• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2022

Hypoxia can affect water-atmosphere methane flux by controlling the production and consumption processes of methane in coastal areas. Seasonal methane concentration and fluxes were quantified to evaluate the effects of seasonal hypoxia in Dangdong Bay (Gyeongsangnamdo, Jinhae Bay, South Korea). Sediment-water methane flux increased more than 300 times during hypoxia (normoxia and hypoxia each 6, 1900 µmol m^-2 d^-1), and water-atmospheric methane flux and bottom methane concentration increased about 2, 10 times (normoxia and hypoxia each 190, 420 µmol m^-2 d^-1; normoxia and hypoxia each 22, 230 nM). Shoaling of anaerobic decomposition of organic matter in the sediments during the hypoxia (August) was confirmed by the change of the depth at which the maximum hydrogen sulfide concentration was detected. Shoaling shortens the distance between the water column and methanogenesis section to facilitate the inflow of organic matter, which can lead to an increase in methane production. In addition, since the transport distance of the generated methane to the water column is shortened, consumption of methane will be reduced. The combination of increased production and reduced consumption could increase sediment-aqueous methane flux and dissolved methane, which is thought to result in an increase in water-atmospheric methane flux. We could not observe the emission of methane accumulated during the hypoxia due to stratification, so it is possible that the estimated methane flux to the atmosphere was underestimated. In this study, the increase in methane flux in the coastal area due to hypoxia was confirmed, and the necessity of future methane production studies according to oxygen conditions in various coastal areas was demonstratedshown in the future.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.488-498
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• 2016

In order to assess the role of aeration in stormwater wetlands, oxygen supply and consumption in a wetland treating runoff from livestock farms were estimated and analyzed. Furthermore, oxygen mass balance was conducted during day time and night time. Internal production by algal photosynthesis dominated the oxygen production particularly in the shallow marsh due to the large amount of algae. Consequently, algal respiration was also the major oxygen depletion element with nitrification and biodegradation estimated as 5.35% and 6.43% of the total oxygen consumption. This excessive portion of oxygen consumption by algae was associated to the highly turbid water caused by the resuspension of sediment particles in the aeration pond, which also affected the subsequent wetland. Moreover, an abundance of oxygen was estimated during the day indicating that oxygen produced by algal activity is sufficient to meet the oxygen demand in the wetland. Thus, supplemental aeration was deemed not necessary at daytime. In contrast, oxygen was greatly depleted at night when algal photosynthesis stopped which induced denitrification. Therefore, it was suggested that supplemental aeration may be operated continuously instead of intermittently to avoid oxygen deficit in the wetland at night or it may be stopped entirely to further enhance denitrification.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.145-156
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• 2010

This study investigated organic carbon fluxes in Ulleung Basin sediments, East Sea based on a chamber experiment and geochemical analyses. At depths greater than 2,000 m, Ulleung Basin sediments have high organic carbon contents (over 2.0%). Apparent sedimentation rates (ASR) calculated from excess $^{210}Pb$ activity distribution, varied from 0.036 to $0.047\;cm\;yr^{-1}$. The mass accumulation rates (MAR) calculated from porosity, grain density (GD), and ASR, ranged from 131 to $184\;g\;m^{-2}\;yr^{-1}$. These results were in agreement with sediment trap results obtained at a water depth of 2100 m. Input fluxes of organic carbon varied from 7.89 to $11.08\;gC\;m^{-2}\;yr^{-1}$ at the basin sediments, with an average of $9.56\;gC\;m^{-2}\;yr^{-1}$. Below a sediment depth of 15cm, burial fluxes of organic carbon ranged from 2.02 to $3.10\;gC\;m^{-2}\;yr^{-1}$. Within the basin sediments, regenerated fluxes of organic carbon estimated with oxygen consumption rate, varied from 6.22 to $6.90\;gC\;m^{-2}\;yr^{-1}$. However, the regenerated fluxes of organic carbon calculated by subtracting burial flux from input flux, varied from 5.87 to $7.98\;gC\;m^{-2}\;yr^{-1}$. Respectively, the proportions of the input flux, regenerated flux, and burial flux to the primary production ($233.6\;gC\;m^{-2}\;yr^{-1}$) in the Ulleung Basin were about 4.1%, 3.0%, and 1.1%. These proportions were extraordinarily higher than the average of world open ocean. Based upon these results, the Ulleung Basin might play an integral role in the deposition and removal of organic carbon.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.64-72
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• 2004

We measured the vertical profiles of $O_2$, H$_2$S, and pH in sediment pore water beneath marine cage fish farms using a microsensor with a 25 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ sensor tip size. The sediments are characterized by high organic material load. The oxygen consumption, hydrogen sulfide oxidation, and sulfate reduction rates in the microzonations (derived from the vertical distribution of chemical species concentration) were estimated by adapting a simple one-dimensional diffusion-reaction model. The oxygen penetration depth was 0.75 mm. The oxic microzonations were divided into upper and lower layers. Due to hydrogen sulfide oxidation within the oxic zone, the oxygen consumption rate was higher in the lower layer. The total oxygen consumption rate integrated with reaction zone depth was estimated to be 0.092 $\mu$mol $O_2$cm$^{-2}$ hr$^{-1}$ . The total hydrogen sulfide oxidation rate occurring within 0.7 mm thickness was estimated to be 0.030 $\mu$mo1 H$_2$S cm$^{-2}$ hr$^{-1}$ , and its turnover time in the oxic sediment layer was estimated to be about 2 minutes. This suggests that hydrogen sulfide was oxidized by both chemical and microbial processes in this zone. The molar consumption ratio, calculated to be 0.84, indicates that either other electron accepters exit on hydrogen sulfide oxidation, or elemental sulfur precipitation occurs near the $O_2$- H$_2$S interface. Total sulfate reduction flux was estimated to be 0.029 $\mu$mol cm$^{-2}$ hr$^{-1}$ , which accounted for more than 60% of total $O_2$ consumption flux. This result implied that the degradation of organic matter in the anoxic layer was larger than in the oxic layer.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.4 s.92
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• pp.374-379
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• 2000

To elucidate the degradation mechanisms of organic materials in Lake Paldang, oxygen consuming rates in the water column, high molecular weight (HMW) organic materials and aggregates were analyzed. Also the chlorophyll a concentrations and environmental factors were measured three times in 1999. The concentrations of chlorophyll a ranged $5.5{\sim}14.2\;mg/m^3$ with the highest peak of $57.7\;mg/m^3$ at the surface water in April. Chlorophyll a concentration of aggregates retrieved from traps in 5 m and 20 m depths in May were 2779.5, $9044.8\;mg/m^3$, respectively. Those vlaues were more than 6 times higher compared with other months, and more than 49 times higher than water column chlorophyll a. Oxygen consuming rates of water column were in the narrow range of $0.4{\sim}0.5\;mg\;O_2\;l^{-1}\;day^{-1}$. HMW organic materials were using only small amount of oxygen, $0.01{\sim}0.04\;mg\;O_2\;l^{-1}\;day^{-1}$. The aggregates retrieved from 5 m depth by sediment trap consumed the oxygen in the range of $0.48{\sim}0.69\;mg\;O_2\;l^{-1}\;day^{-1}$, while aggregates collected from 20 m depth, 0.88 to $1.04\;mg\;O_2\;l^{-1}\;day^{-1}$. With these results, the HMW appeared not to be degraded in the water column, instead they seemed to be concentrated and affected the sediment oxygen demand.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.159-167
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• 1998

The environmental characteristics in shellfish farms were investigated in the western part of Jinhae Bay, 1996. During summer, anoxia and high nutrient concentrations were found in the bottom waters of shellfish farms. The concentrations of particulate organic species in seawaters were enriched, showing an average 57.44 uM for POC, an average 5.45 uM for PON, and an average 0.42uM for PP. The sediments environment in the farms was very polluted. The concentrations of COD and AVS were more than 20 mg/g.dry and 0.5 mg/g.dry, respectively. The total sedimentation rate was high as an average $7.81g/m^2/day$ with organic matter contents of $26\%$. Oxygen consumption rate was similar to polluted area as an average of $439mg/m^2/day$. Nutrient release rates were an average of $8.25mg/m^2/day$ for nitrogen and an average of $1.38mg/m^2/day$ for phosphorous. The cluster analysis through environmental data in summer indicated that DO, nutrient in the bottom water, and AVS in the sediment were important factors to characterize the polluted environmental site.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2005

To find out temporal variations of net photosynthetic rate (NPR) of intertidal flats, we measured oxygen microprofiles in sediments with oxygen microsensors 4 times from December 2003 to June 2004. The study areas were the intertidial flats in Janghwa-ri and Dongmak-ri, located on the southwestern and the southern parts of Ganghwa-gun, respectively, and in Incheon North Harbor where the content of organic matter was relatively high. During the investigation, oxygen penetration depths in the tidal flats of Janghwa-ri and Dongmak-ri were high in December (mean values of 4.0-4.1 mm). Thereafter, the oxygen penetration depths declined to mean values of 2.2-2.8 mm and 1.6-1.8 mm in the two tidal flats. Interestingly, the oxygen penetration depths in the Incheon North Harbor tidal flat showed a lower range $(0.8{\pm}0.3\;mm;\;mean{\pm}1SD)$ over the period. The maximum NPR in the Dongmak-ri tidal flat was found in March $(11.1{\pm}2.8\;mmol\;O_2\;m^{-2}\;h^{-1})$, and those In Janghwa-ri $(6.1{\pm}4.1\;mmol\;O_2\;m^{-2}\;h^{-1})$ and Incheon North Harbor $(6.4{\pm}1.4\;mmol\;O_2\;m^{-2}\;h^{-1})$ were observed in May. During the period when NPR was most active, the highest oxygen concentration was found at 0.1-0.5 mm depth below the surface sediment, and was on average 1.8-3.2 times higher than the air-saturated oxygen concentration in the overlying seawater. Although we took into account of low in situ light intensity $(400{\mu}Einst\;m^{-2}\;s^{-1})$ during the investigation in June, NPR in the 3 study areas decreased significantly to less than $0.2\;mmol\;O_2\;m^{-2}\;h^{-1})$. Thus, temporal variations of NPR were somewhat different among the tidal flats. Generally, benthic primary producers inhabiting in the uppermost 0.5 mm of the sediment showed a peak photosynthetic activity in the study areas in spring. This is the first domestic report on photosynthetic rates of benthic microflora in the tidal flats with oxygen microsensors, and the use of the microsensor can be widely applied to measurements of benthic primary production of a tidal flat and the oxygen consumption rate of surficial sediments.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.854-862
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• 2016

In summer 2010, we measured the concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO) and nutrients in the water collected at the bottom of Cheonsu Bay, off the west coast of Korea. We also measured nutrient fluxes across the sediment-water interface by deploying a fully-automated benthic lander, which collected time-series water samples inside a benthic chamber. We confirmed on-going hypoxia in the northern parts of the bay where polluted lake water was discharged. DO content in the water at the bottom was 2 mg/l, compared to 5 mg/l at the mouth of the bay in the south. Nutrient concentrations showed a trend that was opposite to that of DO. The variation of N/P ratios implies phosphate desorption and a release of nutrients caused by hypoxia. The organic carbon oxidation rate and oxygen consumption rate in the northern parts of the bay were about twice as fast as those at the mouth of the bay. Benthic fluxes of nutrients in the northern part of the bay were 4 to 6 times higher than those at the mouth. Our results imply that it is important to understand the role of hypoxia events to make an accurate estimation of material fluxes across the sediment-water interface.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2019

In this study, the surveys were carried out from October (2016) to October (2017) along the tidal flat of Geunso Bay, Taean Peninsula of the western edge of Korea. The sampling trips were carried out for a total of 16 times, once or twice a month. In order to investigate the monthly variation of the microphytobenthos (MPB) biomass, community composition and photo-physiology were analyzed by HPLC (High performance liquid chromatography). The total chlorophyll a (TChl a) concentrations used as an indicator of biomass of MPB in the upper 1 cm sediment layer ranged from 40.4 to $218.9mg\;m^{-2}$ throughout the sampling period. TChl a concentrations showed the maximum level on $24^{th}$ of February and remained high throughout March after which it started to declined. The biomass of MPB showed high values in winter and low values in summer. The monthly variations of Phaeophorbide a concentrations suggested that the low grazing intensity of the predator in the winter may have partly attributed to the MPB winter blooming. As a result of monthly variations of the MPB community composition using the major marker pigments, the concentrations of fucoxanthin, the marker pigment of benthic diatoms, were the highest throughout the year. The concentrations of most of the marker pigments except for chlorophyll b (chlorophytes) and peridinin (dinoflagellates) increased in winter. However, the concentrations of fucoxanthin increased the highest, and the relative ratios of the major marker pigments to TChl a except fucoxanthin decreased during the same period. The vertical distribution of Chl a and oxygen concentrations in the sediments using a fluorometer and an oxygen micro-optode Chl a concentrations decreased with oxygen concentrations with increasing depth of the sediment layers. Moreover, this tendency became more apparent in winter. The Chl a was uniformly vertical down to 12 mm from May to July, but the oxygen concentration distribution in May decreased sharply below 1 mm. The increase in phaeophorbide a concentration observed at this time is likely to be caused by increased oxygen consumption of zoobenthic grazing activities. This could be presumed that MPB cells are transported downward by bioturbation of zoobenthos. The relative ratios (DT/(DD+DT)) obtained with diadinoxanthin (DD) and diatoxanthin (DT), which are often used as indicators of photo-adaptation of MPB, decreased from October to March and increased in May. This indicated that there were monthly differences in activity of Xanthophyll cycle as well.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.155-172
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• 2015

In this study, a complete set of recirculating cooling water system and the required instruments were built in a semi-industrial-scale and a 50 g/h ozone generation plant and a chlorine system were designed for cooling water treatment. Both chlorination and ozonation treatment methods were studied and the results were analyzed during two 45-days periods. The concentrations of ozone and chlorine in recirculating water were constant at 0.1 mg/lit and 0.6 mg/lit, respectively. In ozone treatment, by increasing the concentration cycle to 33%, the total water consumption decreased by 26% while 11.5% higher energy efficiency achieved thanks to a better elimination of bio-films. In case of Carbon Steel, the corrosion rate reached to 0.012 mm/yr and 0.025 mm/yr for the ozonation and chlorination processes, respectively. Furthermore, consumptions of the anti-corrosion and anti-sedimentation materials in the ozone cooling water treatment were reduced about 60% without using any oxidant and non-oxidant biocides. No significant changes in sediment load were seen in ozonation compared to chlorination. The Chemical Oxygen Demand of the blow-down in ozonation method decreased to one-sixth of that in the chlorination method. Moreover, the soluble iron and water turbidity in the ozonation method were reduced by 97.5% and 70%, respectively. Although no anaerobic bacteria were seen in the cooling water at the proper concentration range of ozone and chlorine, the aerobic bacteria in chlorine and ozone treatment methods were 900 and 200 CFU/ml, respectively. The results showed that the payback time for the ozone treatment is about 2.6 years.