• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.51-61
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• 2010

Surface particulate organic carbon (POC) concentration was measured in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico on 9 cruises from November 1997 to August 2000 to investigate the seasonal and spatial variability related to synchronous remote sensing data (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface height anomaly (SSHA), and sea surface wind (SSW)) and recorded river discharge data. Surface POC concentrations have higher values (>100 $mg/m^3$) on the inner shelf and near the Mississippi Delta, and decrease across the shelf and slope. The inter-annual variations of surface POC concentrations are relatively higher during 1997 and 1998 (El Nino) than during 1999 and 2000 (La Nina) in the study area. This phenomenon is directly related to the output of Mississippi River and other major rivers, which associated with global climate change such as ENSO events. Although highest river runoff into the northern Gulf of Mexico Coast occurs in early spring and lowest flow in late summer and fall, wide-range POC plumes are observed during the summer cruises and lower concentrations and narrow dispersion of POC during the spring and fall cruises. During the summer seasons, the river discharge remarkably decreases compared to the spring, but increasing temperature causes strong stratification of the water column and increasing buoyancy in near-surface waters. Low-density plumes containing higher POC concentrations extend out over the shelf and slope with spatial patterns and controlled by the Loop Current and eddies, which dominate offshore circulation. Although river discharge is normal or abnormal during the spring and fall seasons, increasing wind stress and decreasing temperature cause vertical mixing, with higher surface POC concentrations confined to the inner shelf.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.67-85
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• 2007

A three-dimensional hydrodynamic model with the fine grid is applied to simulate the barotropic tides, tidal currents, residual currents and salinity dispersions in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. Data inputs include seasonal hydrography, mean wind and river input, and oceanic tides. Computed tidal distributions of four major tides($M_2,\;S_2,\;K_1$ and $O_1$) are presented and results are in good agreement with the observations in the domain. The model reproduces well the tidal charts. The tidal residual current is relatively strong around west coast of Korea including the Cheju Island and southern coast of China. The current by $M_2$ has a maximum speed of 10 cm/s in the vicinity of Cheju Island with a anti-clockwise circulation in the Yellow Sea. General tendency of the current, however, is to flow eastward in the South Sea. Surface residual current simulated with $M_2$ and with $M_2+S_2+K_1+O_1$ tidal forcing shows slightly different patterns in the East China Sea. The model shows that the southerly wind reduces the southward current created by freshwater discharge. In summer during high runoff(mean discharge about $50,000\;m^3/s$ of Yangtze), low salinity plume-like structure(with S < 30.0 psu) extending some 160 km toward the northeast and Changjiang Diluted Water(CDW), below salinity 26 psu, was found within about 95 km. The offshore dispersion of the Changjiang outflow water is enhanced by the prevailing southerly wind. It is estimated that the inertia of the river discharge cannot exclusively reach the around sea of Cheju Island. It is noted that spatial and temporal distribution of salinity and the other materials are controlled by mixture of Changjiang discharge, prevailing wind, advection by flowing warm current and tidal current.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 1997

Vertical profiles of dissolved Cu and Ni at the upper 400 m water layer have been determined at two stations in the central East Sea in October 1995. This is the first report on the vertical distribution of trace metals in Korea. Copper concentrations are in the range of 2.1~5.8 nmol/kg and 1.6~2.4 nmol/kg for stations S and N, respectively. The vertical profile of Cu at S is found a scavenging type (i.e., drastic decrease with increasing depth). Concentrations of Ni range from 4.3 to 7.1 nmol/kg and from 3.4 to 5.4 nmol/kg for stations Sand N, respectively. At station S, Ni is best correlated with phosphate, but not at stations N. Such difference between two stations are probably due to their different vertical distribution of water masses. Station S has a strongly stratified water column with 6 distinct water masses, but station N with a well-mixed subsurface water layer extending from 50 to 300 m depth. Extremely low salinity (31.87~31.96 psu) found at the surface water of station S was interpreted as a result of the Yangtze River effluents which were probably fed into the East Sea through the Korea Strait during the late summer. Such seasonal appearance of low salinity in southern part of the East Sea was reported previously. The concentrations of Cu and Ni at two sites are comparable to those reported in the North Pacific. It was found that Ni mostly exist as dissolved phase.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.245-261
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• 2019

Radioactive contaminant from a nuclear facility moves to the ecosystem by run-off or groundwater flow. Among the two mechanisms, contaminant plume through a river can be easily detected through a surface water monitoring system, but radioactive contaminant transport in groundwater is difficult to monitor because of lack of information on flow path. To understand the contaminant flow in groundwater, understanding of the geo-environment is needed. We suggest a method to decide on monitoring location and points around an imaginary nuclear facility by using the results of site characterization in the study area. To decide the location of a monitoring well, groundwater flow modeling around the study area was conducted. The results show that, taking account of groundwater flow direction, the monitoring well should be located at the downstream area. Also, monitoring sections in the monitoring well were selected, points at which groundwater moves fast through the flow path. The method suggested in the study will be widely used to detect potential groundwater contamination in the field of oil storage caverns, pollution by agricultural use, as well as nuclear use facilities including nuclear power plants.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.978-988
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• 2005

A three-dimensional dynamic model was applied to Lake Paldang, Han River in this study. The model was calibrated and verified using the data measured under different ambient conditions. The model results were in reasonable agreements with the field measurements in both calibration and verification. Utilizing the validated model, we analyzed the spatial and temporal distributions of temperature, current, residence time, and spreading pattern of incoming flows within the lake. Relatively low velocity and high temperature were computed at the surface layer in the southern region of the Sonae island. The longest residence time within the lake was predicted in the southern region of the Sonae island and the downstream region of the South Branch. This can be attributed to the fact that the back currents caused by the dam blocking occur mainly in these regions. Vertical thermal profiles indicated that the thermal stratifications would be occurred feebly in early summer and winter. During early spring and fall, it appeared that there would be no discernible differences at the vertical temperature profiles in the entire lake. The vertical overturns, however, do not occur during these periods due to an influence of high discharge flows from the dam. During midsummer monsoon season with high precipitation, the thermal stratification was disrupted by high incoming flow rates and discharges from the dam and very short residence time was resulted in the entire lake. In this circulation patterns, the plume of the Kyoungan stream with smallest flow rate and higher water temperature tends to travel downstream horizontally along the eastern shore of the south island and vertically at the top surface layer. The model results suggest that the Paldang lake should be a highly hydrodynamic water body with large spatial and temporal variations.

• 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.