• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.1 s.106
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• pp.1-11
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• 2004

The limnological characteristics of a coastal lagoon were studied in Lake Hyangho, one of a series of brackish lagoons along the eastern coast of Korea. Phytoplankton community structure, physical factors, and chemical factors were surveyed from May 1998 through November 2002 on a two-month interval basis. Temperature, salinity, Secchi disc transparency, TN, TP, organic matter content of sediment, chlorophyll a concentration, dominant phytoplankton species, and phytoplankton cell density were measured. Salinity gradient was formed between the overlying freshwater stream water and the permeated seawater at the bottom. The chemocline was persistent at the depth of 2 ${\sim}$ 5 m that caused discontinuities of salinity, DO, and temperature profiles. The inversion of vertical temperature profiles with higher temperature in deeper layer was observed in early winter. Secchi disc transparency was very low with the range of 0.1 to 1.1m. TP, TN, and Chl. a concentration in the epilimnion was 0.011 ${\sim}$ 0.238 mgP $L^{-l}$, 0.423 ${\sim}$ 2.443 mgN $L^{-l}$, and 0.7 ${\sim}$ 145.2 mg $m^{-3}$, respectively. Sediment was composed of silt and coarse silt. COD, TP, and TN content of dry sediment were 19.7 ${\sim}$ 73.3 mg$O_2\;g^{-1}$, 0.61 ${\sim}$ 1.32 mgP $g^{-l}$ and 0.64 ${\sim}$ 0.88 mgN $g^{-l}$, respectively. Dominant phytoplankton species were chlorophytes (Ankistrodesmus falcatus) and cyanobacteria (Oscillatoria sp. and Merismopedia tennuissima). The total cell density was in the range of 560 ${\sim}$ 35,255 cells $mL^{-l}$.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.29-43
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• 2007

For effective management of water quality on the southern coast of korea, a three-dimensional eco-hydrodynamic model is used to predict water quality in summer and to estimate the reduction rate in pollutant loads that would be required to restore water quality. Under the current environmental conditions, in particular, pollutant loadings to the study area were very high, chemical oxygen demand (COD) exceeded seawater quality criteria to comply with current legislation, and water quality was in a eutrophic condition. Therefore, we estimated reduction rates of current pollutant loads by modeling. The model reproduced reasonably the flow field and water quality of the study area. If the terrestrial COD, inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus loads were reduced by 90%, the water quality criteria of Region A were still not satisfied. However, when the nutrient loads from polluted sediment and land were each reduced by 70% simultaneously, COD and $Chl-{\alpha}$ were restored. When we reduced the input COD and nutrient loads from the Nakdong River by 80%, $Chl-{\alpha}$ and COD of Region B decreased below $10\;{\mu}g\;1^{-1}$ and $2\;mg\;1^{-1}$, respectively. The water quality criteria of Region C were satisfied when we reduced the terrestrial COD and nutrient loads by 70%. Total allowable loadings of COD and inorganic nutrients in each region were determined by multiplying the reduction rates by current pollutant loads. Estimated high reduction rates, although difficult to achieve at the present time under the prevailing environmental conditions, suggest that water pollution is very severe in this study area, and pollutant loads must be reduced within total allowable loads by continuous and long-term management. To achieve the reduction in pollutant loads, sustainable countermeasures are necessary, including the expansion of sewage and wastewater facilities, polluted sediment control and limited land use.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.187-195
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• 2005

Effluent of aquaculture industry has caused a growing concern regarding its environmental impact. We assessed the use of flounder farming sewage as supplement of diet, to minimize the impact of aquaculture on the environment or also establish the technique for the recycling of effluent sediment derived from land-based seawater fish farm. In order to investigate the effects of a fermented aquaculture waste on biochemical responses of olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus), fermented products of aquaculture wastes were used as test compounds that cause hepatic and renal stress through the induction of oxidative stress in liver and kidney. Hepatosomatic index (HSI), glutathione content and glutathione dependent enzyme were not significantly different and no correlation was found within the different types of fermentation condition or supplement concentration, except for significant increases in 50% fermentation group and 50% concentration group in case of glutathione peroxidase activity and HSI value, respectively. These results showed addition of fermented aquaculture sewage may be an economic artificial sources of diet for fish aquaculture practices without affecting the function and safety in view of biochemical examination.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.117-123
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• 2010

Plutonium is by far the most important of the transuranic elements which have been released into the environment due to radio-toxicity and long term radiation effects on humans. And Pu isotope ratio ($^{240}Pu/^{239}Pu$) is of great interest because this ratio is used as a fingerprint for different sources. Mass spectrometry has been used as an useful atom counting technique with several advantages over decay counting techniques for the determination of Pu isotopes. It enables a determination of Pu isotope ratio in the environmental samples with a low detection limit and a short determination time. An ICP-MS is the representative mass spectrometry for Pu determination. In this study, the precision of $^{240}Pu/^{239}Pu$ isotope ratio was improved by using 4 multiple ion counters of MC-ICP-MS. The detection limit of $^{239}Pu$ and $^{240}Pu$ were $0.10\;fg\;ml^{-1}$ ($0.24\;{\mu}Bq\;ml^{-1}$), $0.12\;fg\;ml^{-1}$ ($0.97\;{\mu}Bq\;ml^{-1}$), respectively. The relative standard deviation of $^{240}Pu/^{239}Pu$ isotope ratio was less than 1 % in trace level. The various reference materials (seawater, soil and sediment) were analyzed to verify this method and their analytical results were in good agreement with the certified (or recommended value) value.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.118-126
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• 2019

Background: Government conducts environmental radioactivity surveillance for verification purpose around nuclear facilities based on the Nuclear Safety Law and issues a surveillance report every year. This study aims to evaluate the short and the long-term fluctuation of radionuclides detected above MDC and their origins using concentration ratios between these radionuclides. Materials and Methods: Sample media for verification surveillance are air, rainwater, groundwater, soil, and milk for terrestrial samples, and seawater, marine sediment, fish, and seaweed for marine samples. Gamma-emitting radionuclides including $^{137}Cs$, $^{90}Sr$, Pu, $^3H$, and $^{14}C$ are evaluated in these samples. Results and Discussion: According to the result of the environmental radioactivity verification surveillance in the vicinity of nuclear power facilities in 2017, the anthropogenic radionuclides were not detected in most of the environmental samples except for the detection of a trace level of $^{137}Cs$, $^{90}Sr$, Pu, and $^{131}I$ in some samples. Radioactivity concentration ratios between the anthropogenic radionuclides ($^{137}Cs/^{90}Sr$, $^{137}Cs/^{239+240}Pu$, $^{90}Sr/^{239+240}Pu$) were similar to those reported in the environmental samples, which were affected by the global fallout of the past nuclear weapon test, and Pu atomic ratios ($^{240}Pu/^{239}Pu$) in the terrestrial sample and marine sample showed significant differences due to the different input pathway and the Pu source. Radioactive iodine ($^{131}I$) was detected at the range of < $5.6-190mBq{\cdot}kg-fresh^{-1}$ in the gulfweed and sea trumpet collected from the area of Kori and Wolsong intake and discharge. A high level of $^3H$ was observed in the air (Sangbong: $0.688{\pm}0.841Bq{\cdot}m^{-3}$) and the precipitation (Meteorology Post: $199{\pm}126Bq{\cdot}L^{-1}$) samples of the Wolsong nuclear power plant (NPP). $^3H$ concentration in the precipitation and pine needle samples showed typical variation pattern with the distance and the wind direction from the stack due to the gaseous release of $^3H$ in Wolsong NPP. Conclusion: Except for the detection of a trace level of $^{137}Cs$, $^{90}Sr$, Pu, and $^{131}I$ in some samples, anthropogenic radionuclides were below MDC in most of the environmental samples. Overall, no unusual radionuclides and abnormal concentration were detected in the 2017's surveillance result for verification. This research will be available in the assessment of environment around nuclear facilities in the event of radioactive material release.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.571-581
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• 2007

The mechanism of water pollution in Lake Shihwa, one of highly eutrophicated artificial lakes in Korea, has been studied using a numerical 3D physical-biochemical coupled model. In this study, the model was applied to estimate the contribution of land-based pollutant load to water quality of heavily polluted Lake Shihwa. The chemical oxygen demand(COD) was adopted as an index of the lake water quality, and the spatial distribution of an average COD concentration during the summer from 1999 to 2000 was simulated by the model. The simulated COD showed a good agreement with the observed data. According to reproducibility of COD, the high-est levels between 8 and 9 mg/L were shown at the inner site of the lake with inflow of many rivers and ditches, while the lowest was found to be about 5 mg/L at the southwestern site near to dike gate. In the pre-diction of water quality of Lake Shihwa, COD showed still higher levels than 3 mg/L in case of reduction of 95% for land-based pollutant load. This suggests that the curtailment of land-based pollutant load is not only sufficient but the improvement of sediment quality or the increase of seawater exchange should be considered together to improve a water quality in Lake Shihwa.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.1 s.106
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• pp.12-25
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• 2004

Physicochemical parameters, plankton biomass, and sediment were surveyed from 1998 to 2000 at two months interval in a eutrophic coastal lagoon(Lake Hwajinpo, Korea). The lake is separated from the sea by a narrow sand dune. Littoral zone is well vegetated with leafing-leaved aquatic plants. The lake basin is divided into two subbasins by a shallow sill. It has intrusion of seawater by permeation and stormy waves. Stable chemoclines are formed by salinity difference at 1m depth all the year round. DO was often very low (< 1 mg$O_2\;L^{-1}$) at hypolimnion. Temperature inversions were observed in November. Nitrate and ammonium concentrations were very low(< (1.1 mgN $L^{-1}$), even though TN was usually 2.0 ${\sim}$ 3.5 mgN $L^{-1}$. TN/TP was generally lower than the Redfield ratio. Transparency was 0.2 ${\sim}$ 1.7 m, and COD, TP, and TN of sediment were 3.1 ${\sim}$ 40.3 mg$O_2\;g^{-1}$, 0.91 ${\sim}$ 1.39 mgP $g^{-1}$, and 0.34 ${\sim}$ 3.07 mgN $g^{-1}$, respectively. Phytoplankton chlorophyll- a concentrations were mostly over 40 mg $m^{-3}$. Two basins showed different phytoplankton communities with Oscillatoria so., Trachelomonas sp., Schizochlamys gelatinosa, and Anabaena spiroides dominant in South basin, and with Trachelomons sp., Schroederia so., schizochlamys gelatinosa, and Trachelomonas sp. dominant in the North basin. The seasonal succession of phytoplankton was very fast, possibly due to sudden changes in physical conditions, such as wind, turbidity, salinity and light.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.134-144
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• 2009

Paleoproductivity changes in the central part of the Bering Sea since the last glacial period were reconstructed by analyzing opal and total organic carbon (TOC) content and their mass accumulation rate (MAR) in sediment core PC23A. Ages of the sediment were determined by both AMS $^{14}C$ dates using planktonic foraminifera and Last Appearance Datum of radiolaria (L. nipponica sakaii). The core-bottom age was calculated to reach back to 61,000 yr BP. and some of core-top was missing. Opal and TOC contents during the last glacial period varied in a range of 1-10% and 0.2-1.0%, and their average values are 5% and 0.7%, respectively. In contrast, during the last deglaciation, opal and TOC contents varied from 5 to 22% and from 0.8 to 1.2%, respectively, with increasing average values of 8% and 1.0%. Opal and TOC MAR were low ($1gcm^{-2}kyr^{-1}$, $0.2gcm^{-2}kyr^{-1}$) during the last glacial period, but they increased (>5 and >$1gcm^{-2}kyr^{-1}$) during the last deglaciation. High diatom productivity during the last deglaciation was most likely attributed to the elevated nutrient supply to the sea surface resulting from increased melt water input from the nearby land and enhanced Alaskan Stream injection from the south under the restricted sea-ice and warm condition during the rising sea level. On the contrary, low productivity during the last glacial period was mainly due to decreased Alaskan Stream injection during the low sea-level condition as well as to extensive development of sea ice under low-temperature seawater and cold environment.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.239-248
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• 2011

This paper evaluated types and characteristics of development projects occurred in coastal area (Public Water) by analyzing an application status of Sea Area Utilization Conference System that effective protect and manage marine environment and ecosystem from various artificial utilization and development enforced in 2008. Also, system improvement for stable settlement and security of efficiency considering exposed problems during system enforcement were diagnosed. The number of Sea Area Utilization Conference (SAUC) performanced during the period of 2009-2010 was 3,705, which consisted of simple SAUC (87.0%), general SAUC (12.8%), and Sea Area Utilization Impact Assessment (SAUIC; 0.2%). The general SAUC was accomplished for Public Water reclamation (43.4%), seawater supply and drainage (17.5%), dredging sediment (5.5%), installation of port facilities (4.6%) and fishing harbor facilities (2.3%), and others (23.4%). Statements of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) were reviewed mainly for construction of port facilities (32.9%), followed by construction of industrial complex, development of tourism and leisure complex, road construction, and development of energy facilities. It would be necessary to strengthen effectiveness of the system, advertisement, and capability of conference and review agency, and to enhance confidence of marine EIA continuously, according to the increase of development projects, and diversity and enlargement of development types.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.431-438
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• 2009

The main purpose of this research is to prepare and provide basic materials for the propagational strategy of eelgrass by investigating on the morphological adaptation of Korean Zostera marina to ocean currents. An eelgrass plant mainly consists of rhizome, leaf sheath, leaves and roots. The rhizome is the horizontal stem of the plant that serves as the backbone from which the leaves and roots emerge. The leaf sheath is the bundle at the base of the leaves that holds the leaves together, protecting the meristem, the primary growth point of the shoot. Leaves originate from a meristem which is protected by a sheath at the actively growing end of the rhizome. As the shoot grows, the rhizome elongates, moving across or within the sediment, forming roots as it progresses. The aggregated leaves from the leaf sheath are found to have two cell layers on one side and multiple layers of airy tissues called aerenchyma on the other. The aerenchyma tissues are developed in multi-layered cell structures surrounding the veins which are formed in the leaf sheath. Generative shoots are made of rhizomes, which are circular or ovoidal, stem, and spathe and spadix. The transverse section of rhizome and the stem and central floral axis is found to be circular, ovoid and in the shape of convex respectively, and the vascular bundle, which is a part of transport system, has one large tube in the center and two small tubes on both sides. The layers of collenchyma cells numbered from 12 to 15 in the stem, and from 7 to 12 in the rhizome. The seed coat is composed of sclereids, small bundles of sclerenchyma tissues, which prevent the influx of sea water from the outside and help endure the environmental stress. In conclusion, alternative multi-layer structure in circular, convex type aggregated leaf base are interpreted to morphological adaption as doing tolerable elastic structure through movement of seawater. The generative shoots develop long slim stem and branches in circular or ovoidal shapes to minimize the adverse impacts of sea current, which can be interpreted as the plant's morphological adaptation to its environment.