• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.680-687
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• 1999

To understand the role of shelf sediment in phosphorus biogeochemical cycle, we carried out sequential sediment extraction (SEDEX) of P and porewater analysis on 14 core samples collected in the South Sea of Korea, SEDEX classified P-pools into 5 phases and results are grouped into two categories: reactive P (loosely sorbed-P and Fe bound-P) and refractory P (detrital inorganic-p, authigenic mineral-P and organic-P). Total P concentrations are decreased with sediment depth in all samples as a result of dissolution to porewater. Reactive P comprises about $20\~50\%$ of total P, and iron bound-P is the major form consisting $70\~80\%$ of reactive P-pool. Iron bound-P decreases sharply with depth. Depth profiles of dissolved P concentration in porewater show mirror image of iron bound-P, revealing the role of FeOOH as a regulator of reactive P supply to overlying water column. Authigenic mineral-P consists less than $5\%$ of total P, thus removal of reactive P by converting into refractory P seems inefficient in shelf sediment. This implies that continental shelf sediment sequesters P temporarily rather than permanently. Results show local variation. Nakdong estuary receiving large amount of terrigenous input shows the highest concentration of total P and reactive P. Here iron oxyhydroxides at the surface sediment control the water column flux of P from sediment. Although total P content at the surface is comparable (500$\~$600 ${\mu}g{\cdot}g^{-1}$) between the South Sea and East China Sea, the former contains more iron bound-P and less derital inorganic-P than the latter. Reasons for the difference seem due in part to particle texture, and to biological productivity which depends roughly on the distance from land.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.483-494
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• 2019

From the cosmopolitan superiority of the as the first world map completed in 1402 with surprisingly detailed images and contents on the Africa Continent it is reasonable to think that the Koreans in early fifteen century were already with highly up-to-date perspectives on the universe and world history and cultures. However, some 490 year later the first phytohydrographic plankton investigation in the neritic seas of Korea was performed by a Japanese company with sampling points covering from Tokyo Bay through Jeju neritic waters to Shanghai estuary, which was in turn preceded by the first oceanographic investigation other than the simple mapping Koreans seas by using two French sailboats. The first phytohydrographic plankton investigation in Korean seas were behind the world first oceanic plankton exploration, the German Plankton Expedition, by 25 years. Starting from the oceanographic investigation including phytohydrographic samplings in the whole Yellow Sea in 1915 the full-scale phytohydrographic plankton studies were tried in Korean seas which is well represented by the 1921 oceanographic investigation on the whole East Sea with 80 sampling stations. In 1932 two separate oceanographic investigations followed, one in the East Sea where 78 stations from Busan to southern Sakhalin Island were simultaneously visited by 50 research vessels for the physical, chemical, and biological oceanographic studies, and the other one in southern coast and western East Sea of Korea where ocean current observation as well as plankton sampling were made in 120 stations to understand the relationship between the ocean current and plankton distribution in the region. In 1933-1934 more intensified investigations on phytohydrography were carried out particularly in the East Sea as an integral part of the basic marine ecosystem studies for the Myeong-Tae (Alaska Pollock) resources estimation. Scientists' attitude for the marine investigation and research activities seemed to be almost unchanging even to the year 1943, which could be reflected by the fact that publication of the results from the investigations performed in 1945 were finally done in 1967 at Tokyo. Some 70 years later from the mid-twenty century we might be standing on the turning-point of "need to be prepared" for the new era of changing paradigm by reviewing, archiving, and analyzing the prior information big data from the previous ocean observation and biohydrographic investigations. At the same time each professional societies for the above mentioned sciences might trigger a continuous project to reorganize and update the records on related bibliography and its history every 30 years.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.37-48
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• 2021

A new high speed rotation type-passive sampling device (HSR-PSD), which can rotate seawater at high speed and absorb easily and quickly the freely dissolved hydrophobic organic contaminants from seawater, was developed and then applied around the Korean Peninsula. Freely dissolved concentrations (Cfree) of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined using the HSR-PSD with low density polyethylene (LDPE) sheets as a passive sampler. Furthermore, dissolved concentrations (Cdissolved) of PAHs in seawater were also obtained from high volume water sampling as a conventional method to account for actual bioavailability. When the LDPE sheets were rotated in the HSR-PSD at 900 rpm, PAHs with log KOW 3.4 ~ 5.2 were equilibrated between the LDPE and water in 5 hours. Although the high molecular weight PAHs with log KOW 5.6 ~ 6.8 was expected to be 2 to 30 days to reach the equilibrium, the Cfree of the PAHs at equilibrium could be corrected using performance reference compounds in 5 hours. Meanwhile, the total Cfree of PAHs were from 0.32 to 1.2 ng/L, which were higher than reported values in other oceans, but lower than in coastal water such as estuary, harbor, or shore. A bioavailability from the detected PAHs was highest at the sampling line near the dumping site of the Yellow Sea. Predicted residual concentrations in biota were relatively higher in offshore including the dumping site than in coastal regions.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.87-102
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• 2022

To clarify the spatial distribution pattern of macrozoobenthos in Korean coastal waters in the summer season and investigate the relationship between community structure and benthic environmental factors, field surveys on community structure and benthic environmental factors were conducted at 117 stations in August 2017. A total of 613 macrobenthic species were identified, with the mean density of 1,228 ind./m² and the mean biomass (wet weight) of 110.9 g WW/m². Rich biodiversity was found at stations near Wando and along the coast of the East Sea, and there is a trend that stations with greater biodiversity also showed higher mean density as well. The dominant species in all the coastal areas in Korea was Heteromastus filiformis, which were found at most of the stations during the survey. The relatively deep areas in the East Sea were dominated by Magelona johnsoni and Maldane cristata, which were the third and ninth dominant species in the study areas, respectively. Pseudopolydora kempi and Rhynchospio sp. were observed only at the station located in the Nakdong River estuary. From the cluster analysis the stations could be clustered into three station groups with more similar faunal composition. Group A was located in the eastern coast, characterized with deep water depth and low levels of sand contents, while Group B was located in the southern coast, characterized by shallow depth of water and high content of mud and organic matter. Lastly, Group C was in the western coast, demonstrating low levels of mud content and organic matters. The biodiversity of macrobenthic species in the study area showed high positive correlation coefficients with benthic environmental factors such as sorting, clay, silt, and contents of organic matter in sediments, but negatively correlated with the sand contents. Major dominant species, Theora lata and Eriopisella sechellensis, both showed negative correlation coefficients with the sand contents, but a relatively high positive correlation with the levels of organic contents.It can be concluded that the spatial distribution patterns of macrobenthic organisms in Korean coastal waters are affected by depth, sediment type, and contents of organic matters.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.109-125
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• 2023

This study was conducted to select target fish species as baseline research for accumulation analysis of major hazardous chemicals entering the aquatic ecosystem in Korea and to analyze the impact on fish community. The test bed was selected from a sewage treatment plant, which could directly confirm the impact of the inflow of harmful chemicals, and the Geum River estuary where harmful chemicals introduced into the water system were concentrated. A multivariable metric model was developed to select target candidate fish species for hazardous chemical analysis. Details consisted of seven metrics: (1) commercially useful metric, (2) top-carnivorous species metric, (3) pollution fish indicator metric, (4) tolerance fish metric, (5) common abundant metric, (6) sampling availability (collectability) metric, and (7) widely distributed fish metric. Based on seven metric models for candidate fish species, eight species were selected as target candidates. The co-occurring dominant fish with target candidates was tolerant (50%), indicating that the highest abundance of tolerant species could be used as a water pollution indicator. A multi-metric fish-based model analysis for aquatic ecosystem health evaluation showed that the ecosystem health was diagnosed as "bad conditions". Physicochemical water quality variables also influenced fish feeding and tolerance guild in the testbed. Eight water quality parameters appeared high at the T1 site, indicating a large impact of discharging water from the sewage treatment plant. T2 site showed massive algal bloom, with chlorophyll concentration about 15 times higher compared to the reference site.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.671-687
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• 2022

It has been reported that about 47% of groundwater wells within 10 km from the coastline in the western/southern coastal areas of Korea were affected by seawater. It has been interpreted that the cause of groundwater salinization is seawater intrusion. The Gilsan stream in the Seocheon area was a tidal stream until the Geumgang estuary dam was constructed and operated. Therefore, it is likely that the Gilsan stream catchment was deposited with sediments containing high-saline formation water prior to the use of landfill farmland at this catchment area. The groundwater in this study area showed EC values ranging from 111 to 21,000 µS/cm, and the water quality types were diverse including Ca(or Na)-HCO₃, Ca(or Na)-HCO₃(Cl), Na-Cl(HCO₃), Na-Cl types. It is believed that this diversity of water quality is due to the mixing of seawater and fresh groundwater generated by infiltration of precipitation and surface water through soil and weathered part. In this study, we discussed whether this water quality diversity and the presence of saline groundwater are due to present seawater intrusion or to remnant high-saline pore water in sediments during flushing out process. For this, rain water, surface water, seawater, and groundwater were compared regarding the water quality characteristics, tritium content, oxygen/hydrogen stable isotopic composition, and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio. The oxygen/hydrogen stable isotopic compositions indicated that water composition of saline groundwaters with large EC values are composed of a mixture of those of fresh groundwater and surface water. Also, the young groundwater estimated by tritium content has generally higher NO₃ content. All these characteristics showed that fresh groundwater and surface water have continued to affect the high-saline groundwater quality in the study area. In addition, considering the deviation pattern in the diagrams of Na/Cl ratio versus Cl content and SAR (sodium adsorption ratio) versus Cl content, in which two end members of fresh surface-ground water and seawater are assumed, it is interpreted that the groundwater in the study area is not experiencing present seawater intrusion, but flush out and retreating from ancient saline formation water.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.450-462
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• 2023

This study suggested methodology of Citizen Science as a tool of ecosystem conservation and management to achieve Wetland Protected Area (WPA) Conservation Plan and examined whose applicability in 3 WPAs (Jangrok of Gwangju metropolitan city, Madongho of Goseong in South Gyeongsang Province, and Incheongang estuary of Gochang in North Jeolla Province). It consists of a) figuring out main interests and stakeholder or beneficiaries of WPA and their information demand based on conservation, utilization, and management target in the WPA Conservation Plan, b) conducting research activities to gain outcome to address stakeholder's demand, and c) returning the research outcome to citizen scientists and making diffusion to the society. Based on the suggested method and process, citizen scientists conducted ecosystem monitoring (plants including Invasive Alien Plants, terrestrial insects, traces of mammals, discovering unknown wetland). As a result, citizen scientists contributed to collecting species information of 16 plans, 43 species of terrestrial insects, 5 mammals including Lutra lutra (Endangered Species I) and Prionailurus bengalensis (Endangered Species II). The authors constructed and provided distribution map of Invasive Alien Plants, which included information of location and density which citizen scientists registered, for Environment Agencies and local governments who manage 3 WPAs to aid data-based ecosystem policy, In further studies, not only accumulating research data and outcomes acquired from citizen science to suffice the policy demands but also deliberate reviewing policy applicability and social·economic ripple effect should be processed for the suggested Citizen Science in WPA to be settled down as a tool of ecosystem conservation and management.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.56-66
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• 2008

Subtidal surface currents are derived from HF radar measurements in the Saemangeum coastal ocean of the Yellow sea in July 2002 and from September to November 2004. The surface current field is analyzed to examine the effect of wind, river plume and coastline change on the spatial distribution and temporal variation of the surface currents. In July 2002, average wind speed was 0.5 m/s and freshwater discharge from the Keum River was $0.88{\times}10^7\;ton/day$. Temporal mean currents ($\overline{U}$) flow to the northwest with speed of $7{\sim}10\;cm/s$ near the Keum River estuary, to the west as fast as 13 cm/s near the opening gap of the Saemangeum $4^{th}$ dyke, and to the northwest off the Gogunsan-archipelago. This flow pattern is a result of the Keum River plume dispersal and tide-residual currents from the opening gap of the Saemangeum $4^{th}$ dyke. Time series of spatially-averaged current (<$U-\overline{U}$>) direction is highly (r=0.98) correlated with wind direction. From September to November 2004, the opening gap of the Saemangeum $4^{th}$ dyke was closed, northwesterly wind blew with speed of 2.5 m/s on average and the Keum River discharge was $1.19{\times}10^7\;ton/day$. Temporal mean current field ($\overline{U}$) has weak surface flow in most of the coastal ocean and relatively strong currents flow to the southwest with speed of 10 cm/s along the shape coastline of the Gogunsan-archipelago and the Saemangeum $4^{th}$ dyke. The strong flow is generated by the prevailing northwesterly wind which pushes the Keum River plume toward the Saemangeum $4^{th}$ dyke. The residual currents from the opening gap of the Saemangeum $4^{th}$ dyke disappeared and correlation coefficient between time series of spatially-averaged current () direction and the wind direction is 0.69.