• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.171-180
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• 2009

Based on the constituent analysis of sediments near Dok Island, the origin and sedimentary facies were Investigated. The sediments are mainly from originated from volcanic and volcaniclastic rock fragments derived from Dok Island and carbonate sediments formed by a variety of shallow-dwelling organisms that secreted calcareous skeletons. Carbonate producers include mollusks (bivalves and gastropods), encrusting & branching bryozoans, encrusting & segmented red algae, worm tubes, barnacles, diatoms, sponge spicules and echinoderm fragments. The distribution and relative amount of these constituents are basically dependent upon water depth and grain size even though local variations can be observed within the same depth interval. Five sedimentary facies can be divided: nearshore facies (<20 m), neritic facies ($20{\sim}100m$), upper transitional facies ($100{\sim}200m$), lower transitional facies ($200{\sim}700m$), and hemipelagic facies (>700 m). The sediments that were sampled below the water depth of 2,000 m still contain a significant amount of carbonates (ca. $10{\sim}20%$), implying that the carbonate compensation depth in the East Sea may well exceed this water depth.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.257-267
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• 2003

Deep-sea bottom photographs acquired in the Clarion-Clipperton fracture zone of the northeast equatorial Pacific were analyzed to reveal the controlling processes for the spatial variation of manganese nodule. The results show that regional-scale occurrence variations of manganese nodule are mainly controlled by primary productivity of surface water, sedimentation rate, and water depth (or carbonate compensation depth). As a result, the diagenetic accretion on nodules increases toward southwest while hydrogenetic accretion increases toward northeast. Considering the northwestward movement of Pacific Plate, this regional-scale variation of manganese nodule occurrence seems to be affected by oceanic environment during the active growth period (Oligocene-Miocene) of Pacific Plate.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.210-221
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• 2008

The mesoscale environmental surveys were conducted between $5^{\circ}N\;and\;17^{\circ}N$ mainly along the $131.5^{\circ}W$ meridian from 1997 to 2002 to investigate controlling factors of carbon and nitrogen contents in bottom sediments. Sediments of the study area showed zonal distribution pattern depending on latitudinal position and can be classified into four types; calcareous ooze($5{\sim}6^{\circ}N$), siliceous sediments($8{\sim}12^{\circ}N$), pelagic red clay($16{\sim}17^{\circ}N$), and mixed sediments($7^{\circ}N$). Inorganic carbon(IC) contents varied depending on water depth and carbonate compensation depth(CCD). Carbonate materials were well preserved in the low latitude region, where water depths are shallower than CCD. In contrast, the higher latitude region dominated by siliceous sediment and pelagic red clays has low productivity in water column as well as the water depths deeper than CCD. Thus, most of carbonate materials were dissolved, which resulted in IC contents of less than 0.05% in the sediments. Organic carbon(OC) and total nitrogen contents(TN) in siliceous sediments were higher than in pelagic red clay sediments simply because of higher primary productivity in the siliceous sediment dominated area. The contents of OC and TN were lower in the calcareous ooze than in the siliceous sediments. It is attributed to the high input of calcareous material to the bottom due to relatively shallow water depth of the area, which diluted organic matter contents in the sediment. Overall results indicated that water depth relative to CCD, primary production in water column, and sedimentation rate largely controls the large-scale distribution of carbon and nitrogen contents in the study area.

• Atmosphere
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.379-386
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• 2010

Impact of global warming on the ocean environment is reviewed based on most recently published publications. The most significant impact of global warming on marine environment is due to the melting of mountain and continental glaciers. Ice melting causes slow down and/or shut down of thermohaline circulation, and makes hypoxic environment for the first time, then makes anoxic with time. This can cause decreasing biodiversity, and finally makes global extinction of animals and plants. Furthermore, global warming causes sea-level rise, soil erosion and changes in calcium carbonate compensation depth (CCD). These changes also can make marine ecosystem unstable. If we emit carbon dioxide at a current rate, the global mean temperature will rise at least $6^{\circ}C$ at the end of this century, as predicted by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). In this case, the ocean waters become acidic and anoxic, and the thermohaline circulation will be halted, and marine ecosystems collapsed.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.320-334
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• 2000

Deep-sea surface sediment were analyzed for their geotechnical properties, and the sediment samples were collected with a multiple-corer from 31 stations along the track line (131$^{\circ}$30'W, 5-12$^{\circ}$N) in the northeast equatorial Paciflc. Most of the sediments from the northern part (8-12$^{\circ}$N) showed typical properties of siliceous sediments, whereas the southern part (5-6$^{\circ}$N) showed calcareous characteristics due to high biogenic carbonate productivity in the surface waters, where its water depth was shallower than the carbonate compensation depth (CCD: 4,400 m). Geotechnical properties changed sharply at the boundary of 7$^{\circ}$N. Calcareous sediments from the southern part had low water contents, low porosity, low shear strength, high bulk density and high specific grain density, whereas siliceous sediments from the northern part attained high water content, high porosity, high shear strength, low bulk density and low specific grain density. Higher sediment activities were observed in the northern sediment samples than the southern sediment samples. The core samples of the northern sediments were divided into a semi-liquid upper layer and a consolidated lower layer with a boundary at 5-8 cm. These sediment samples showed a rapid increasing pattern along the downcore in original shear strength when an opposite trend was observed in the southern samples. The results showed that sediment variabilities in geotechnical properties between the northern and southern parts such as productivities of surface water, grain solubility due to water depth variation, sedimentation rate, erosion and redistribution of sediment, and combined sedimentary processes were distinctly different along the latitude.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.39 no.6 s.181
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• pp.739-752
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• 2006

Deep-sea surface sediments acquired by multiple corer from 69 stations in the Clarion-Clipperton fracture zone of the northeast equatorial Pacific, were examined to understand the correlation of mass physical properties and sedimen-tological processes. The seabed of the middle part ($8-12^{\circ}N$) of the study area is mainly covered by biogenic siliceous sediment compared with pelagic red clays in the northern part ($16-17^{\circ}N$). In the southern part ($5-6^{\circ}N$), water depth is shallower than carbonate compensation depth (CCD). The mass physical properties such as grain size distribution, mean grain size, water content, specific grain density, wet bulk density, void ratio, and porosity of sediments are distinctly different among the three parts of the study area. Surface sediments in northern part are characterized by fine grain size and low water contents possibly due to low primary productivity and high detrital input. Conversely, sediments in the middle part are characterized by coarse grain size and high water contents, which might be caused by high surface productivity and deeper depth than CCD. The sediments show low water contents and high density in the southern part, which can be explained by shallower depth than CCD. Our results suggest that the variations in mass physical properties of sediments are influenced by combined effects including biogenic primary productivity of surface water, water depth, especially with respect to CCD, sedimentation rate, detrital input, and the geochemistry of the bottom water (for example, formation of authigenic clay minerals and dissolution of biogenic grains).