

  • Shin, Chang-Woong;Kim, Dong-Guk;Jeon, Dong-Chull;Kim, Eung
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.33 no.spc3
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    • pp.371-383
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    • 2011
  • To investigate the physical characteristics and variations of oceanic parameters in the tropical central North Pacific, oceanographic surveys were carried out in summer of 2006 and 2007. The survey periods were classified by Oceanic Ni$\tilde{n}$o Index as a weak El Ni$\tilde{n}$o in 2006 and a medium La Ni$\tilde{n}$a in 2007. The survey instruments were used to acquire data on CTD (Conductivity Temperature and Depth), XBT (Expendable Bathythermograph), and TSG (Thermosalinograph). The dominant temporal variation of surface temperature was diurnal. The diurnal variation in 2007, when the La Ni$\tilde{n}$a weather pattern was in place, was stronger than that in 2006. Surface salinity in 2006 was affected by a northwestward branch of North Equatorial Current, which implies that the El Ni$\tilde{n}$o affects surface properties in the North Equatorial Current region. Two salinity minimum layers existed at stations east of Chuuk in both year's observations. The climatological vertical salinity section along $180^{\circ}E$ shows that the two salinity minimum layers exist in $2^{\circ}N{\sim}12^{\circ}N$ region, consistent with our observations. Analysis of isopycnal lines over the salinity section implies that the upper salinity minimum layer is from intrusion of the upper part of North Pacific Intermediate Water into the lower part of South Pacific Subtropical Surface Water and the lower salinity minimum layer is from Antarctic Intermediate Water.

OBSERVATIONS OF UPPER THERMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURES USING A GROUND-BASED OPTICAL INSTRUMENT AT THE KING SEJONGSTATION, ANTARCTIC (남극 세종기지 광학 간섭계를 이용한 열권 상부 온도 관측)

  • Chung, Jong-Kyun;Won, Young-In;Lee, Bang-Yong;Kim, Jhoon
    • Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.139-150
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    • 1998
  • We measured the terrestrial nightglow of OI $6300{\AA}$ in the thermosphere (~250km) using a ground-based Fabry-Perot interferometer at the King Sejong Station, Antarcticfrom March through September, 1997. The King Sejong Station is located at high latitude geographically ($62.22^{\circ}S,\;301.25^{\circ}E$) but at mid latitude geomagnetically ($50.62^{\circ}S,\;7.51^{\circ}E$). It is therefore the strategic location to measure the temperatures of the thermosphere in the Southern Hemisphere associated with both solar and geomagnetic activities. In this study, we analyzed the observed temperatures inrelation to F10.7 and Kp indices to examine the effect of the solar and the geomagneticactivities on high-latitude neutral thermosphere. During the observing period, the solaractivity was at its minimum. The measured temperatures are usually in the range between about 600~1000 K with some seasonal variation and are higher than those predicted by semi-empirical model, VSH (Vector Spherical Harmonics) and empirical model, MSIS (Mass-Spectrometer-Incoherent-Scatter)-86.

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Distribution Pattern of Deschampsia antarctica, a Flowering Plant Newly Colonized around King Sejong Station in Antarctica (남극 세종기지 주변에 새로이 정착한 현화식물 남극좀새풀 (Deschampsia antarctica)의 개체군 공간분포)

  • Kim, Ji-Hee;Chung, Ho-Sung
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.26 no.1
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    • pp.23-32
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    • 2004
  • As a baseline survey for long-term monitoring on environmental change around the Antarctic King Sejong Station, distribution pattern of Deschampsia antarctica Desv., a flowering plant newly colonized were investigated qualitatively and quantitatively in both austral summer 2002 and 2003. Dispersal of the seeds and vegetative leaves by skuas might lead to the colonization into this area from neighbors in Maxwell Bay. The pioneer populations were observed around ponds and a stream of the Sejong Point in January 2002, and the maximum dispersal area was four times expanded after a year. Most of the populations were formed on the stable and well-drained substrate, which consisted of moss carpet of Sanionia georgico-uncinata (65%) and pebbles (25%), while only a few young individuals were observed on the unstable and watertight silt-sandy area. Especially, S. georgico-uncinata was being effectively utilized as their primary substrate with the soft, coarse and water-contained leaves. Also the perennial mature plants of D. antarctica were mainly formed on the moss carpet rather than pebbles. A few individuals were grown on other mosses of Polytrichastrum alpinum, Bryum pseudotriquetrum, Pohlia cruda, and Conostomum magellanicum and on a liverwort of Cephaloziella varians. We expect that dispersal of D. antarctica and the following succession to grass field will be countinuously and dynamically proceeded in this area, with the characteristics of ecological niche against the initial moss populations, on the similar continuity of environmental conditions. The continuous observations are needed with establishment of database on environmental change of micro-habitats, e.g. the water content and nutrients of soil and the underground temperature and permafrost.

Age Structure and Biomass of the Icefish Pseudochaenichthys georgianus Norman (Channichthyidae) Between 1976 and 2009: a Possible Link to Climate Change

  • Traczyk, Ryszard;Meyer-Rochow, Victor Benno
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.41 no.4
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    • pp.233-250
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    • 2019
  • A re-assessment of the age structure of the population of the Antarctic icefish Pseudochaenichthys georgianus based on body length data covering the years 1976-2009 and including larvae and postlarvae collected in 1989 and 1990 allowed us to define age groups 0, I, and II as containing fish with respective body lengths of 6-9 cm, 15-27 cm and 27-39 cm. Age at maturity (first spawning) was found to occur in age group III at body lengths that have been falling from 50.1 cm in 1979 to 45.4 cm in 1992. Considering postlarvae together with adult fish, the v. Bertalanffy growth curve parameters were determined as L = 60.62 cm, k = 0.4, t0 = 0.25. Although the reasons for a maturity at shorter body lengths is not fully understood a host of environmental factors like increasing water temperatures and possibly changes in currents, interspecific competition, food availability, etc. are likely to be involved. Global warming (and not primarily overfishing) is likely to have been responsible for the disappearance of larger fish in the surface waters of South Georgia since 1977, for virtually all commercial fishing stopped in the early 1990s. On the other hand, the appearance of numerous younger spawning individuals suggests that larvae do survive in the colder deeper water below 200 m. The biomass of Ps. georgianus oscillates with a 4-year periodicity in contrast to that of the coexisting icefish Chaenocephalus aceratus: the former with a lower biomass in warm years and a higher one in cold years. The biomass of the third species of icefish in the region, i.e. Champsocephalus gunnari, also oscillates, but with a longer periodicity than that involved in the biology of the other two and its biomass increases in contrast to the other two species. The result is that the biomass all three species considered together is rather stable.

Change of Temperature using the Twentieth Century Reanalysis Data (20CR) on Antarctica (20세기 재분석 자료(20CR)를 이용한 남극대륙의 기온 변화)

  • Zo, Il-Sung;Jee, Joon-Bum;Lee, Kyu-Tae;Chae, Na-My;Yoon, Young-Jun
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.34 no.1
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    • pp.73-83
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    • 2012
  • Antarctica is very sensitive to climate change but the number of stations is not sufficient to accurately analyze climate change in this regoin. Model reanalysis data supplements the lack of observation and can be used as long term data to verify climate change. In this study, the 20CR (Twentieth Century Reanalysis) Project data from NCEP/NCAR and monthly mean data (temperature, solar radiation and longwave radiation) from 1871 to 2008, was used to analyze the temperature trend and change in radiation. The 20CR data was used to validate the observation data from Antarctica since 1950 and the correlation coefficients between these data were determined to be over 0.95 at all stations. The temperature increased by approximately $0.23^{\circ}C$/decade during the study period and over $0.20^{\circ}C$/decade over all of the months. This increasing trend was observed throughout the Antarctica and a slight increase was observed in the Antarctic Peninsula. In addition, solar radiation (surface) and longwave radiation (surface and top of atmosphere) trends correlated with the increase in temperature. As a result, outgoing longwave radiation at the surface is attenuated by atmospheric water vapor or clouds and radiation at the top of the atmosphere was reduced. In addition, the absorbed energy in the atmosphere increases the temperature of the atmosphere and surface, and then the heated surface emits more longwave radiation. Eventually these processes are repeated in a positive feedback loop, which results in a continuous rise in temperature.

Ocean Response to the Pinatubo and 1259 Volcanic Eruptions

  • Kim, Seong-Joong;Kim, Baek-Min
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.34 no.3
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    • pp.305-323
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    • 2012
  • The ocean's response to the Pinatubo and 1259 volcanic eruptions was investigated using an ocean general circulation model equipped with an energy balance model. Volcanic eruptions release gases into the atmosphere which increases the aerosol optical depth and acts to reduce the incoming short-wave radiation. For example, there was a huge volcanic eruption (Pinatubo) in 1991 which reduced the global mean radiative forcing by about 3 W $m^{-2}$. Two numerical experiments were simulated. The first experiment features the Pinatubo eruption and the second experiment simulates the much larger volcanic eruption that occurred in 1259 when the radiative forcing was reduced by 7 times compared to the Pinatubo event. With the reduced radiative forcing due to the Pinatubo eruption at about 3 W $m^{-2}$ and 1259 eruption at about 21 W $m^{-2}$, the global mean sea surface temperature (SST) decreased to its lowest in the second year after each event by about $0.4^{\circ}C$ and $1.6^{\circ}C$, respectively. Sea surface salinity (SSS) increased substantially in the northern North Pacific, northern North Atlantic, and the Southern Ocean. The reduced SST together with SSS increased ocean convection, which yielded an increase in North Atlantic Deep Water, Antarctic Bottom Water, and North Pacific Intermediate Water production and their outflows. The increase in overturning circulation eventually increased the pole-ward ocean heat fluxes. In conclusion, huge volcanic eruptions perturb the ocean substantially and their hallmarks last for more than a decade, confirming the importance of volcanic eruptions in illustrating the decadal-climate variability recorded in the paleoclimate proxy data for the past million years.

Assessment of Ocean Surface Current Forecasts from High Resolution Global Seasonal Forecast System version 5 (고해상도 기후예측시스템의 표층해류 예측성능 평가)

  • Lee, Hyomee;Chang, Pil-Hun;Kang, KiRyong;Kang, Hyun-Suk;Kim, Yoonjae
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.40 no.3
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    • pp.99-114
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    • 2018
  • In the present study, we assess the GloSea5 (Global Seasonal Forecasting System version 5) near-surface ocean current forecasts using globally observed surface drifter dataset. Annual mean surface current fields at 0-day forecast lead time are quite consistent with drifter-derived velocity fields, and low values of root mean square (RMS) errors distributes in global oceans, except for regions of high variability, such as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, Kuroshio, and Gulf Stream. Moreover a comparison with the global high-resolution forecasting system, HYCOM (Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model), signifies that GloSea5 performs well in terms of short-range surface-current forecasts. Predictions from 0-day to 4-week lead time are also validated for the global ocean and regions covering the main ocean basins. In general, the Indian Ocean and tropical regions yield relatively high RMS errors against all forecast lead times, whilst the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans show low values. RMS errors against forecast lead time ranging from 0-day to 4-week reveal the largest increase rate between 0-day and 1-week lead time in all regions. Correlation against forecast lead time also reveals similar results. In addition, a strong westward bias of about $0.2m\;s^{-1}$ is found along the Equator in the western Pacific on the initial forecast day, and it extends toward the Equator of the eastern Pacific as the lead time increases.

Cloning, Expression, and Characterization of a Cold-Adapted Lipase Gene from an Antarctic Deep-Sea Psychrotrophic Bacterium, Psychrobacter sp. 7195

  • Zhang, Jinwei;Lin, Shu;Zeng, Runying
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.604-610
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    • 2007
  • A psychrotrophic strain 7195 showing extracellular lipolytic activity towards tributyrin was isolated from deep-sea sediment of Prydz Bay and identified as a Psychrobacter species. By screening a genomic DNA library of Psychrobacter sp. 7195, an open reading frame of 954 bp coding for a lipase gene, lipA1, was identified, cloned, and sequenced. The deduced LipA1 consisted of 317 amino acids with a molecular mass of 35,210 kDa. It had one consensus motif, G-N-S-M-G (GXSXG), containing the putative active-site serine, which was conserved in other cold-adapted lipolytic enzymes. The recombinant LipA1 was purified by column chromatography with DEAE Sepharose CL-4B, and Sephadex G-75, and preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, in sequence. The purified enzyme showed highest activity at $30^{\circ}C$, and was unstable at temperatures higher than $30^{\circ}C$, indicating that it was a typical cold-adapted enzyme. The optimal pH for activity was 9.0, and the enzyme was stable between pH 7.0-10.0 after 24h incubation at $4^{\circ}C$. The addition of $Ca^{2+}\;and\;Mg^{2+}$ enhanced the enzyme activity of LipA1, whereas the $Cd^{2+},\;Zn^{2+},\;CO^{2+},\;Fe^{3+},\;Hg^{2+},\;Fe^{2+},\;Rb^{2+}$, and EDTA strongly inhibited the activity. The LipA1 was activated by various detergents, such as Triton X-100, Tween 80, Tween 40, Span 60, Span 40, CHAPS, and SDS, and showed better resistance towards them. Substrate specificity analysis showed that there was a preference for trimyristin and p-nitrophenyl myristate $(C_{14}\;acyl\; groups)$.

Nest Distribution of Skuas on Barton and Weaver Peninsulas of the King George Island, the Antarctic (남극 킹조지 섬의 바톤 및 위버 반도에서 번식하는 도둑갈매기류의 둥지 분포)

  • Kim, Jeong-Hoon;Chung, Ho-Sung;Kim, Ji-Hee;Yoo, Jeong-Chil;Ahn, In-Young
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.27 no.4
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    • pp.443-450
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    • 2005
  • The ratio of breeding pairs of brown skuas (Catharacta lonnbergi), south polar skuas (C. maccormicki) and mixed species pairs between Barton and Weaver peninsulas remained the same $(X^2-test,\;X^2=0,503,\;df=2,\;p=0.778)$. The nests of skuas were clustered on Barton, whereas they were distributed randomly on the Weaver peninsula. The distance between brown skua nests, and that of mixed species pair nests were longer than those of south polar skua nests. Brown skua nests were distributed along the coast. Whereas, the nests of mixed species pairs and south polar skuas were found more frequently inland (Kruskal-Wallis, $X^2=11.631$, df=2, p<0.005). There was no interspecific difference in the distances between skua nests and Penguin rookery at Barton (Kruskal-Wallis, $X^2=2.153$, df=2, p=0.341) or at King Sejong Station (ANOVA, F=1.483, df=2, p=0.229). In general, skuas prefer lower locales (<125m above sea level) for their nest building sites. Brown skua nests were distributed mainly on the beach, whereas south polar skua were distributed on the predominant periglacial landforms and till areas $(X^2-test,\;X^2=24.988,\;df=8,\;p<0.005)$.

STUDIES ON THE UTILIZATION OF ANTARCTIC KRILL 3. Processing ad Quality Evaluation of Salted and Fermented Krill (남대양산 크릴의 이용에 관한 연구 3. 크릴젓의 제조와 그 품질 평가)

  • PARK Yeung-Ho;LEE Eung-Ho;LEE Kang-Ho;PYEUN Jae-Hyeung;OH Hoo-Kyu;BYUN Dae-Seok
    • Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.13 no.2
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    • pp.81-87
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    • 1980
  • As a part of the experiments on-the utilization of krill, Euphausia superba, general composition, pH, volatile basic nitrogen, amino-N, and free individual amino acid were analyzed for invertigating the processing condition and quality factors in the salted and fermented krill. The results ascertained were shown that the propel concentration of salt was $ 22-27\%$ and addition of $3.9-5.9\%$ of ethyl alchool contributed to improve flavor and appearance of the salted and fermented krill. The amino-N of the salted and fermented krill showed a rapid increase as much as 3.2 times that of fresh krill. Free amino acid composition, aspartic acid, leucine, tyrosine, isoleucine and glutamic acid which were poor in fresh frozen krill showed a fast increasing tendency, whereas glycine, proline, lysine, arginine and alanine which were abundant in fresh frozen krill showed a slow increasing tendency during the process of salted fermenting.

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