• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.199-213
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• 2008

Saemangeum salt-water Lake has been created by the completion of the sea-dike in April 2006. To monitor the water qualities of the lake during the sea-dike construction, salinity, SS, nutrients(DIN, DIP, DISi), and chlorophyll-$\alpha$ was analyzed for the surface water from 1999 to 2007. Due to the dike construction, weaker tidal current and lesser resuspension of bottom sediment resulted in the marked decrease of the concentrations of SS in the lake water. Consequently the clearer lake water has provided better condition for primary production with deeper penetration of sunlight into the water column and sufficient nutrient content in the water. Finally the chlorophyll-$\alpha$ content became approximately double in the concentration after the dike construction. Highly stimulated algal production with the marked decrease of the concentrations of SS was decreased the concentration of DIP in the surface water. On the other hand the concentration of DIN and DISi in surface water was increased after dike construction due to the expansion of the freshwater and the supply from bottom layer. As a result, the lake revealed an extremely high NIP ratio and a DIP-limited ecosystem. The lake has been transformed from a typical coastal ecosystem to a brackish one. Since the dike completion, the lake has shown a similar change pattern to the Geum River estuary. Due to the salt-wedge intrusion of seawater, it is highly probable to expect the formation of low-oxygen zone at the bottom layer near the river-mouth area of the lake during the summer. Therefore we need a continuous sentinel monitoring of bottom water qualities in the near future.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.124-134
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• 2021

Water in the Mulgol pond on Dokdo (island), Korea, was historically used for drinking water, but now it has been no longer used for this purpose due to regionally low water quality. Since 2007, this pond has been covered with a metal lid to protect from pollutants of seabirds, indicating limited light penetration into the Mulgol pond. Here, we investigated water quality in the pond and potential relationships of nitrogen components and microbes in May, June, August, and November 2020. The source salinity ranged from 1.39 to 1.57 psu. Suspended solids (0.8~5.1 mg L^-1) and chlorophyll-a (<0.01~0.49 ㎍ L^-1) remained low. The concentration of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) was between 35.9 and 47.2 mg L^-1. Thus, water in the Mulgol pond proves to be brackish water with low chlorophyll-a and high nutrients. This unique environment may be established by limited light intensity, sea fog (or seawater), and fecal pellets from many seabirds. Although the light source (800~8000 lux) was exposed to the four subsamples, chlorophyll-a concentrations were below <0.5 ㎍ L^-1 during the incubation periods. This result suggests that the biomass of phytoplankton does not increase along with an increase in light intensity. Furthermore, the content of nitrate constituted more than 90% of DIN, and a significant negative correlation between nitrate concentration and bacterial abundance was shown in May and June 2020 during the light exposure experiments (R=-0.762, p<0.05). Thus, it is possible that bacteria may be a significant agent to reduce nitrate concentration in the Mulgol pond, the relationship between nitrate concentration and bacterial abundance may vary seasonally.