• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.90-103
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• 2014

Distribution characteristics of water masses, dissolved inorganic and organic nutrients were investigated in the southern part of the East Sea of Korea in September, 2011. On the basis of the vertical profiles of temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen, water masses in the study area were divided into 4 major groups, such as WM (water mass)-I, WM-II, WM-III, WM-IV. Their characteristics were similar to Tsushima Surface Water (TSW), Tsushima Middle Water (TMW), North Korea Cold Water (NKCW) and East Sea Proper Water (ESPW), respectively. In the vertical profiles of dissolved nutrients, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) concentrations were highest in the WM-IV, followed by WM-III, WM-II, WM-I. On the contrary, distribution of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) were highest in the WM-I, followed by WM-II, WM-III, WM-IV. Although the DIN : DIP ratio in all of the water masses was similar to Redfield ratio(16), the DIN : DIP ratio in mixed layer was about 5.3, indicating that inorganic nitrogen is the limiting factor for the growth of phytoplankton. However, the DON proportion in dissolved total nitrogen (DTN) was about 70% in the mixed layer where inorganic nitrogen is limiting factor. Thus, enriched DON may play an important source of the nutrient for the growth of phytoplankon in the East Sea.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.42-51
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• 2016

We investigated the distribution of dissolved nutrients, phytoplankton community structure and utilization of nitrogen compounds by dominant species in the southwestern part of East Sea in September, 2014. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) were lower in the surface layer, and concentrations were increased with depth. Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic phosphorus were the opposite of dissolved inorganic nutrients. Although DIN DIP ratio in all of the water masses was higher than Redfield ratio (16), DIN : DIP ratio in mixed layer was about 2, indicating that inorganic nitrogen is the limiting factor for the growth of phytoplankton. In particular, DON proportion in dissolved total nitrogen was about 88 % in the mixed layer where inorganic nitrogen is limiting factor. The dominant species Chaeotceros debilis and Prorocentrum minimum were able to grow using DIN as well as DON such as urea and amino acids. Therefore, DON utilization of phytoplankton may play a role as a survival strategy in the DIN-limited conditions of East Sea.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.12 no.9
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• pp.957-966
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• 2003

Gunsan coastal area is one of region increasing pollution problems. To improve water quality, the reduction of these nutrients loads should be indispensible. In this study, the three-dimensional numerical hydrodynamic and ecosystem model were applied to analyze the processes affecting the eutrophication. In field survey, the average concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved inorganic phosphorus(DIP) at surface waters were found to be 0.43mg/$\ell$ and 0.03mg/$\ell$ respectively, which were exceeding second grade of water quality criteria. In hydrodynamic modelling, the comparison between the simulated and observed tidal ellipses showed fairly good agreement. The ecosystem model was calibrated with the observed data in study area. The simulated results of DIN were fairly good coincided with the observed values within relative error of 32.39%, correlation coefficient(r) of 0.99. In the case of DIP, the simulated results were fairly good coincided with the observed values within relative error of 24.26%, correlation coefficient(r) of 0.82. The simulations of DIN and DIP concentrations using ecosystem model were performed under the conditions of 20∼80% reductions for pollutant loading. At simulation results, concentration of DIN and DIP were reduced to 20∼80% and under 10% in case of the 80% reduction of pollutant loading, respectively.