• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.1069-1078
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• 2011

The environmental changes related to hypoxic water mass were investigated at Gamak bay in summer times, June, July and August 2006. The hypoxic water mass was found, in first, at the northern area of Gamak bay on 27 June. This water mass has been sustained until the end of August and disappear on 13 September. In Gamak bay, the hypoxic water mass was closely related to geography. During the formation of oxygen deficiency, changes in dissolved nutrients was studied and found that on surface layer and lower layer, DIN were 0.80 ${\mu}M$~19.8 ${\mu}M$(6.03 ${\mu}M$) and 1.13 ${\mu}M$～60.83 ${\mu}M$(10.66 ${\mu}M$), and DIP were 0.01 ${\mu}M$～0.92 ${\mu}M$(0.24 ${\mu}M$), and 0.01 ${\mu}M$～3.57 ${\mu}M$(0.49 ${\mu}M$), respectively, far higher distribution on lower layer of the water where hypoxic water mass was occurred. The configuration of phosphorus was analyzed to figure out the possibility of release of phosphorus from sediments. It was found that the Labile-Phosphorus, which is capable of easy move to water layer by following environmental change was found more than 70%. Therefore, in Gamak bay, it was found that the possibility of large amount of release of soluble P into the water, while hypoxic water mass was occurred in deep layer was higher. It is suggested that DIP in the northern sea of Gamak bay mainly sourced from the soluble P from lower layer of the waters where hypoxic water mass was created more than that from basin. However, existence form of phosphorus in sediments during normal times, not during creation of hypoxic water mass, needs further study.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.241-248
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• 2010

Hypoxic(oxygen-deficient) water masses are a key threat to the ecosystem of shallow marine coastal areas worldwide. The phenomena of hypoxia occurred at Gamak Bay, on the southeast coast of Korea, in late June 2007. In this paper, the physicochemical characteristics of seawater were surveyed for a period of hypoxic water mass disappearance. The hypoxic water mass was located between Sunso and the northwestern area of the inner bay. The dissolved oxygen(DO) concentrations of surface and bottom water were $1.3mgL^{-1}$ and less than $2mgL^{-1}$, respectively, in the hypoxic water masses, and $4.5{\sim}6.8mgL^{-1}$ and $3.8{\sim}6.0mgL^{-1}$ at the other oxygen-rich sample sites, respectively. Chlorophyll a concentrations were $4.9{\sim}25.3{\mu}gL^{-1}$ at the surface, $2.3{\sim}23.1{\mu}gL^{-1}$ in the middle, and $1.9{\sim}9.0{\mu}gL^{-1}$ at the bottom of the hypoxic water masses. When the hypoxic water mass appeared in Gamak Bay, it formed three different vertical types. The first type occurred throughout the water depth around Sunso. The second type developed from the bottom. The third type of hypoxic water mass was formed in the middle water layer when the inversion of water temperature occurred. The third type of phenomena appeared at only St. 9, St. 14 and St. 21 sites near the Hodo coast. Aquatic surface respiration of bottom-dwelling fishes such as the oriental goby(Acanthogobius flavimanus) was observed and many crustaceans were seen along the adjacent shore of the hypoxic water mass area. About 3,000 oriental gobies as well as many crustaceans died due to this event in Gamak Bay. The results of this study could provide fundamental data for the mechanism of hypoxic water masses in Gamak Bay.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.233-247
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• 2020

This study was carried out at 5 sites 11 times over two years to identify the variation of benthic environments and benthic polychaetous community and analyze the benthic healthiness in Dangdong Bay, a small semi-enclosed inner bay of Jinhae Bay. The temperature of bottom water showed the typical temporal fluctuation of a temperate zone and was in the range of 5.94 ~ 23.94℃. The salinity did not change significantly during the study period and was in the range of 32.93 ~ 35.72 psu. The concentration of dissolved oxygen of bottom water fluctuated a great deal and was in the range of 0.31 ~ 10.20 mg/L. The lowest DO value was recorded in July 2015, as 0.31±0.04 mg/L corresponding to the hypoxic water mass. The hypoxic water mass was formed continuously at some sites also in July and August 2016. The mean grain size was in the range of 7.57 ~ 9.81Ø and the average was 8.89±0.20Ø. The surface sediments were mainly composed of fine sediment (mud) above 85%. The mean of TOC was 3.09±0.22% and LOI was 13.30±0.47%, showing very high levels in Korean coastal waters. The concentration of AVS was in the range of 0.33 ~ 1.28 mgS/g-dry. The high values of organic contents and AVS indicated that there had been the serious organic enrichment in Dangdong Bay. The number of species and the density of the benthic polychaetous community in Dangdong Bay were in the range of 2 ~ 38 species and 2 ~ 2,185 ind./㎡ during the study period. The number of species and density were highly sustained in winter and spring, and then decreased gradually with the formation of a hypoxic water mass in summer, and the lowest number of species and density were recorded in autumn. In September and November 2015, the dead zone expanded to almost the whole study area. Dominant polychaetous species were Capitella capitata, Lumbrineris longifolia, Paraprionospio patiens and Sigambra tentaculata, each known as opportunistic species and potential organic pollutant indicator species. In particular, Paraprionospio patiens showed a very high population density of 2,019 ind./㎡ in December 2016. Polychaetous communities at each sampling time were classified into 4 temporal groups according to dominant species in each period by cluster analysis and nMDS. 'Period Group AI' was formed in winter and spring of 2015, dominated by Capitella capitata, 'Period AII' in summer dominated by Lumbrineris longifolia, 'Period B' in autumn with no fauna in the dead zone, and particularly 'Period C' in winter of 2016 dominated by Paraprionospio patiens. As a result of analysis of benthic healthiness, the study area was estimated to be in a Fair~Very Poor condition by AMBI and in a Poor~Very Poor condition by BPI during the study period. Both AMBI and BPI showed that the study area was in a Very Poor condition in September and November 2015, and when the dead zone occurred. In Dongdong Bay, the fact that the formation of a hypoxic water mass occurred in summer and a dead zone in autumn were confirmed. In addition, the dominance of opportunistic and organic pollutant indicator species was also observed clearly. The benthic healthiness indexes such as AMBI and BPI showed that organic enrichment was serious in Dangdong Bay.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.1089-1102
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• 2004

Seasonal variation of biogeochemical characteristics was determined in Lake Shihwa from October 2002 to August 2003. When the lake was artificially constructed for the freshwater reservoir in 1988, the development of the strong haline density stratification resulted in two-layered system in water column and hypoxic/anoxic environment prevailed in the bottom layer due to oxidation of accumulated organic matters in the lake. Recently, seawater flux to the lake through the sluice has been increased to improve water quality in the lake since 2000, but seasonal stratification and hypoxic bottom layer of the lake still developed in the summer due to the nature of artificially enclosed lake system. As the lake is still receiving tremendous amount of organic matters and other pollutants from neighboring streams during the rainy summer season, limited seawater flux sluicing into the lake may not be enough for the physical and biogeochemical mass balance especially in the summer. The excess of accumulated organic matters in the bottom layer apparently exhausted dissolved oxygen and affected biogeochemical distributions and processes of organic and inorganic compounds in the stratified two-layered environment in the summer. During the summer, ammonia and dissolved organic carbon remarkably increased in the bottom layer due to the hypoxic/anoxic condition in the bottom layer. Phosphate also increased as the result of benthic flux from the bottom sediment. Meanwhile, dissolved organic carbon showed the highest value at the upstream area and decreased along the salinity gradient in the lake. In addition to the sources from the upstream, autochthonous origin of particulate organic carbon from algal bloom in the lake might be more important for sustaining aggravated water quality and development of deteriorated bottom environment in the summer. The removal of trace metals could be attributed to scavenging by strong insoluble metal-sulfide compounds in the hypoxic/anoxic bottom layer in the summer.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.86-96
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• 1997

In order to investigate the formation of a shallow water front and its relation to water quality distributions, oceanographic measurements were made, and the numerical computations of the Simpson-Hunter stratification parameter log(H/U$^3$) were performed. It is shown from satellite image and hydrographic data that the shallow water front is formed near the northern Kaduk channel, and the stratification parameter log(H/U$^3$) near the front is in a range of 2.0-2.5. Measured COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) concentrations in offshore region of the front and in the western part of the bay are below 2.0 mg/1. whereas the concentrations in Masan Bay located in the northern inside of the frontal zone are high as 3.0-5.5 mg/1. COD concentrations decrease gradually from Masan Bay toward the offshore due to the dilution by strong water mixing. Anoxic and hypoxic water masses at the bottom layer in summcr occur in the western part of Chinhae Bay and in Masan Bay, and DO (Dissolved Oxygen) concentrations become low with increasing the stratification parameter. DO concentrations outside the front are more than about 4.0 mg/1, whereas the concentrations inside the front are low. The shallow water front plays a significant role for material transport from coastal area to oceanic area, and the frontal region seems to be important physical and chemical boundaries.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.708-720
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• 2021

As hypoxia adversely affects the marine environment in northwestern Gamak Bay every summer, the present study determined its comprehensive occurrence mechanisms using the Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) and suggested management directions based on the primary MRA factors. The first hypoxia occurred by thermocline related to weather conditions, with organic matter deposited inside the bay on 26^th June, 2017. Additionally, on 12^th July, halocline was also developed by increased rainfall, and the hypoxia was most expanded horizontally and vertically. The primary factors were the stratification and deposited organic matter. In contrast, the hypoxia correlated to phytoplankton growth and deposited organic matter on 8^th August was diminished with remarkably less precipitation. However, the stable halocline was caused by massive precipitation, and the reproduced phytoplankton re-generated the expanded hypoxia on 16^th August despite a short sampling interval. Subsequently, the hypoxia influenced by the deposited organic matter spread shallowly along the seafloor on 13^th September as the extinction period. These results suggest that stratification alleviation technologies, and the improvement and removal of the organic matter deposited on the surface sediment are necessary.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1005-1017
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• 2019

Environmental factors and changes in phytoplankton community structure before (August 5, 2017), during (August 18 and 25) and after (August 30 and September 15) freshwater input were analyzed to investigate the effects of freshwater input from Ganwol and Bunam lakes located in the upper part of Cheonsu Bay. Due to the large amount of freshwater input in the Cheonsu Bay, the surface salinity of the bay decreased by more than 8 psu, and the thermocline existing in the bay during August weakened. In addition, hypoxic phenomena occurred temporarily in the bay as the low oxygen water mass from the freshwater lakes flowed into the bay, and chemical oxygen demand, nutrients, and N/P increased with freshwater inflow. The density of phytoplankton during the freshwater inflow increased owing to their input from the freshwater lakes. Diatom species (Eucampia zodiacus) dominated the phytoplankton community in the bay before freshwater input; nanoflagellates, chlorophyta, cyanobacteria, and diatoms (Pseudonitzschia delicatissima, Chateocceros spp.) entered during freshwater input; and after freshwater inflow ended, diatoms (Chateocceros spp.) again became predominant indicating a return to previous conditions. The amount of phytoplankton standing crops increased sharply due to the inflow of freshwater species into the bay on the second day of discharge compared to before freshwater input; pre-discharge conditions were restored at most stations except at some sites close to the Bunam Lake three days after discharge. Therefore, the large amount of freshwater flowing into the bay affects not only the geochemical circulation in the bay but also the phytoplankton community structure. In particular, the high concentration of nutrients in the freshwater lake affect the marine ecosystem of the bay during August.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.553-562
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• 2017

In these days, agricultural reservoirs are considered as a useful resource for recreational purposes, tour and cultural amenity for vicinity communities as well as irrigation water supply. However, many of the agricultural reservoirs are showing a eutrophic or hyper-eutrophic state and high level of organic contamination. In particular, about 44.7% of the aged agricultural reservoirs that constructed before 1945 exceed the water quality criteria for irrigational water use. In addition to external loading, internal nutrient loading from bottom sediment may play an important role in the nutrient budget of the aged reservoirs. The objectives of this study were to characterize variations of thermal structure of a shallow M reservoir (mean depth 1.7 m) and examine the potential of internal nutrient loading by continuous monitoring of vertical water temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration profiles in 2015 and 2016. The effect of internal loading on the total loading of the reservoir was evaluated by mass balance analysis. Results showed that a weak thermal stratification and a strong DO stratification were developed in the shallow M Reservoir. And, dynamic temporal variation in DO was observed at the bottom of the reservoir. Persistent hypoxic conditions (DO concentrations less than 2 mg/L) were established for 87 days and 98 days in 2015 and 2016, respectively, during the no-rainy summer periods. The DO concentrations intermittently increased during several events of atmospheric temperature drop and rainfall. According to the mass balance analysis, the amount of internal $PO_4-P$ loading from sediment to the overlying water were 37.9% and 39.7% of total loading during no-rainy season in 2015 and 2016, respectively on August when algae growth is enhanced with increasing water temperature. Consequently, supply of DO to the lower layer of the reservoir could be effective countermeasure to reduce nutrient release under the condition of persistent DO depletion in the bottom of the reservoir.