• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.87-92
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• 2023

Microplastic particles are ubiquitous in the environment and not standardized particles of size, shape, or type. Therefore, it is very limited to establish a risk assessment framework that accurately evaluated and manage the multi-dimension of marine environment including seawater and sediment based on toxic data. In the study, we review the characteristics and effects of marine environmental microplastic and suggest risk assessment framework (draft) based on the distribution and impact of marine environmental microplastics. Although, the characteristics of environmental microplastic are very widely but the most abundant toxic data are concentrated on unique shape and type, and there are also large gaps of test organism between laboratory-exposed organisms and resident species. Great limitations with respect to toxicity data quality also exist for traditional effect assessment methods, which in reliability of the resulting risk characterizations. However, considering the fact that the international community's movement on microplastics management is gradually strengthening and the pollution level of microplastics in marine environment is increasing, further research on environmental relevant risk assessment technique should be proposed based on the characteristics of microplastics in the marine environment.

• The Korean Journal of Petroleum Geology
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• v.3 no.1 s.4
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• pp.1-15
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• 1995

Seismic reflection profiles and exploratory drilling well samples from the southern marginal-continental shelf basin of Korea delineate that the Tertiary sedimentary sequences can be grouped into five sequences (Sequence A, Sequence B, Sequence C, Sequence D and Sequence E, in descending order). Paleontologic data, K-Ar age datings, correlation with tuff layers and sequence stratigraphic analysis reveal that the sequences A, B, C, D and E can be considered as the deposits of Holocene $\~$ Pleistocene, Pliocene, Late Miocene, Early $\~$ Middle Miocene and Oligocene, respectively. The sequence stratigraphic and structural analyses suggest that the southern part of the Cheju Basin had experienced severe folding and faulting. NE-SW trending strike-slip movement is responsible for the deformation. The sinistral movement of strike-slip fault ceased before the deposition of Sequence B. Age dating and rare-earth elements analysis of volvanic rocks reveal+ that the Sequence D was deposited during the Early $\~$ Middle Miocene and the Sequence I was deposited earlier than the deposition of the Green Tuff Formation. Sedimentary petrological studies indicate that sediments of the Sequence I came from the continental block provenance. After the deposition of the Sequence E, uplift of the source area resulted in increase of sediment supply, subsidence and volcanic activities. The Sequence D show these factors and the sediments of the Sequence D are considered to be transported from the recycled orogenic belt.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.36 no.2_2
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• pp.351-363
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• 2020

It is well known that alluvial sediment located in coastal region has been easily affected by geohazard like ground subsidence, marine or meteorological disasters which threaten invaluable lives and properties. The subsidence is a sinking of the ground due to underground material movement that mostly related to soil compaction by water extraction. Thus, continuous monitoring is essential to protect possible damage from the ground subsidence in the coastal region. Radar interferometric application has been widely used to estimate surface displacement from phase information of synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Thanks to advanced SAR technique like the Small BAseline Subset (SBAS), a time-series of surface displacement could be successfully calculated with a large amount of SAR observations (>20). Because the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 L-band observations maintain higher coherence compared with other shorter wavelength like X- or C-band, it has been regarded as one of the best resources for Earth science. However, the number of ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 observations might be not enough for the SBAS application due to its global monitoring observation scenario. Unfortunately, the number of the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Stripmap images in area of our interest, Busan which located in the Southeastern Korea, is only 11 which is insufficient to apply the SBAS time-series analysis. Although it is common that the radar interferometry utilizes multiple SAR images collected from same acquisition mode, it has been reported that the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Stripmap-ScanSAR interferometric application could be possible under specific acquisition mode. In case that we can apply the Stripmap-ScanSAR interferometry with the other 18 ScanSAR observations over Busan, an enhanced time-series surface displacement with better temporal resolution could be estimated. In this study, we evaluated feasibility of the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Stripmap-ScanSAR interferometric application using Gamma software considering differences of chirp bandwidth and pulse repetition frequency (PRF) between two acquisition modes. In addition, we analyzed the interferograms with respect to spectral shift of radar carrier frequency and common band filtering. Even though it shows similar level of coherence regardless of spectral shift in the radar carrier frequency, we found periodic spectral noises in azimuth direction and significant degradation of coherence in azimuth direction after common band filtering. Therefore, the characteristics of spectral bandwidth in the range and azimuth direction should be considered cautiously for the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Stripmap-ScanSAR interferometry.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.83-96
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• 2017

A constructed sea stream in Yeongdo, Busan, Republic of Korea is mostly static due to the lifted stream bed and tidal characters, and receives domestic wastewater nearby, causing a consistent odor production and water quality degradation. Bioaugmentation of a microbial consortium was proposed as an effective and economical restoration technology to restore the polluted stream. The microbial consortium activated on site was augmented on a periodic basis (7~10 days) into the most polluted site (Site 2) which was chosen considering the pollution level and tidal movement. Physicochemical parameters of water qualities were monitored including pH, temperature, DO, ORP, SS, COD, T-N, and T-P. COD and microbial community analyses of the sediments were also performed. A significant reduction in SS, COD, T-N, and COD (sediment) at Site 2 occurred showing their removal rates 51%, 58% and 27% and 35%, respectively, in 13 months while T-P increased by 47%. In most of the test sites, population densities of sulfate reducing bacterial (SRB) groups (Desulfobacteraceae_uc_s, Desulfobacterales_uc_s, Desulfuromonadaceae_uc_s, Desulfuromonas_g1_uc, and Desulfobacter postgatei) and Anaerolinaeles was observed to generally decrease after the bioaugmentation while those of Gamma-proteobacteria (NOR5-6B_s and NOR5-6A_s), Bacteroidales_uc_s, and Flavobacteriales_uc_s appeared to generally increase. Aerobic microbial communities (Flavobacteriaceae_uc_s) were dominant in St. 4 that showed the highest level of DO and least level of COD. These microbial communities could be used as an indicator organism to monitor the restoration process. The alpha diversity indices (OTUs, Chao1, and Shannon) of microbial communities generally decreased after the augmentation. Fast uniFrac analysis of all the samples of different sites and dates showed that there was a similarity in the microbial community structures regardless of samples as the augmentation advanced in comparison with before- and early bioaugmentation event, indicating occurrence of changing of the indigenous microbial community structures. It was concluded that the bioaugmentation could improve the polluted water quality and simultaneously change the microbial community structures via their niche changes. This in situ remediation technology will contribute to an eco-friendly and economically cleaning up of polluted streams of brine water and freshwater.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.552-561
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• 2023

The seafloor topography of Gomso Bay on the west coast of Korea was investigated using subtidal bathymetry and tidal-flat altimetry. Gomso Bay consists of 80% tidal flats and 20% subtidal zone, and is divided into an outer bay and an inner bay by the Jujincheon esturary channel. The outer bay tidal flat, has few tidal channels, has a concave topographic profile, and is characterized by the development of chenier and intertidal sand bars, giving it the appearance of gently sloping, dissipative beaches. The inner bay tidal flat has wide upper and middle tidal flats with a well-developed tidal channel system without cheniers. Moreover, the topographical cross-section between these tidal channels is convex upward, and shows the characteristics of a depositional environment greatly influenced by tidal channels and tidal action. An analysis of the horizontal movement of the tidal flat environment over the past 37 years investigating changes in the iso-depth lines in the Gomso-Bay tidal flat between 1981 and 2018 revealed that the Gomso-Bay tidal flat retreated gradually landward. As a result of analyzing the erosion and sedimentation characteristics of Gomso Bay, assuming that most of the water depth changes were due to changes in the elevation of the sea floor and sea level, an average of 1 cm (0 mm/y) of sediment was eroded in the outer bay over the past 37 years (1981-2018), In the inner bay, an average of 50 cm (14 mm/y) was deposited. Notably, the high tidal flats of the outer bay were largely eroded. Monitoring photographs of the coast showed that most of the erosion of the high tidal flats in the outer bay occurred in a short period around 1999 (probably 1997-2002), and that the erosion resulted from the erosion of sand dunes and high-tide beaches caused by temporarily greatly raised high tide levels and storms.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.12 no.4 s.27
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• pp.293-300
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• 2006

Domestic laws such as Korea Marine Pollution Prevention Law (KMPPL) which has been mae and amended according to the conclusions and amendments of various international conventions for the prevention a marine pollution such as MARPOL 73/78 were reviewed and compared with the major contents of the relevant international conventions. Alternative measures for legislating new laws or amending existing laws such as KMPPL for the acceptance of major contents of existing international conventions were proposed. Annex VI of MARPOL 73/78 into which the regulations for the prevention of air pollution from ship have been adopted has been recently accepted in KMPPL which should be applied to ships which are the moving sources of air pollution at sea rather tlnn in Korea Air Environment Conservation Law which should be applied to automobiles and industrial installations in land. The major contents of LC 72/95 have been accepted in KMPPL However, a few of substances requiring special care in Annex II of 72LC, a few of items in characteristics and composition for the matter in relation to criteria governing the issue of permits for the dumping of matter at sea in Annex III of 72LC, and a few of items in wastes or other matter that may be considered for dumping in Annex I of 96 Protocol have not been accepted in KMPPL yet. The major contents of OPRC 90 have been accepted in KMPPL. However, oil pollution emergency plans for sea ports and oil handling facilities, and national contingency plan for preparedness and response have not been accepted in KMPPL yet. The waste oil related articles if Basel Convention, which shall regulate and prohibit transboundary movement of hazardous waste, should be accepted in KMPPL in order to prevent the transfer if scrap-purpose tanker ships containing oil/water mixtures and chemicals remained on beard from advanced countries to developing and/or underdeveloped countries. International Convention for the Control if Harmful Anti-Fouling Systems on the Ships should be accepted in KMPPL rather tlnn in Korea Noxious Chemicals Management Law. International Convention for Ship's Ballast Water/Sediment Management should be accepted in KMPPL or by a new law in order to prevent domestic marine ecosystem and costal environment from the invasion of harmful exotic species through the discharge of ship's ballast water.