• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.13-23
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• 2000

The distributions of dissolved inorganic nutrient contents were investigated along transection line J (30° N) in the eastern East China Sea in December 1993 and August 1994, respectively. The concentrations of nitrate and silicate in the Kuroshio Surface Water (KSW) with high temperature and high salinity were low below 2μM and 5μM, respectively. However, these were increased sharply with depth and ranged from 20 to 40, 45 to 100μM, respectively, in the Kuroshio Intermediate Water (KIW). The relationship between temperature and nutrients suggests that Kuroshio Intermediate Water with rich nutrients were intruded into the bottom water of the outer continental shelf in the East China Sea. The bottom water of the outer continental shelf was made of two end-members mixing; nutrient depleted warm water and nutrient enriched cold water. Based on temperature, salinity and silicate concentration, the nutrients in the bottom water of the outer continental shelf suggusted to be supplied through the vertical mixing of Kuroshio subsurface water in the depth range of 100～400m. Upwelled nutrient rich water appears to be a important source of nutrients for primary production in the continental shelf area of the East China Sea.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.143-150
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• 2000

Assuming that summer surface waters in the South Sea (northern East China Sea) are formed mostly by a mixing of three source water (Changjiang Discharge Water; Kuroshio Water and Yellow Sea Surface Water) we apply optimum multiparameter (OMP) analysis to calculate the mixing ratio of each source water to a given surface water. Since OMP requires more parameters than the number of water types (three in this study), we utilize two radium isotopes of dissolved $^{226}Ra\;and\;^{228}Ra$ along with temperature and salinity. Parameter values of each source water are deduced from in situ and historical data. Results with three source of waters on the surface waters are quite promising with less than $1\%$ of unanswered portions. Results not only reproduce the measured temperature and salinity faithfully but also discern the water masses of similar T and S according to their source water mixing. Extending OMP analysis to a whole water column obviously requires more parameters because more source waters are involved in the water mass formation. Original OMP routine utilized dissolved oxygen and nutrients. However, they seem to be perturbed too much by biological activities in the case of shallow waters. We discussed the use of other potential parameters. Also the benefit of parameter substitution is briefly introduced for the future OMP application on shallow waters.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.395-405
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• 2006

We measured the fugacity of $CO_2$ $(fCO_2)$, temperature, salinity, nutrients and chlorophyll a in the surface water of the western North Pacific $(4^{\circ}30'{\sim}33^{\circ}10'N,\;144^{\circ}20'{\sim}127^{\circ}35'E)$ in September 2002. There were zonally several major currents which have characteristics of specific temperature and salinity (NECC, North Equatorial Counter Current; NEC, North Equatorial Current; Kuroshio etc.). Surface $fCO_2$ distribution was clearly distinguished into two groups, tropical and subtropical areas of which boundary was $20^{\circ}N$. In the tropical Int surface $fCO_2$ was mainly controlled by temperature, while in the subtropical area, surface $fCO_2$ was dependent on total inorganic carbon contents. Air-sea $CO_2$ flux showed a large spatial variation, with a range of $-0.69{\sim}0.79 mmole\;m^{-2}day^{-1}$. In the area of AE (Anticyclonic Eddy), SM(Southern Mixed region) and NM (Northern Mixed region), the ocean acted as a weak source of $CO_2$ $(0.6{\sim}0.79 mmole\; m^{-2}day^{-1})$. In NECC, NEC, Kuroshio and ECS (East China Sea), however, the fluxes were estimated to be $-0.3mmole\; m^{-2}day^{-1})$ for the first three regions and $-1.2mmole\; m^{-2}day^{-1})$ for ECS respectively, indicating that these areas acted as sinks of $CO_2$. The average air-sea flux in the entire study area was $0.15mmole\;m^{-2}day^{-1})$, implying that the western North Pacific was a weak source of $CO_2$ during the study period.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.1141-1151
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• 2020

The impact of sound speed variability in the sea is the very important on acoustic propagation for the underwater acoustic systems. Understanding of the temporal and spatial variability of ocean sound speed in the sea around the Ieodo were obtained using oceanographic data (temperature, salinity). from the Korea Oceanographic Data Center, collected by season for 17 years. The vertical distributions of sound speed are mainly related to seasonal variations and various current such as Chinese coastal water, Yellow Sea Cold Water (YSCW), Kuroshio source water. The standard deviations show that great variations of sound speed exist in the upper layer and observation station between 16 and 18. In order to quantitatively explain the reason for sound speed variations, Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis was performed on sound speed data at the Line 316 covering 68 cruises between 2002 and 2018. Three main modes of EOFs respectively revealed 55, 29, and 5% the total variance of sound speed. The first mode of the EOFs was associated with influence of surface heating. The second EOFs pattern shows that contributions of YSCW and surface heating. The first and second modes had seasonal and inter-annul variations.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.189-206
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• 2015

The present study was conducted to investigate the oceanic characteristics of the northern East China Sea through identification of long-term variation patterns of oceanic environment factors, for the objective of gaining understanding of oceanic environment characteristics of the northern waters of East China Sea, which closely influence the oceanic environments of waters nearby South Korea. The study methodology included the use of oceanographic data (water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and chlorophyll-a) on the northern East China Sea from the Korea Oceanographic Data Center (KODC), collected by season for 20 years between 1995 and 2014. Moreover, for the study on the distribution of nutrients, chlorophyll-a. The main water masses that affected the northern East China Sea during the study period were classified as Changjiang diluted water (CDW), Tiawan current warm water (TCWW), Yellow Sea cold water (YSCW), and Kuroshio source water (KW). The forces of CDW and TCWW that forms on the surface and sub-surface layers had weakened for 20 years and the force of KW that forms on the intermediate layer showed a distinctively decreasing trend. However, YSCW showed a trend of expanding its force. Phosphate and silicate exhibited a decreasing tendency and phosphate showed a pattern of being depleted on the surface layer after 2009. It is determined that one of the reasons for this is the concentration of nutrients introduced through CDW and TCWW being too low. The concentration of chlorophyll-a exhibited an increasing tendency during the study period, the reasons for which are determined to be the influences of increase in water temperature, supply of nutrients via YSCW, and increases in light transmission from decrease in suspended solid due to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.399-405
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• 1992

Using $MnO_2-coated$ fiber extraction and gamma counting techniques, we measured the distributions of $^{226}Ra$\;and\;^{228}Ra$ in the surface waters at 14 stations of East Sea of Korea in September, 1988. The concentrations of $^{226}Ra$\;and\;^{228}Ra$ in the surface waters ranged $70-110\;dpm/10^3l$ and 102=232 $dpm/10^3l$, respectively. In general, the concentrations of Ra isotopes were shown higher in the coastal and southern stations than those in the outer and northern stations in our observed area. Also, the concentrations of Ra isotopes in the study area were significantly higher than values in the other area of the East Sea and Kuroshio surface water, but much lower than the concentrations in the surface water of Yellow Sea reported previously. There was an inverse relationship between the $^{226}Ra/^{228}Ra$ ratio and salinity in the surface waters of Kuroshio, Yellow Sea and East Sea of Korea. This indicates that the continental shelf waters such as Yellow Sea and East China Sea are main source of Ra isotopes in surface waters of the East Sea of Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.133-142
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• 2009

In order to understand the present environmental condition and future impingement of Changjiang(Yangtze River) outflow upon the adjacent seas after the scheduled completion of the Sanxia (Three Gorges) Dam in 2009, we tried to estimate the mixing ratios among surface waters of three end-members: Changjiang Water (CW), Kuroshio Water (KW), and East China Sea Water (ECSW) using $^{228}Ra/^{226}Ra$ activity ratio and salinity as tracers. Water samples were collected from 32 stations in November 2005 (R/V Tamgu 3), from 20 stations in July 2006 (R/V Ocean 2000) and from 17 stations in August 2006 (R/V Ieodo) in the northern part of the East China Sea. Radium isotopes in ~300 liters of surface seawater were extracted onboard by filtering through manganese impregnated acrylic fibers and following coprecipitation as $Ba(Ra)SO_4$. Activities of radium isotopes were determined by a high purity germanium detector. Results show that the fraction of CW was in the range of 1-23% in the study area, while KW was in the range of 0-30 % and ECSW 58-100 %. The eastward plume of Changjiang outflow, commonly observed in satellite images during summer and also displayed by the eastward-decreasing CW fraction in this study, could be attributed to Ekman transport caused by the SE monsoon prevailing in this region during summer. Results of this study showed that in the drought season, there was a little or no fraction of CW in the study area. Concentration of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) showed strong positive relationship with the fraction of CW, suggesting Changjiang as the major source of nitrogen. The mixing curve of DIN indicates the removal of nitrate by biological uptake during the mixing of CW with ambient seawater in the study area.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.175-182
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• 1998

Recently it is reported that anomalously low saline surface waters (salinity < 32) occurred at the Ulleung Basin in the East Sea-Japan Sea, during early September to November 1996. Apparent source of such a low saline watermass seems remotely linked to the Changjiang Dilute Water (CDW), which expands to the vicinity of Cheju Island during a flood season. Based on the assumption that waters passing through the Western Channel of the Korea Strait are formed by a mixing of Kuroshio Water and CDW, simplified two end-member mixing model using $^{228}Ra/^{226}Ra$ as a conservative tracer is applied to calculate the contribution of each end member for the formation of low saline surface seawater. Model calculations show CDW contributes $58{\pm}3%$ in September 1996 (S=32.17) and $10{\pm}3%$ in February 1997 (S=34.53) in the formation of surface water flowing into the Western Channel of the Korea Strait. Although results arc deduced from a simplified model with limited data, this study demonstrates that Changjiang discharge is clearly traceable to the interior of the East Sea-Japan Sea in fall season. Undergoing Three Valley Dam construction in the Changjiang River would invoke inevitable changes in the nature and discharge of CDW and its impacts on the marine environment might be significant in the northern East China Sea and even in the Ulleng Basin for coming decades.