• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.635-646
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• 2004

Chronic outbreaks of green tide in the Nakdong estuary toll a heavy socioeconomic cost. The paper investigates the influence of sediments on the nitrogen eutrophication, being claimed as the primary cause of green tide. To measure the flux of nitrate at the sediments-water interface, sediment cores were taken in Jan., Mar., May and Sep., 2000 at Noksan located in the West-Nakdong river estuary. The dissolved oxygen was profiled and then the pore water was extracted in situ. Core samples were analyzed for their textural characteristics. Cores were incubated by a novel technique to measure the fluxes of nitrate $(NO_3^-)$ and ammonia $(NH_4^+)$ at the sediment-water interface. The dissolved oxygen was depleted usually within several millimeters in the top sediments. Nitrate started to decrease drastically at the layer where dissolved oxygen was nearly depleted. Nitrate was also exhausted within several centimeters, followed by ammonia build up rapidly. The flux at the sediments-water interface calculated from the pore water concentrations revealed that nitrate was removed from the water column into the sediments. The sediment incubation experiment confirmed the above result. On the other hand ammonia were released from the sediment to the water column. As the incubation went on, however, the nitrate concentration in the overlying water was dropped below that of a top sediment. Then the flux is reversed, i.e., nitrate was released from the sediments to the water column. The implication is that the sediment can supply nitrate to the water column if it falls below a certain level. Thus it is likely that sediments in the eutrophicated river buffers the nitrate concentration in the water column, which leads to a prolonged green tide.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 1999

Coastal sediments in polluted areas adsorb many hydrophobic pollutants such as PCBs. During environmental remediation projects like dredging, they can be resuspended and transported to less polluted areas. To assess the environmental impact, the author previously developed a mathematical model that can simulate the changes of particle size distribution (PSD) due to sedimentation, vortical dispersion and coagulation. In this research, the simulation results using this model were presented in conjunction with observed PSDs from a 2-m settling column simulating coastal environments. The simulations showed that the model predictions were in fairly good agreement with the observed data (changes of PSDs in terms of depths and times), and that the resuspended sediments coagulated during the vertical transport. So, this study showed that the developed model has a good ability to describe the very complicated phenomena of real aggregation and vortical transport dynamics of coastal sediments with various particle sizes.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.19 no.4 s.65
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• pp.42-48
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• 2005

The sediment of Shihwa Lake contains an abundant quantity of cohesive sediments. The transport processes of the cohesive sediments are complex and difficult to predict, quantitatively. The cohesive sediments are the primary reason for the pollution of the environment and water quality in the coastal region. In this study, a column test has been performed. In order to quantify the settling velocities of sediment from Shihwa Lake, an experiment was conducted using a specially designed 1.8m tall settling column. A series of settling tests and physico-chemical property tests on Shihwa Lake cohesive sediments has been conducted to investigate the correlation between settling properties and their physico-chemical properties, which are represented as grain size distribution, mineralogical composition, and percentage oj organic contents. Experimental results of physico-chemical property tests show that Shihwa Lake sediments are relatively large in average grain $size(74\mu m)$ contain very small organic $material(6\%)$, and are dominantly composed of Quarts, which has relatively low cohesion. Thus, Shihwa Lake sediments might be specified as those whose settling properties are more influenced by gravity than cohesion. It is concluded that the magnitude of settling velocities of muddy sediments can be quite different, regionally, and it implies that field or laboratory experiments for settling velocity measurement should be preceded over the numerical modeling of muddy sediment transport, in order to obtain the reliable prediction results for a given specific site.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.257-266
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• 2008

PAHs are of mainly anthropogenic origin from urban runoff, oil spill and combustion of fossil fuels. Some PAHs are potentially carcinogenic and mutagenic to aquatic organisms. This study was carried out to survey the contamination of PAHs in the column sediments around Gwangyang bay. Yeosu petrochemical industrial complex, POSCO(Pohang steel compony) and Gwangyang container harbor are located near the bay. The column sediments were collected at 4 stations(A, B, C and D) and fractionated at intervals of two-centimeter depth on July 29, 1999. PAHs in colmn sediment samples were extracted in soxhlet extractor and were identified and quantified by GC-MS. PAHs compounds were analyzed and found to be 13 species. Total PAHs concentrations in the column sediments ranged from 275.04 to 2,838.64${\mu}g/kg$ dry wt. Naphthalene had the highest concentration in the range of 40.60 to 2,294.06${\mu}g/kg$ dry wt. and Anthracene had the lowest concentration in the range of 2.63 to 11.30${\mu}g/kg$ dry wt. The correlation coefficients between individual PAHs and total PAHs in the column sediments were relatively higher in the low molecular compounds such as Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene and Phenanthrene. The relationship between the P/A(Phenanthrene/Anthracene)ratio and F/P(Fluoranthene/Pyrene)ratio showed that P/A ratio was generally above 10 and F/P ratio was above 1 in all sediment samples. These data indicate that PAHs in the column sediments around Gwangyang bay seem to be of both pyrolytic and petrogenic origin The values of PAHs in the column sediments were lower than the biological effect guidelines.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.593-600
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• 1999

In order to determine the changes of sediment facies and metal levels in surface sediments after the construction of Shiwha Lake, surface sediments were sampled at 8 sites located on the main channel monthly from June, 1995 to August, 1996 and analysed for 12 metals (Al, Fe, Mn, V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, As and Pb) by ICP/AES and ICP/MS. Two groups of sampling sites(the inner lake with 3 sites and the outer lake with 5 sites) are subdivided by the surface morphology ; the inner lake is a shallow channel area with a gentle slope, while the outer lake is relatively deep and wide channel with a steep slope which has many small distributaries. After the construction of dam, fine terrestrial materials were deposited near the outer lake, which resulted in the change of major sediment facies from sandy silt to mud. With the deposition of fine sediments in the outer lake, anoxic water column induced the formation of sulfide compounds with Cu, Cd, Zn and part of Pb. Metal (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn and Cd) contents in sediments increased up to twice within 2 years after the construction of dam. This is due to the direct input of industrial and municipal wastes into the lake and the accumulation of metals within the lake. In addition, frequent resuspension of contaminated sediments in a shallow part of the lake may make metal-enriched materials transport near the outer lake with fine terrestrial materials. As the enrichment of Cu, Zn, Cd and part of Pb in the Shiwha Lake may be related to the formation of unstable sulfide compounds by sulfate reduction in anoxic water or sediment column, the effect of mixing with open coastal seawater is discussed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.179-188
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to quantitatively estimate the settling and erosional properties for cohesive sediments in Shihwa lake. Settling tests are conducted by multi-depth method using a specially designed 1.8 m tall settling column, and erosion tests are conducted with annular flume under the uniform bed condition. As result of settling tests, it is confirmed that the settling velocity of the cohesive sediments has the range of $0.002 for suspended sediments concentration of 0.1$0.19{\sim}0.55N/m^{2}$ for bed shear stress of $1.14{\sim}1.32g/cm^{3}$, and the erosion rate coefficient decreases with logarithmic function in a range of $18.4{\sim}3.9mg/cm^{2}{\cdot}hr$ with increase of bed shear stress.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.120-129
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• 2012

We investigated seasonal variation of sediment-water oxygen and inorganic nitrogen fluxes, and denitrification at tidal flat sediments located in the Nakdong River Estuary from July 2005 to September 2006. Net oxygen fluxes, measured with sediment incubations at in situ temperature, varied from -37.0 to $0.5mmol\;O_2\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$. Oxygen fluxes into the sediments from the overlying water increased due to the increased water temperature. Denitrification rate ($4{\sim}2732{\mu}mol\;N\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$) in this study was higher compared to the other Korean coast measured with the same method. Denitrification showed the same seasonal variation as oxygen fluxes. Denitrification rate based on $^{15}N$-nitrate showed a strong correlation with nitrate flux into the sediments from the overlying water. Denitrification via "water column supplied nitrate ($D_w$)", calculated from Isotope pairing technique, also correlated well with nitrate flux into the sediments. Nitrate from water column seems to account for seasonal variation of denitrification in Nakdong River Estuary. To understand general patterns and trends of biogeochemical processes of sediments in the Nakdong River Estuary, we categorized biogeochemical fluxes measured in this study according to direction and sizes of fluxes. Type 1(high oxygen and inorganic nitrogen fluxes into the sediments and high denitrification) occurred in summer, whereas Type 2(low oxygen and inorganic nitrogen fluxes into the sediments and low denitrification) occurred in rest of the season. Intertidal flat sediments seem to react sensitively to influence of freshwater from the Nakdong River.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2001

Chemical speciation of five heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) has been analyzed from 37 surface and 2 core sediments of Kyeonggi Bay, using the modified sequential extraction method based on Tessier et at. (1979). The results show that heavy metals in the Kyeonggi Bay surface sediments are associated dominantly with the crystal lattice fraction. But in the polluted sediments of the Incheon North Harbor, the importance of the labile fractions increased while that of the lattice fraction decreased. In particular, the adsorbed and the easily reducible fractions showed a noticeable increase. In the core samples emerged a speciation pattern which differed significantly from that of the surface sediments. A sharp increase in the percentage of the reducible and organic/sulfide fractions and a decrease in the lattice fraction were observed. Throughout the vertical column, however, the metal contents in the lattice fraction showed stability while those of the labile fractions showed an upward increase. The strong association of heavy metals with the organic/sulfide fraction could be attributed in part to the sulfate reduction prevailing in the polluted harbor sediments.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.165-172
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• 2010

Treated sewage could enable growth by providing key nutrients or seeding the sediments with enterococci strains that can grow in the environment. This study is to test the hypothesis that the flux of bacteria into the water column is rate-limited by the transfer of bacteria across the sediment/water interface. Two conceptual models are derived for the transfer of bacteria to the water column from the sediment/water interface: convective diffusion of isolated bacteria and resuspension of particle-associated bacteria. The model predictions are directly tested together with field measurements of bacteria and sediment in an effluent-dominated stream where high concentrations of enterococci in this stream originate primarily from growth of the bacteria in stream sediments. The results reveal that high concentrations of enterococci in this stream are transported primarily by resuspension of particle-associated bacteria accumulated at the sediment/water interface, either in the form of bacterial aggregates or in the form of inorganic particles.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.447-457
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• 2003

In order to understand the distribution of changes of geochemical characteristics in surface sediments according to various environmental changes around the artificial Lake Shihwa, surface sediments were sampled at $13{\sim}15$ sites form 1997 to 1999 and analyzed by C/S analyzer, ICP/MS and AAS. The average $S/C_{org}$ ratio was 0.35 in the surface sediments, which is similar to 0.36, the characteristic ratio of marine sediments. Heavy metal contents and enrichment factors in the surface sediments tended to be decreasing from the head to the mouth of the Lake Shihwa. With the deposition of fine-grained sediments in the central part of lake, anoxic water column induced the sulfides compounds with Cu, Cd and Zn. Metals such as Al, Fe, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Cd except for Mn and Pb showed relatively high correlation coefficients among them. The contents of Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Cd in the surface sediments of the lake were two to five times higher than those in the lake before dike construction and also in outer part of the dike. These are mainly due to the Input of untreated industrial and municipal waste-waters into the lake, and the accumulation of heavy metals by limitation of physical mixing. Although metal contents of the surface sediments at the sites near the water-gate due to outer seawater inflow tended to be lower than those during the desalination, heavy metals were deposited in areas around the new industrial complex in the evidence of spatial distribution of heavy metals in the sediments. This is mainly due to the input of untreated waste-waters from tributaries.