• Title/Summary/Keyword: Ocean Pollution

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Environment-friendly Processing Technologies of Mine Tailings: Research on the Characteristics of Mine Tailings when Developing of Deep Sea Mineral Resources (선광잔류물의 친환경적 처리 기술: 심해저광물자원개발시 발생하는 선광잔류물 특성 연구)

  • Moon, Inkyeong;Yoo, Chanmin;Kim, Jonguk
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.53 no.6
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    • pp.781-792
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    • 2020
  • Mine tailings, which are inevitably formed by the development of manganese nodules, manganese crusts, and hydrothermal seafloor deposits, have attracted attention because of their quantity and potential toxicity. However, there is a lack of data on the quantity of mine tailings being generated, their physicochemical properties, and their effects as environmental hazards and on marine ecosystems in general. The importance of treating mine tailings in an environmentally friendly manner has been recognized recently and related reduction/treatment methods are being considered. In the case of deep-sea mineral resource development, if mine tailings cannot be treated aboard a ship, the issue becomes one of the cost of transporting them to land and solving the problem of environmental pollution there. Therefore, the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology conducted research on the harmfulness of mine tailings, their effect on marine ecosystem, the diffusion model of contaminated particles, and candidate purification treatment technologies based on five representative controlling factors: 1) effects of pollution /on the environment, 2) effects of environmental/ biological hazards, 3) diffusion of particles, 4) mineral dressings, and 5) reducing/processing mine tailings. The results of this study can provide a basis for minimizing environmental problems by providing scientific evidences of the environmental effects of mine tailings. In addition, it is also expected that these results could be applied to the treatment of pollutants of different origins and at land-based mining waste sites.

Impacts of Large-scale Reclamation on Environment in Korea (한국의 대규모 간척사업이 주변의 환경 변화에 미치는 영향)

  • Lee, Hyoun-Young;Lee, Seung-Ho
    • Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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    • v.32 no.4
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    • pp.463-478
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    • 1997
  • This paper examines the impact of large-scale tidal flat reclamations on environment by analyzing land use change, ocean cultivation, water quality, sea biota and climate in Shiwha, Sosan and Saemankeum districts. The data used in this paper include Landsat TM images and documents related to population, industry, water quality, sea biota and climate at the time of the pre- and post-reclamation. Many times of field reclamations contribute to the creatation of newly available land for urban and industrial development, but cause environmental degradation significantly. The increase of pollution load and the change of coastal ecology, also cause some changes of climatic element such as relative humidity. As tidal flats were reduced, the area of ocean cultivation and the population of fishing industries were decreased. Conceming the sustainable development. it is necessary to carry out a careful environmental impact assessment accumulating monitoring environmental data continuously by using GIS techniques.

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Trend Analysis of the COD and Nutrients Concentrations in the Yongwon Channel, Chinhae (진해 용원수로의 COD 및 영양염류 농도 추세분석)

  • Cho, Hong-Yeon;Chae, Jang-Won;Park, Joung-Guy;Koo, Myung-Seo
    • Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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    • v.20 no.4
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    • pp.421-428
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    • 2008
  • Youngwon channel located in Chinhae city and formed by the Busan New Port Construction Project has been concerned about the water quality degradation problems because of the flow and pollutants stagnation due to its long-narrow shape. In this study, the water quality(hereafter WQ) variation is analysed by using the monthly WQ data measured in Yongwon channel from 2003 to 2007. The analysis shows that the TN and TP concentration in the inside Yongwon channel is definitely worse than the TN and TP concentration in the entrance of the Yongwon channel based on the 95% confidence level. The COD, TN, and TP concentrations in the Yongwon channel are 1.34, 2.08, and 1.80 times larger than that in the entrance of the Yongwon channel, respectively. It has been found that only the TP concentration in SW-26 station has an increasing trend based on the Mann-Kendall test with respect to 95% confidence level. The other stations and the other WQ constituent changes do not have the any significant trends.

Economic Feasibility Analysis of Marine Debris Pollution Abatement Technology Program (해양쓰레기 오염대응 기술개발사업의 경제적 타당성 분석)

  • Kwon, Young-Ju;Park, Se-Hun;Yoo, Seung-Hoon
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.274-282
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    • 2014
  • The Korean government is considering the implementation of the marine debris pollution abatement technology program (MDPATP) to mitigate the negative impacts of marine debris and systematically manage marine debris through scientific researches such as monitoring and environmental impact assessment of marine debris. In this regard, this study attempts to analyze the economic feasibility of the MDPATP in order to provide policy-maker with useful information. To this end, the indices for economic feasibility such as net present value (NPV), benefit/cost (B/C) ratio, and internal rate of return (IRR) are presented. The results show that NPV, B/C ratio, and IRR are computed to be 45.7 billion won, 2.72, and 17.12%, respectively, which are bigger than 0, 1.0, and 5.5%, and that the MDPATP passes the cost-benefit analysis. Thus, it is concluded that it is socially profitable to conduct the MDPATP.

Evaluation of biodegradability according to bait type for crab pots (꽃게 통발용 미끼의 형태에 대한 생분해도 평가)

  • Jeong, Byung-Gon;Chang, Ho-Young;Koo, Jae-Geun
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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    • v.44 no.1
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    • pp.20-30
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    • 2008
  • In order to evaluate the biodegradability of bait used in the pot for swimming crab, water tank experiments were conducted. Mackerel is the most commonly used natural form of bait to catch the swimming crabs, and therefore was used in this experiment for the biodegradability according to the manufacturing process of the bait. From the biodegradability test on chemical oxygen demand(COD), total nitrogen(T - N), total phosphorus(T - P), ammoniac nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen per unit weight of the bait based on the production rate and the accumulated amount of pollutants, it was concluded that the smaller the size of the mackerel pieces, the higher the production rate and accumulated amount of organic matter and nutrients which was unfavorable to water pollution. The amount of pollutants released from the intestine of the tuna was similar with that from the whole mackerel. For the operation period of 111 days, the accumulated concentrations of tested pollutants from the tuna which were 67.3 mgCOD/g d, 86.4 mgT N/g d, 3.1 mgT - P/g d, were almost half comparing with those from the mackerel which were 65.7 - 94.4 mgCOD/g d, 83.8 - 109.4 mgT - N/g d, 3.1 - 5.2 mgT - P/g d. The amount of pollutants released from the intestine of the tuna was slightly less than that from the mackerel that was cut into 8 pieces. but more than that from the mackerel which was not cut into pieces. Therefore, it can be concluded that the key factor in determining water pollution potential is not the kind of bait, but the processing or preparation method used.

Contamination of Sediments and Histological Alterations in Barfin Plaice Pleuronectes pinnifasciatus from Amursky Bay(Peter the Great Bay, East Sea/Sea of Japan)

  • Vaschenko Marina A.;Syasina Iraida G.;Durkina Valentina B.;Zhadan Petr M.
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.25 no.1
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    • pp.31-40
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    • 2003
  • In August-September 2001, 15 samples of bottom sediments were collected in the inner, middle and open parts of Amursky Bay near Vladivostok, Russia, and barfin plaice Pleuronectes pinnifasciatus was sampled from the inner and the middle locations of the bay. In the sediments from all three sites elevated concentrations of several heavy metals, i.e. Zn ($102-115{\mu}/g$ dry weight), Ni $(70-73{\mu}g/g)$ and Cu $(27-35{\mu}g/g)$ were discovered. The contents of oil hydrocarbons were very close to or slightly higher than the maximal normal environmental background level, $100{\mu}g/g$ dry weight. The sediments contained negligible amounts of hexachlorocyclohexane, while DDT concentrations were quite high (1.7-16.3ng/g dry weight). Generally, there were no substantial differences in the pollution levels of the locations studied and our results resembled those reported for Amursky Bay in the 1990s. Surprisingly, in 2001 'fiesh' DDT comprised 70-85% of the total DDT content in sediment from all the locations studied. In fish liver total DDTs concentrations were 212.8 and 122.54 ng/g wet weight for the inner and the middle locations, respectively, and 'fresh' DDT comprised 35 and 64% of DDTs, respectively. These results provide evidence of recent input of DDT from an unknown source into the ecosystem of Amursky Bay. Histopathological changes revealed in the plaice liver (vacuolization of hepatocytes, coagulative necrosis of hepatocytes, inflammatory reaction, and necrosis of epithelial cells of bile ducts) are probably connected with an intensive metabolism of DDT in the fish organism. No histological and histomorphometric differences were found in the state of the interrenal tissue. Similar condition of the liver and the interrenal tissue in barfin plaice sampled from the inner and the middle locations of Amursky Bay may be explained by the absence of great differences in the pollution levels of these sites.

Spatial and Temporal Variations of Foraminifers as an Indicator of marine Pollution

  • Shin, Im-Chul;Yi, Hi-Il
    • International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics Korean Journal of Geophysical Research
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    • v.26 no.1
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    • pp.59-73
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    • 1998
  • Sediment samples from five stations at the Shihwa Lake sewage outfall, west cost of Korea, were collected to evaluate the effect of the outfall on benthic foraminifers. Heavy metal (Cu and Zn) polluted the eastern part of the Shihwa Lake, adjacent to the Shihwa-Banwol Industrial Complexes, shows barren or nearly barren of benthic foraminifers, and the lowest number of species both at the core top and downcore. Excepting for the barren zone, pyritized benthic foraminifers abundantly occur both at the surface and downcore sediments in the western part of the Shihwa Lake, suggesting that foraminiferal disease by anoxic bacteria. Recent intrusion of pollutants form the Shihwa-Banwol Industrial Complexes and adjacent six major streams severely polluted the Shihwa Lake as shown by the low abundance (number/10 g) of benthic foraminifers, low number of Ammonia beccarii, low species diversity, and absence of both Elphidium spp. and ostracodes at the surface sediments compared of both downcore. Except the barren zone, both pyritized and non-pyritized Ammonia beccarii occur dominantly in the surface sediments and downcore. Elphidium spp. (either pyritized or non-phyritized) do not occur in the surface sediments of whole stations. However, they occur from the entire downcore sediments except in the eastern part of Shihwa Lake. Arenaceous foraminifers do not inhabit in the heavily polluted areas as evidenced by the occurrence of relatively deep core depth (11-15 cm). Ostracodes occur at the downcore sediments, but they do not occur at the surface sediments. Ostracodes also do not occur at the heavily polluted areas in the eastern part of the Shihwa Lake both at the surface and downcore sediments, indicating that the abundance of ostracodes also can be used for a pollution indicator.

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Spatial Distribution Patterns of Macrobenthic Communities during Winter and Summer in the Masan Bay Special Management Area, Southern Coast of Korea (남해특별관리해역인 마산만에서 동계 및 하계에 출현하는 대형저서동물군집의 공간분포 양상)

  • Choi, Jin-Woo;Seo, Jin-Young;Lee, Chang-Hoon;Ryu, Tae-Kwon;Sung, Chan-Gyung;Han, Gi-Myung;Hyun, Sang-Min
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.27 no.4
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    • pp.381-395
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    • 2005
  • The spatial distributions of macrobenthic communities in Masan Bay were investigated during summer and winter, 2004. A total of 104 species were sampled with mean density of $448ind./m^2$ and biomass of $77.1g/m^2$ in winter. In summer, a total of 107 species occurred with $485ind./m^2$ and a biomass of $94.5g/m^2$. The most dominant species in winter were Paraprionospio pinnata (24.2%) among polychaetous worms and Theora fragilis (14.1%) among molluscs, but they were replaced in summer by Prionospio chirrifera (20.4%) and Lumbrineris longifolia (14.5%). The difference in species composition and abundance of benthic communities between the two seasons was due to the hypoxia in the bottom layer of the inner bay during summer, which defaunated the macrofauna of the sediments. In the winter when DO concentration increased to normoxia, the pelagic larvae of benthic fauna settled in the soft sediments, but there was a spatial gradient in values of total biomass, density, and H' and benthic pollution index (BPI): higher values were found toward the mouth of the bay. The multivariate analyses like the cluster analysis and MDS ordination showed that Masan Bay could be divided into two or four stational groups in winter and summer whether the hypoxia occurred or not. Group I consisted of sites at the inner bay and central area and Group II, sites at the bay mouth. In summer the inner bay area could be further divided into the shallow impoverished area and the deeper abiotic one.

A Study on Improvement of SCAMIN Attribute of ENCs (전자해도 SCAMIN 속성 개선방안 연구)

  • Park, Jong-Min;Oh, Se-Woong
    • Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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    • v.12 no.4
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    • pp.169-181
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    • 2009
  • IMO adopt the revision of SOLAS convention on requirement systems for ECDIS and considered an ECDIS as the major system for E-Navigation strategy on marine transportation safety and marine environment protection. ENC(Electronic Navigational Chart) as base map of ECDIS is considered as a principal information infrastructure that is essential for navigation tasks. Though ECDIS has many advantages, it's almost impossible for the mariner to recognize the displayed information because of intense display of objects so called the clutter. In this paper, the current status and international standards on SCAMIN((Minimum Scale) attribute have been investigated. Also improvement of SCAMIN attribute of ENCs and grouping method for the sounding values was proposed.

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Distribution of Vital, Environmental Components and Nutrients Migration Over Sedimentary Water Layers

  • Khirul, Md Akhte;Kim, Beom-Geun;Cho, Daechul;Kwon, Sung-Hyun
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.30 no.3
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    • pp.195-206
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    • 2021
  • Contaminated marine sediment is a secondary pollution source in the coastal areas, which can result in increased nutrients concentrations in the overlying water. We analyzed the nutrients release characteristics into overlying water from sediments and the interaction among benthic circulation of nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, and sulfur were investigated in a preset sediment/water column. Profiles of pH, ORP, sulfur, iron, nitrogen, phosphorus pools were determined in the sediment and three different layers of overlying water. Variety types of sulfur in the sediments plays a significant role on nutrients transfer into overlying water. Dissimilatory nitrate reduction and various sulfur species interaction are predominantly embodied by the enhancing effects of sulfide on nitrogen reduction. Contaminant sediment take on high organic matter, which is decomposed by bacteria, as a result promote bacterial sulfate reduction and generate sulfide in the sediment. The sulfur and iron interactions had also influence on phosphorus cycling and released from sediment into overlying water may ensue over the dissolution of ferric iron intercede by iron-reducing bacteria. The nutrients release rate was calculated followed by release rate equation. The results showed that the sediments released large-scale quantity of ammonium nitrogen and phosphate, which are main inner source of overlying water pollution. A mechanical migration of key nutrients such as ammonia and inorganic phosphate was depicted numerically with Fick's diffusion law, which showed a fair agreement to most of the experimental data.