• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.76-88
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• 2012

In order to investigate the distribution of water masses and spatio-temporal variation of nutrients in the coastal areas of Gangwon province of the Korean East Sea, a survey of the physico-chemical parameters (temperature and salinity) and nutrients ($NO_2$-N, $NO_3$-N, $NH_4$-N, $PO_4$-P, and $SiO_2$-Si) was carried out at 5 locations (Goseong, Sokcho, Yangyang, Gangneung, and Donghae) in February, May, August, and November 2009. The water masses included in the study area were divided into 4 groups; 1) Tsushima Surface Water (TSW), 2) Tsushima Middle Water (TMW), 3) North Korean Cold Water (NKCW), and 4) East Sea Proper Water (ESPW). The distribution of water masses was affected by the change of season. In February, surface water was derived from the TMW. The TSW was not observed in May, but only observed in August. In November, as the influence of the TSW weakened, that of the NKCW strengthened. Considering the vertical profiles of nutrients, the concentrations in all the seasons were very low within the surface water, but increased rapidly near the thermocline. Most of nutrient concentrations, except for dissolved silicate, remained constant below the depth of 200 m. However, the dissolved silicate concentration increased with depth, suggesting that silicate has a delayed regenerative pattern. The ESPW had the highest nutrient concentration, followed by the NKCW, TMW, and TSW. In February, May, and November, the N/P ratio in most of the water masses was similar to or larger than the Redfield ratio, indicating that nitrogenous nutrients did not act as a limiting factor for phytoplankton growth. However, in August, the N/P ratio in the TSW was less than the Redfield ratio, and the concentration of $NO_2$-N+$NO_3$-N was 0.86 ${\mu}m$, indicating that nitrogenous nutrients did act as a limiting factor for phytoplankton growth in the study area.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.540-546
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• 2010

We investigated variations in alkaline phosphatase (APase) activity and alkaline phosphatase hydrolyzable phosphorus (APHP) in northern Gamak Bay from September to December 2009. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) decreased gradually, and the DIN/DIP ratio was higher than the Redfield ratio (16) based on molecular concentrations during most of the observation period. The total APase (T-APase) activity increased with decreasing DIP concentration; i.e., the Relationship between T-APase and DIP showed a high negative correlation (r=-0.80, P<0.001), with APase activity being a good indicator of DIP limiting the Redfield ratio. The T-APase was positively correlated with the concentration of chlorophyll a (r=0.73, P<0.001). This suggests that a major portion of APase activity in northen Gamak Bay seawater is attributed to phytoplankton. The proportion of APHP among dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) was low in September and high in November. Thus, APase-producing phytoplankton may be able to grow by utilizing APHP as a phosphorus source in autumn when DIP is limiting. Thus, APase activity and the use of DOP by phytoplankton may play an important role in the growth of phytoplankton under DIP limiting conditions such as those of northern Gamak Bay.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.31-41
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• 2010

Harmful dinoflagellate, Cochlodinium polykrikoides, has always occurred in southern coastal waters every year during summer, but it did not occur in 2009. A comparative study on outbreak in 2007/2008 and non-outbreak of C. polykrikoides in 2009 was performed based on environmental parameters and phytoplankton appearances. Samples were obtained at 13 stations from Yeosu to Wando waters in 2007-2009. The heavy rainfall was associated with the decrease of surface water temperature below $20^{\circ}C$ in July, the decrease of salinity below 31psu in August and increase of pH to 8.4 in Augus, 2009. concentration of DIN in 2009 was approximately too times as high as those of 2007 and 2008, and the ratioes of N:P and Si:N in 2009 showed Redfield ratio to be above the value of 16. This indicates that Redfield ratioes were significantly different between 2007/2008 and 2009. Dominant species during the field survey were shown to be Chaetoceros spp., Skeletonema costatum and Thalassiosir spp. in diatoms and to be Ceratium spp. in dinoflagellate. In partiuclar, Gonyaulax polygramma occurred in August, 2009 instead of C. polykrikoides. Consequently, the massive rainfall and shortage of sunshine contributed to considerable variation in environmental parameters which were associated with delay in the timing of rapid growth phase of C. polykrikoides.

• Proceedings of KOSOMES biannual meeting
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.129-135
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• 2006

This study was performed to characterize the seasonal variation of water quality and sediment environment from May, 2004 to February, 2006 in 21 stations of Gwangyang bay. Gawngyang bay is located in the middle of south coast of Korea and semi-dosed with Yeosu peninsula, Gwangyang-city and Namhea-do. Water quality at the west coast of Myo-do were highly deteriorated than other stations. At summer season(July 2005), the concentration of the most analytical items were highly detected than other seasons and the lowest concentration was at the winter season(January 2005, February 2006). Especially, DIP and TP were highly detected around the coast of Yeosu industrial complex. N/P ratio were higher than 16 of Redfield ratio in the spring(May 2005) and winter(February 2006) at the surface layer. While at other seasons and most stations were lower than 16 of Redfield ratio. In the survey of sediment environment, ignition loss(IL), chemical oxygen demand(COD) and acid volatile sulfide(AVS) were in the range of $2.51\sim22.10%,\;2.65\sim48.41mg/g-dry\;and\;0.01\sim8.95mg/g-dry$, respectively. COD in surface sediment was highest at summer season AVS was highest at autumn. In sediment, the corelationship coefficients between COD and IL, COD and AVS were 0.65 and 0.44, respectively.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.86-94
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• 1999

An investigation was conducted to determine limiting nutrients in the bay systems of the southern coastal area of Korea. The elemental composition of C, N, and P in suspended particulate matter was monitored nearly monthly in Chinhae and Koje Bays and seasonally in Deukryang Bay for 2 years. Atomic C:N ratio in particulate matter ranges from 4.3 to 9.6, typical of marine phytoplankton. C:P and N:P ratios vary from the Redfield ratio to 229 (C:P) and 37 (N:P). A constant C:N ratio of 6.87 from regression of particulate C and N concentrations demonstrates that the particulate matter in the systems originates from primary production. C:P and N:P ratios from regression of C on P and N on P are well associated with changes in salinity. The low N:P ratio of 13.1 implies N limitation in the environments of the systems. This seems to result from the low N:P ratio of nutrients released across sediment-water interface. Phytoplankton response, expressed here as the increase of chlorophyll a, to N addition also verifies N limitation for phytoplankton communities. In heavy rainfall season (from June to September), the addition of excessive N via streams into the stratified coastal water proliferates phytoplankton greatly. During the phytoplankton blooms, C:P and N:P ratios are much higher than the Redfield ratio, implying P limitation. This results from the high N:P ratio in nutrients supplied from stream waters. Strong stratification during the blooms also interrupts the supply of nutrients, particularly p, from bottom waters. Dependent upon precipitation, this tendency shows great inter-annual variation.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.173-181
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• 1993

Seasonal distributions of nutrients and particulate organic matter were investigated in Asan Bay, Korea. Most of nutrients were high in August and low in February. The atomic ratios of inorganic nitrogen to phosphorous were close to Redfield ratio except in May when the ratio was 24.8. In May, nutrient concentrations except phosphorous decreased with salinity until $31.5{\sim}32.0%0$, but the concentrations increased again with salinity, impling that there were nutrient input sources within the estuary. Howerer, significant inverse relationships between nutrients and salinity in August suggest that nutrient sources were river discharge. Maximum chlorophyll a concentrations occurred in May. Relatively low ratios of $R_b$ to $R_a$($R_b$: fluorescence before acidification; $R_a$: fluorescence after acidification) during the study periods indicate that phytoplankton were not in good physiological condition. Relatively low ratio of particulate biogenic silica(PBSi) to particulate organic carbon(POC) and high ratios of PBSi and POC to chlorophyll a during the study periods suggest input of non-living detrital PBSi and POC from bottom in Asan Bay, where strong tidal mixing occurs.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.179-195
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• 2004

The trophic state of the coastal waters of the southern part of Korea was assessed using biogeochemical data obtained from the National Marine Environmental Monitoring Program conducted by the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute for six years. The trophic state of different areas, analyzed by non-metric multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) analysis, could divide the areas into three groups. Masan Bay, with suboxic water masses and/or the highest concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus occurred, was assessed as being in a hypertrophic state. Ulsan Bay, Onsan Bay, Busan and Jinhae Bay, located near strong point sources, were in a eutrophic state. Other areas, including Tongyong, Yosu, Mokpo and Jeju island, were evaluated as being in a mesotrophic state. During 1997 to 2002, the average values of excess nitrogen, which is the difference between the measured dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and the corrected DIN using the Redfield ratio, were positive at Ulsan, Onsan, and Busan, where there were inflows from polluted rivers. In contrast, those were negative values in Haengam Bay, Gwangyang Bay and nearby Yosu. This suggests that the limiting element for phytoplankton growth differed among sites. The time series data of excess nitrogen showed gradual decrease over time in the hypertrophic waters, but the opposite trend in the mesotrophic waters. This indicated that the ratio of nitrogen to phosphate varied according to the trophic state of the coastal waters. The enrichment of organic matter in sediment in eutrophic waters would disturb the normal pattern of biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen and phosphate. In order to assess the condition of the coastal environment, the benthic boundary layer should be considered.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.47-57
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to investigate the seasonal variation of water quality parameters in Suncheon bay. We investigated at fifteen stations from October 2008to July 2009. picoplankton The salinity in the bay ranged from 8.8 to 31.9psu, DO ranged from 6.34 to 11.84 mg/L and the pH ranged from 7.80 to 8.34. The mean concentration of suspended solids ranged from 52.1 to 104.0 mg/L and COD concentration ranged from 2.27 to 5.33 mg/L. The total coliform group ranged from 6 to 37CFU. The concentrations of COD and total coliform group were relatively higher in the upper part of the Suncheon bay than lower one. The concentrations of nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, silicate were also higher in the upper part of the bay, because the large amount of fresh water was inflowed into the bay from the Dong stream and Isa stream. Because the N/P ratio was ranged from 4.54 to 9.61 in this study, the limiting nutrients was nitrogen in the Suncheon bay comparing to the Redfield ratio.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.107-118
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• 1994

An investigation of the annual change and C:N:P ratio in particulate organic matter (POM) in Chinhae Bay, a semi-enclosed bay of the southern coast of Korean Peninsula, was carried out for a period of 12 months between January and December, 1993. The concentrations of POM have a broad range: 198∼4,416 ugC/l, 24∼792 ugN/l and 4.5∼69.0 ugP/l, Marked seasonal changes of POM, particularly particulate organic carbon (POC) and nitrogen (PON), were observed in the surface water. Generally, the concentration of POM peaks in summer. The C:N:P composition ratio of particulate organic matter, which is high in summer, also shows a seasonal change. The C:N assimilation ratio is constant at 6.53, which is consistent with the Redfield ratio. The significant linear relationship between POM and chlorophyll-a in the surface water during the survey period (except for January and February) and the C:N ratio suggest that the concentration of POM is controlled by phytoplankton biomass. POM peaks in summer, a period characterized by high freshwater input and the strong stratification, as a result of the intense proliferation of phytoplankton by a large amount of nutrient loading from the tributaries. On the other hand, the high C:P and N:P ratios in summer indicate that P is limited for phytoplankton growth owing to N-enrichment from a high input of freshwater with a high dissolved inorganic N:P ratio.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.442-450
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• 1997

The chemical properties of water masses were investigated at 33 stations of the southeastern last Sea in February, 1995 on board R/V Tam-Yang. The water masses were not clearly distinguished due to the vortical mixing in winter. However, on the basis of the T-S and $T-O_2$ diagrams, water masses in the study area were divided into five groups (Type I, Type II, Type III, Type IV, Type V). (1) $>9.0^{\circ}C,\;>34.35\;psu,\;5.08\~5.60m\ell/\ell$ at Type I, (2) $6.0\~9.0^{\circ}C,\;34.15\~34.35\;psu,\;5.60\~5.90\;m\ell/\ell$ at Type II, (3) $4.0\~6.0^{\circ}C,\;34.00\~34.15\;psu,\;>5.90m\ell/\ell$ at Type III, (4) $1.5\~4.0^{\circ}C,\;34.00\~34.05\;psu,\;5.40\~5.90\;m\ell/\ell$ at Type IV, (5) $<1.5^{\circ}C,\;34.05\~34.07\;psu,\;4.80\~5.40\;m\ell/\ell$ at Type V. In the vertical profiles of nutrients, the concentrations were very low in the surface layer and increased rapidly with depth. The highest concentrations occurred in Type IV, while the concentrations in Type I were the lowest. The N/P ratios were less than Redfield ratio, indicating that nitrogenous nutrients were the limiting factor tor phytoplankton growth. The concentrations of POC and PON were in the range of $0.49\~20.03\;{\mu}g-at/\ell\;and\;0.09\~5.34\;{\mu}g-at/\ell$, respectively. The relatively high concentration occured in the surface layer of inner shore, showing that the concentration at each water mass followed the order Type I > Type II > Type III > Type IV > Type V, respectively. The C:N ratio in particulate organic matter was lower than the values reported in other region due to relatively high concentrations of PON in the study area. Relatively high ratios of POC to chlorophyll $\alpha$ during the study periods indicate that non-living detritus comparised most of the POC in the study area.