• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.215-228
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• 2008

This study was performed to find out the community structure of macrobenthos and the environmental factors around Munseom coastal water in Jeju Island from June to December, 2007. Mean temperature and mean salinity were $19.6^{\circ}C$ and 34.03 psu, indicating stable water masses. Concentrations of DO, COD and SS were as low as those in the standard sea-water-quality classes I. Chlorophyll a concentrations ranged from 0.40 to 1.09 mg/L (mean, 0.69 mg/L), and higher concentration was observed in December rather than in June due to a blooming in winter. The mean concentration (their ranges are in parentheses) of nitrate, phosphate, and silicate were 0.15 mg/L (0.073-0.264 mg/L), 0.01 mg/L (0.004-0.011 mg/L) and 0.23 mg/L (0.039-0.464 mg/L), respectively. The values were higher near the Munseom due to influxes from the land. Of the 112 species that were identified, 40 species (36.0%) were Mollusca; 33 (28.8%) were Cnidaria; 13 (11.7%) were Porifera; 8 (7.2%) were Arthropoda and 17 species (15.3%) were others including Echinodermata. Density and biomass were estimated to be 4,340 individual/$m^2$ and $53,107.8\;gwwt/m^2$ respectively. Anthozoa was the most dominant group in abundance ($2,132\;ind./m^2$) as well as in the number of species, whereas Cnidaria was predominant in biomass ($37,630.9\;gwwt/m^2$). The dominant species were Dendronephthya gigantea, Scleronephthya gracillimum, Anthoplexaura dimorpha, Dendronephthya castanea, Thecocarpus niger, Dendronephthya spinulosa, Dendronephthya putteri, and Acabaria bicolor in the depth of 10-30 m. The seasonal variations of the number of individual and biomass of Cnidaria and Mollusca were observed. There was a slow increment in June, a decrement in October, and a drastic increasing in December. The biodiversity, evenness and richness index in surveyed stations were 2.715-3.413 (H'), 0.758-0.851(E'), and 5.202-8.720 (R) respectively. The dominance index was the highest in station M2 and the lowest in station M1.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.33-44
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• 2012

Transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) are formed by aggregation of polysaccharide products excreted by phytoplankton and have sticky character like gel. They play important role in the production of marine snow in water column. To study the distribution pattern of TEP concentration and its role in carbon cycle in the surface ocean, we measured pH, Total alkalinity (TA), and chlorophyll-a in addition to physical characteristics of seawater within the surface water column. TEP concentrations ranged from nearly undetectable values to $338{\mu}g\;Xeq\;l^{-1}$. They were considerably lower than previously reported values from costal sites, but showed similar values observed in other oceanic region during phytoplankton bloom periods. The spatial distribution of TEP concentrations were similar to those of chlorophyll-a, which indicate that the production of TEP were closely related to phytoplankton. Calculated total dissolved inorganic carbon ($TCO_2$) from the pH and TA was normalized to 35 psu of salinity ($NTCO_2$) and showed negative linear relationship with temperature. Biological drawdown of $NTCO_2$ ($NTCO_{2bio}$) was estimated from the difference between theoretical $NTCO_2$ values and observed $NTCO_2$. In the warm region located south of $40^{\circ}N$ along the $132.5^{\circ}N$ meridional lines, $NTCO_{2bio}$ showed negative value and TEP concentrations were high. This suggested that negative $NTCO_{2bio}$ may be attributed to the biological processes. At the stations located between 44 and $46^{\circ}N$, TEP concentrations showed high concentration at the chlorophyll-a maximum layer within the water column while they showed low concentration in the surface layer. Carbon content of TEP constituted about 40% of $NTCO_{2bio}$ at the chlorophylla maximum layer. In this study, we could not observe any positive and negative relationship between TEP concentration and $NTCO_2$ or pH. It is obvious that we should consider the importance of TEP in the biological carbon cycling processes within surface layer.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2011

The Yellow Sea Cold Water (YSCW) is formed by cold and dry wind in the previous winter, and is known to spread southward along the central trough of the Yellow Sea in summer. Water characteristics of the YSCW and its movement in the northern East China Sea (ECS) are investigated by analyzing CTD (conductivity-Temperature-Depth) data collected from summertime hydrographic surveys between 2003 and 2009. By water mass analysis, we newly define the North Western Cold Water (NWCW) as a cold water mass observed in the study area. It is characterized by temperature below $13.2^{\circ}C$, salinity of 32.6~33.7 psu, and density (${\sigma}_t$) of 24.7~25.5. The NWCW appears to flow southward at about a speed less than 2 cm/s according to the geostrophic calculation. The newly defined NWCW shows an interannual variation in the range of temperature and occupied area, which is in close relation with the sea surface temperature (SST) over the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea in the previous winter season. The winter SST is determined by winter air temperature, which shows a high correlation with the winter-mean Arctic Oscillation (AO) index. The negative winter-mean AO causes the low winter SST over the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, resulting in the summertime expansion and lower temperature of the NWCW in the study area. This study shows a dynamic relation among the winter-mean AO index, SST, and NWCW, which helps to predict the movement of NWCW in the northern ECS in summer.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6008-6014
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• 2013

This study aimed to understand seasonal variation of physico-chemical factors and biomass of size-fractionated phytoplankton at Ulsan seaport during the period from February 2007 to November 2009. Water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solid (TSS) varied in the range of 8.94-$24.26^{\circ}C$, 25.06-34.54 psu, 4.30-10.73 mg/L, 7.97-8.53, 0.66-40.70 mg/L and 57.4-103.3 mg/L, respectively. These factors showed no clear spatial variation unlike spatial pattern of inorganic nutrients and total chlorophyll-a (chl-a) concentration as biomass. Concentration of phosphate, nitrate and silicate ranged from 0.01 to 3.03 ${\mu}M$, 0.05 to 21.62 ${\mu}M$, and 0.01 to 27.82 ${\mu}M$, respectively, with 2 times higher concentration at inner stations than that at outer stations during the study period. Within the range of total chl-a concentration (0.36-7.11 ${\mu}gL^{-1}$), higher concentration (avg. 1.88 ${\mu}gL^{-1}$) of total chl-a were observed at inner stations compared to that (avg. 0.90 ${\mu}gL^{-1}$) at outer stations. Micro-sized phytoplankton dominated total biomass of phytoplankton in spring (34.0-81.2%), summer (35.1-65.6%) and winter (3.9-62.0%). Nano- and pico-sized phytoplankton contributed 58.2-74.5% and 22.4-38.2% to total biomass of phytoplankton in autumn, respectively. However, contribution in biomass of size-fractionated phytoplankton to total phytoplankton biomass showed no clear difference between inner and outer stations. Consequently, these results indicated that spatio-temporal distribution of phytoplankton biomass at Ulsan seaport was dominated by micro-phytoplankton (avg. 52.3%) during the study period except autumn, which was closely dependent on the concentration of inorganic nutrients (p<0.05).

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.160-167
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• 2006

Harpacticoid copepod Tigriopus japonicus is widely distributed in coastal waters of Korea and plays important role in marine trophic structure as a first consumer. In this study, a series of experiment were conducted to test the potential of the species as a standard test species for marine bioassay. Tolerance on salinity and pH, sensitivity on the reference materials(copper sulfate and cadmium chloride) and response on the ocean dumping materials(waste sludge) we re tested to identify if the species satisfy the basic criteria as standard species for marine bioassay. The nauplius of the species($100{\sim}200{\mu}m$) showed wide tolerance on salinity with >90.0% survival rates exposed to $5.0{\sim}35.0psu$ for 48 h. Wide adaptability on pH's were also observed from 6.3 to 8.2 with >90.0% survival rates during the test. $LC_{50}$ values for copper sulfate and cadmium chloride were $3.6{\pm}0.7ppm,\;1.7{\pm}0.8ppm$, respectively. The variations in mortality between replicates were less than 10.0%. Comparison of $LC_{50}$ values indicated that T. japonicus nauplius was lower sensitive to copper sulfate than the most marine crustaceans included copepods, however, the sensitivity of test animal to cadmium chloride higher than the adults of copepod T. japonicus, Paracalanus parvus, and marine rotifer Brachinonus plicatilis. There were significant concentration-response relationship in the mortality of T. japonicus nauplius using the elutriates of three ocean dumping materials(industrial waste sludge). 48 h $LC_{50}$ values we re $31.1{\pm}1.1%$ for the elutriate of sludge from leather processing company and $54.4{\pm}15.1%$ for that of dye production company. Based on the above experimental results, bioassay using benthic harpacticoid T. japonicus nauplius must be a good estimation tool for marine ecotoxicological assessment of waste or chemicals. Wide tolerance on the salinity and pH, and significant linear relationship between concentration and response(mortality) supported the high potential of the species as a standard test species.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.35-46
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• 2009

In order to investigate spatial and temporal distributional characteristics of major water qualities in the Saemangeum area during the Saemangeum dike construction, salinity, COD, dissolved nutrients(DIN, Silicate) and heavy metals were analyzed from the surface water collected in April, May, August and November 2002. The overall value of Salinity, COD, DIN, and silicate in surface waters were in the range of $13.08{\sim}31.96\;psu$, $0.12{\sim}3.43\;mg/L$, $0.001{\sim}2.638\;mg/L$, and $0.010{\sim}3.181\;mg/L$, respectively. The COD and DIN in each survey showed the highest concentration at the mouth of Mangyeong river estuary(St. 1) where freshwater flow into the Saemangeum area. The concentrations of nutrients were high in the inner part of the Saemangeum dike with low-salinity, and low nutrients in the outer part of the dike with high-salinity, which strongly indicated that concentrations were adjusted by physical mixing. The ranges of dissolved metals and acid-soluble Hg in surface seawater were $0.006{\sim}0.115{\mu}g/L$ for Co, $0.26{\sim}0.114{\mu}g/L$ for Ni, $0.14{\sim}0.93{\mu}g/L$ for Cu, $0.04{\sim}0.53{\mu}g/L$ for Zn, $0.010{\sim}0.043{\mu}g/L$ for Cd, $0.010{\sim}0.795{\mu}g/L$ for Pb, and $0.25{\sim}4.16{\mu}g/L$ for Hg. The highest concentrations of some metals except for Cd were found at the estuary(Sts. 1 or 3). In most cases, a decreasing order of metal concentrations towards open sea(low-salinity$\rightarrow$high-salinity) was observed and showed positive relationship with DIN and silicate caused by land base pollutants input. On the other hand, due to Cd desorption from suspended solids in saline water, dissolved Cd concentrations were high in high-salinity area and low in low-salinity. In November, Co, Zn, Cu and Pb were relatively high in the northern area of the outer-side of Saemangeum, which was only influenced by the Geum river discharge. The concentrations of most dissolved metals of this study were lower than those of the past data in this area, but higher than those in Lena river estuary under the pristine environment.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.425-440
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• 2000

The physico-chemical characteristics and the concentrations of chlorophylls of coastal seawater were investigated to know the seasonal variations of biological oceanographic environments in the Islands of Ullungdo(U) and Dokdo(D). The samplings of sea water according to different depths were performed four seasons (May, June, August and November) in five stations along the coast of Ullungdo Island and 3 times (June, August and November) in three stations around the coast of Dokdo Island. The seasonal variations of sea water temperature showed that the formation of thermocline in August was distinct in comparison to the other seasons. The sea water in the surface was influenced by low temperature-high salinity in May and with high temperature-low salinity in the investigated area. The amount of seston was high in May (5.3-15.0mg/l) and was low in August (1.4-4.9mg/l) in ullungdo island. for the nutrients or sea water in Ullungdo Island, the concentrations of nitrate and ammonium were higher than Dokdo Island (nitrate-max. of U in August : 0.10-11.50$\mu\textrm{g}$/1, max. of D in August : 2.92-8.10$\mu\textrm{g}$/l : ammonium-max. of U in November : 14.18-20.69$\mu\textrm{g}$/l, max. of D in June : 0-1.78 $\mu\textrm{g}$/l). The high concen-tration of chlorophylls showed on the deeper layer from 30 m to 50 m in August (U 30 m : 0.85$\mu\textrm{g}$/l ; D 50m : 1.02 $\mu\textrm{g}$/l), while the concentrations of chlorophylls were even in May, June and November in the deeper layer of surface layer. In conclusion, the establishment of thermocline in deeper area of the euphotic layer in August was a trigger far the development of phytoplankton, while the complex physico-chemical system by diverse currents and vertical mixing of sea water in the area induced the even distribution of phytoplankton in both epilimnion and hypolimnion in May, June and November.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2000

Environmental factors and phytoplankton community have been bimonthly investigated in order to clarify the bioecological characteristics of coral habitats around Moonsom at the southern Cheju Island from September 1995 to July 1996. Annual mean temperature and annual mean salinity were $17.4^{\circ}C$ and 34.06 psu, respectively, showing lower temperature-higher salinity in winter and higher temperature-lower salinity in summer, which means such conditions are inadequate for coral reef formation. Nutrient concentrations represent that total nitrogen ranged from $0.07{\sim}10.08\;{\mu}M$, phosphate from $0.05{\sim}1.70\;{\mu}M$, and silicate from $3.08{\sim}21.86\;{\mu}M$. The N/P ratio showed the range of 9.59-10.60 with decreasing offshore-ward, which means the phytoplankton community could be limited by nitrogen sources. Annual mean euphotic depth was 32.0m (18.9m-48.6m) with difference according to season and reveals the close relationship with the depth of coral distribution. Chlorophyll a concentrations of phytoplankton ranged from $0.12{\sim}1.51\;{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$ and standing crops from $1.5{\times}10^3{\sim}7.0{\times}10^5\;cells\;L^{-1}$, showing higher at inshore than at offshore with a blooming in May. A total of 128 species of phytoplankton occurred in all stations, representing 99 spp. of diatoms, 26 spp. of dinoflagellates, 2 spp. of silicoflagellates and 1 sp. of blue-green algae. Diatoms are main taxa in all seasons except for occupying by dinoflagellates in summer. Among dominant species, fParalia sulcata (Ehrenberg) Cleve and Cylindrotheca closterium (Ehrenberg) Lewin & Reimann were predominant and are likely to be main food sources for coral community. Annual mean species diversity index (H') was 1.84, showing lower than around the coast line of Cheju Island.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.71-79
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• 1999

As part of an on-going project investigating flux of materials in the Keum River Estuary, we have monitored seasonal variations of nutrients, suspended particulate matter (SPM), chlorophyll, and salinity since 1997. Meteorological data and freshwater discharge from the Keum River Dike were also used, Our goal was to answers for (1) what is the main factor for the seasonal fluctuation of nutrients in the Keum River Estuary? and (2) are there any differences in nutrient distributions before and after the Keum River Dike construction? Nitrate concentrations in the Keum River water were kept constant through the year. Whereas other nutrients varied with evident seasonality: high phosphate and ammonium concentrations during the dry season and enhanced silicate contents during the rainy season. SPM was found similar trend with silicate. During the rainy season, the freshwater discharged from the Keum River Dike seemed to dilute the phosphate and ammonium, but to elevate SPM concentration in the Keum Estuary. In addition, the corresponding variations of SPM contents in the estuarine water affected the seasonal fluctuations of nutrients in the Estuary. The most important source of the nutrients in the estuarine water is the fluvial water. Therefore, the distribution patterns of nutrients in the Estuary are conservative against salinity. Nitrate, nitrite and silicate are conservative through the year. The distribution of phosphate and ammonium on the other hand, display two distinct seasonal patterns: conservative behavior during the dry season and some additive processes during the rainy days. Mass destruction of freshwater phytoplankton in the riverine water is believed to be a major additive source of phosphate in the upper Estuary. Desorption processes of phosphate and ammonium from SPM and organic matter probably contribute extra source of addition. Benthic flux of phosphate and ammonium from the sediment into overlying estuarine water can not be excluded as another source. After the Keum River Dike construction, the concentrations of SPM decreased markedly and their role in controlling of nutrient concentrations in the Estuary has probably diminished. We found low salinity (5~15 psu) within 1 km away from the Dike during the dry season. Therefore we conclude that the only limited area of inner estuary function as a real estuary and the rest part rather be like a bay during the dry season. However, during the rainy season, the entire estuary as the mixing place of freshwater and seawater. Compared to the environmental conditions of the Estuary before the Dike construction, tidal current velocity and turbidity are decreased, but nutrient concentrations and chance of massive algal bloom such as red tide outbreak markedly increased.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.151-164
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• 2010

Field observations on the seasonal variations of environmental factors and phytoplankton community were carried out four times at 30 stations in the narrow strait between Yeosu and Dolsan Island of the Korean South Sea from September 2005 to May 2006. The ranges of water temperature, salinity and extinction coefficient in the surface waters were 5.6~26.3, 25.36~33.92 psu and 0.13~2.13, respectively. The water temperature measured higher at Gamak Bay in summer and spring. It measured higher at Yeosuhae Bay in autumn and winter. Salinity showed uniformity of distributions in almost all areas, except for an area near a sewage disposal outlet. Extinction coefficient indicated that the turbidity of Gamak Bay and the area near the sewage disposal outlet were higher than that of the Yeosuhae Bay. In the phytoplankton community were identified a total of 99 species belonging to 51 genera. The species composition showed itself to be various in summer and autumn, but poor in winter and spring with a high ratio of centric diatoms all the year round. Seasonal succession of dominant species were Skeletonema costatum and Chaetoceros curvisetus in summer, Eucampia zodiacus in autumn and winter, and Chaetoceros affinis and Thalassionema nitzschioides inspring. Standing crops of phytoplankton and Chlorophyll $\alpha$ concentration were greatly higher at Gamak Bay in summer with ranges of $0.2{\times}10^4\;cells\;L^{-1}$ to $296{\times}10^4\;L^{-1}$, and $1.94\;L^{-1}$ to $22.12\;L^{-1}$, respectively. From the results of principal component analysis (PCA), the northern part of Dolsan Island was divided into two or three regions from the characteristics of marine environment and phytoplankton community.