• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.165-169
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• 1998

In August 1996, seawater salinity and nutrient distribution were investigated at surface waters in the South Sea of Korea. The low-salinity (< 20.00 psu) waters were observed in the western and southwestern offshore areas of Cheju Island. Relatively low saline (< 30.0 psu) waters occupied most of the survey areas only except in the eastern part. The observed minimum salinity was lower by 11.78 psu than that of the average between 1963 and 1995. The low saline waters appeared in the upper layer of generally 10-20 m deep, and were obriously distinguished from high-salinity (> 32.00 psu) waters, 30 m deep. The low saline waters may originate from the freshwater discharge of vast amount of from Yangtze River during the heavy rainfall season in China. Phosphate concentrations in the surface waters were relatively low and were less variable than those of nitrate and silicate. The maximum concentrations of nitrate and silicate occured in the western and southwestern offshore areas of Cheju Island, where the salinities were the lowest. The concentrations of nitrate and silicate were inversely correlated with salinity, whereas that of phosphate showed a considerable scatter and non-conservative behaviours. This indicates extensive desorption reactions of suspended materials releasing phosphate.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.155-168
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• 2011

Coastal boundary current flows along the eastern boundary of the Yellow Sea and its speed was about 0.l m/s during the summer 2007. In order to find major factors that affect the coastal boundary current in the eastern Yellow Sea, three-dimensional numerical model experiments were performed. The model simulation results were validated against hydrographic and current meter data in the eastern Yellow Sea. The eastern boundary current flows along the bottom front over the upper part of slopping bottom. Strength and position of the current were affected by tides, winds, local river discharge, and solar radiation. Tidal stirring and surface wind mixing were major factors that control the summertime boundary currents along the bottom front. Tidal stirring was essential to generate the bottom temperature front and boundary current. Wind mixing made the boundary current wider and augmented its north-ward transport. Buoyancy forcing from the freshwater input and solar radiation also affected the boundary current but their contributions were minor. Strong (weak) tidal mixing during spring (neap) tides made the northward transport larger (smaller) in the numerical simulations. But offshore position of the eastern boundary current's major axis was not apparently changed by the spring-neap cycle in the mid-eastern Yellow Sea due to strong summer stratification. The mean position of coastal boundary current varied due to variations in the level of wind mixing.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.2 s.112
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• pp.160-180
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• 2005

Long-term data (Ministry of Environment Water Quality Monitoring data) of phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll a) and water quality were analyzed to investigate trends in biomass of the primary producers and water quality for the estuarine systems in Korea: Sumjin River, Han River, Asan Lake- Bay, Youngsan River, Keum River and Nakdong River. The literatures were also reviewed to examine the characteristics of phytoplankton biomass and water quality in the estuarine systems. The Sumjin River estuary, the single estuary without a dike in Korea showed the characteristics similar to other typical estuarine systems. Phytoplankton biomass was high during the fall at transitional regions (5 ${\sim}$ 15 psu) after riverine freshwater inputs were increased in summer. Concentrations of the nitrate and silicate were increased with the high river discharge rates. Phytoplankton biomass and nutrient concentrations were high during spring at the lower regions in the Han River whereas phytoplankton biomass and nutrient concentrations were high during spring at the upper regions in the Youngsan River. Phytoplankton biomass was the highest in the Asan Lake and nutrient concentrations were high at the upper region of the lake. In Nakdong River, phytoplankton biomass was high during winter and the biomass was slightly higher at upper region than at lower region. Long-term trends showed that total nitrogen and total phosphorus were mostly increased in the river systems. Implications of these results relevant to the water quality management for the river systems were also discussed.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.353-367
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• 2015

The goal of this study is to analyze the feedback structure of habitat changes of the Whooper Swan in Eulsukdo using system thinking to suggest a management plan for ecosystem health. Using the causal loop diagrams of population changes between Whooper Swan and other bird species in Eulsukdo, we found that the environmental changes in the roosting and foraging area affect the Whooper Swan's population. The causal loop diagrams of the Whooper Swan's roosting area indicated that the environmental changes (e.g., water level, noise, bird watching, and other experience activities) may influence their population density variation. In addition, the casual loop diagrams of the Whooper Swan's foraging area showed that the Whooper Swan's population was affected by various variables that included area factors such as surface area of freshwater, frozen water, salinity, and density of Scirpus planiculmis. Furthermore, through the integrated causal loop diagram, cumulative discharge of Nakdong estuary weir and building activities were identified as the variables that affect the population of the Whooper Swan. Thus, we selected this area as the strategic point to establish a management plan for the Whooper Swan's habitat. The results of this study will help in decision making of a long-term management plan for sustaining the environmental health of the ecosystem in Eulsukdo.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.67-77
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• 2006

Sedimentological investigations on surface and suspended sediments were performed in Masan Bay of the South Sea in order to reveal recent changes in depositional environments concerning anthropogenic influence. Surface sediments had been classified as 3 sediment facies: mud, slightly gravelly mud, and gravelly mud. In general, mud facies with more than 60% of silt is predominant and slightly gravelly mud facies occurs at the watercourse of bay's central area. The silt-dominant mud faices appears to be predominant before and after dredging. Temperature and salinity changes during one tidal cycle for each season suggest that water columns were stratified without vertical mixing regardless of the season due to weak intensity of tide from the effect of geographical features. The effect of freshwater discharge from the land seems to be insignificant. The strongest current was observed during ebb tide in spring and autumn while observed during flood tide in summer and winter. Net sediment flux (fs) and net suspended sediment transport (Qs) for suspended sediment were determined by remaining drift developed here. Net suspended sediment transport loads were seaward with $62.02{\times}10^3kgm^{-1}$, $31.84{\times}10^3kgm^{-1}$ in spring and fall, respectively, and landward with $18.23{\times}10^3kgm^{-1}$, $3.22{\times}10^3kgm^{-1}$ in summer and winter, respectively.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2017

This study was conducted to investigate the nutrient distribution and controlling factors in small stream estuaries. The seasonal variations of nutrient concentration (nitrate, ammonium and phosphate) were observed from 2010 to 2012 in the three streams located in Dang-hang (closed estuary: Go-seong, open estuary: Gu-man and Ma-am). The nutrient concentrations in Go-seong were significantly higher than other estuaries, because Go-seong is relatively large and has large nutrient load from the watershed. The dyke located at the estuary, also, caused the high nutrient concentration by reducing the dilution and increasing residence time. In all three streams, nitrate concentration was high at upstream and decreased toward the downstream, because high load of nutrient input were located at upstream. Dilution and biogeochemical removal toward the downstream also caused the trends. Especially, denitrification, a typical nitrogen removing process showed clear tendency of gradual decreasing from upstream to downstream. However, Ammonium and phosphate concentrations were high at upstream and decreased toward the downstream only when the nutrient loads from the rivers were high. Nutrient concentrations were low in summer and high in winter. Freshwater discharge in summer caused a decrease of the residence time and increase of the transport of nutrients to downstream and reduced the nutrient concentrations in the estuary. Nutrient removal by the biological production during high temperature periods also affected the low nutrient concentrations. Small stream estuaries showed distinct nutrient dynamics. It is necessary to understand these characteristics in order to properly manage the small stream estuary.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.99-106
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• 2020

To investigate effect of variation in physiochemical conditions due to river discharge on phytoplankton, field surveys were conducted in the Seomjin and Yeongsan River estuaries from April to November 2016. The concentrations of DIN and DSi in Seomjin River estuary were gradually low as distance from upstream. On the other hands, the concentrations of DIN and DSi in Yeongsan River estuary were critically high at upstream, due to which is characterized as semi-enclosed eutrophic area. A total of 12 phytoplankton pigments were analyzed, and the distribution of each taxa was investigated using indicator for each phytoplankton taxa. Fucoxanthin, an indicator pigment of diatoms, showed an average of 0.61±1.00 ㎍ l^-1 and 0.76±1.22 ㎍ l^-1 in the Seomjin and Yeongsan River estuaries, respectively. Concentration of fucoxanthin was more than twice that of other pigments except chlorophyll a., indicating that diatoms were dominant taxa. Peridinin, an indicator pigment of dinoflagellate, showed some similar tendency to the microscopic observation, but mismatch results were also present, indicating a technical limitation of pigment analysis. Chlorophyll b, alloxanthin, and zeaxanthin, which are indicator pigments of green algae, cryptomonads, and cyanobacteria, were detected in both estuaries even though those taxa were not detected in microscopic observation. This indicates that the two estuaries were affected by freshwater species. Here, we can suggest that phytoplankton composition in estuary was directly influenced by the inflow from upstream. In particular, the phytoplankton population dynamics in Yeongsan River estuary was greatly associated with a large-scale artificial dyke, especially in summer rainy season. On the other hands, the seasonal and horizontal distribution of phytoplankton in Seomjin River estuary has changed along the salinity gradients and inflow-related changes.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.17-32
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• 2022

The buffer capacity of southern Korean waters in summer was quantified using data set of temperature, salinity, dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity obtained from August 2020 cruise. The geographical distribution and variability of six buffer factors, which amended the existing Revelle factor, are discussed their relationship with the hydrological parameters of temperature and salinity. The calculated results of six buffer factors showed the spatial variations according to the distributions of various water masses. The buffer capacity was low in the East Sea Surface Mixed Water (ESMW) and South Sea Surface Mixed Water (SSMW) where upwelling occurred, and showed an intermediate value in the Yellow Sea Surface Water (YSSW). In addition, the buffer capacity increased in the order of high temperature Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) and Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW). This means that the Changjiang discharge water in summer strengthens the buffer capacity of the study area. The highest buffer capacity of CDW is due to its relatively higher temperature and biological productivity, and a summer stratification. Temperature showed a good positive correlation (R²=0.79) with buffer capacity in all water masses, whereas salinity exhibited a poor negative correlation (R²=0.30). High temperature strengthens buffer capacity through thermodynamic processes such as gas exchange and distribution of carbonate system species. In the case of salinity, the relationship with buffer capacity is reversed because salinity of the study area is not controlled by precipitation or evaporation but by a local freshwater input and mixing with upwelled water.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.383-392
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• 2022

The restoration of the Nakdong River estuary is one of the most important projects of the Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea. A real-scale experiment of gate operation was executed from 2019 to 2020, and a pilot operation was performed in 2021. The gate of Nakdong River Estuary Barrier (NEB) is supposed to be continuously opened based on the experiment results. Many critical decisions should be made immediately during the experiment based on the real-time measured data and numerical analysis considering the seawater inflows. The decision-making sequence was made systematically with the accurate estimation of seawater inflow. The estimation of seawater inflow is the main research objective and the equations of seawater inflow were developed, reflecting the structural characteristics of NEB. The inflow equations were developed in two forms, overflow and underflow. ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) was used to measure seawater inflow, check the accuracy of the developed equations, and derive the flow coefficient. The comparison error of the developed equations was about 3% compared to the measured data.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.357-368
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• 2003

Time-series CTDT (Conductivity/Temperature/Depth/Transmissivity) were obtained at one point near tidewater glacier of Marian Cove (King George Islands, Antarctica) to present water column properties and SPM (suspended particulate matter) dispersal pattern in relation with tide, current, meteorological data, and SPM concentration. Four layers were divided from the water column characteristics measured in the interval of an hour for about 2 days: 1) cold, fresh, and turbid surface mixed layer between 0-20 m in water depth, 2) warm, saline, and relatively clean Maxwell Bay inflow between 20-40 m in water depth, 3) turbid/cold tongue of subglacial discharges compared with the ambient waters between 40-70 m in water depth, and 4) cold, saline, and clean bottom water beneath 70 m in water depth. Surface plume, turbid freshwater at coastal/cliff area in late summer (early February), had the characteristic temperature and SPM concentration according to morphology, glacial condition, and composition of sediments. The restrict dispersion only over the input source of meltwater discharges was due to calm wether condition. Due to strong wind-induced surface turbulence, fresh and turbid surface plume, englacial upwelling cold water, glacier-contact meltwater, and Maxwell Bay inflow was mixing at ice-proximal zone and the consequent mixed layer deepened at the surface. Large amount of precipitation, the major controlling factor for increasing short-term glacial discharges, was accompanied by the apparent development of subglacial discharge that resulted in the rapid drop of salinity below the mid depth. Although amount of subglacial discharge and englacial upwelling may be large, however, their low SPM concentration would have small influence on bottom deposition of terrigenous sediments.