• 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.