• Journal of Wetlands Research
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.293-302
• /
• 2015

This study investigated sediment oxygen consumption rates and geochemical characteristics of sediment in hypoxic area of the Gamak Bay based on the chamber experiments and geochemical analyses. The organic carbon contents of surface sediment in the Gamak Bay showed that the inner bay area has higher organic carbon content than those of the outer bay. They toward the outer bay, contents dropped off. The vertical profiles of calcium carbonate ($CaCO_3$) content at piston core sediment assumed that the hypoxia have been frequently occurred during past century in the northern inner bay. The benthic chamber experiments were conducted in February, May, August and November 2010, 2011 in the hypoxic area of the Gamak Bay. In the sediment incubation experiment with chamber at site C3 in the northern inner bay and site C17 in the southern outer bay, the sediment oxygen consumption rate ranged from $3.98mmol\;m^{-2}d^{-1}$ to $12.43mmol\;m^{-2}d^{-1}$ and $3.28mmol\;m^{-2}d^{-1}$ to $8.18mmol\;m^{-2}d^{-1}$, respectively. When the oxygen was completely depleted, the toxic hydrogen sulfide was released with $1.38mmol\;m^{-2}d^{-1}$ and $1.3mmol\;m^{-2}d^{-1}$, respectively.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.30-39
• /
• 2004

In order to understand the environmental impact of marine cage fish farms, we measured the vertical fluxes of particulate to the sediment, the distribution of organic carbon in core samples, sediment oxygen consumption rate (SOD), and macrobenthos with increasing distance from a fish cage in Miruk island located in Tongyong. The experiment was performed in August 2003. Measured values gradually decreased with distance, indicating that the organic matter in the sediment derived from the fish farm. The dominant macrobenthos species were Tharyx mulifilis, Lumbrineris longifolia, Sigambra tentaculata, and Capitella capitata, occupying 88% of the total population. Capirella capirata, an opportunistic polychaete species, were especially abundant between 0 to 5 m radius range. The estimated impact regions of organic matter enrichment based on sediment consilmption rates and compositions of macrobenthos were in good agreement. Most organic matter derived from the fish farm was deposited within a 10 m radius and then dispersed horizontally to nearby (at least 50 m) surface sediment. The vertical organic carbon fluxes to the sediment at the fish farm were higher by a factor of two than those outside the area. The remineralization organic carbon in the upper sediment layer was estimated to be 50% (1.07 g C m$^{-2}$ day$^{-1}$ ) at the fish farm. In contrast, outside the area, 30% (0.30 g C m$^{-2}$ day$^{-1}$ ) of organic carbon was recycled and the remaining 70% was deposited to the deep sediment layer.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.392-400
• /
• 2003

We used an oxygen microelectrode to measure the vertical profiles of oxygen concentration in sediments located near point sources of organic matter. The measurements were carried out between 13th and 17th May, 2003, in semi-closed bay and coastal sediments in the central part of the South Sea. The measured oxygen penetration depths were extremely shallow and ranged from 1.30 to 3.80 mm. This suggested that the oxidation and reduction reactions in the early diagenesis should be studied at the mm depth scale. In order to estimate the oxygen consumption rate, we applied the one-dimension diffusion-reaction model to vertical profiles of oxygen near the sediment/water interface. Oxygen consumption rates were estimated to be between 10.8 and 27.6 mmol O$_2$ m$\^$-2/ day$\^$-1/(average: 19.1 mmol O$_2$ m$\^$-2/ day$\^$-1/). These rates showed a positive correlation with the organic carbon of the sediments. The corresponding benthic organic carbon oxidation rates calculated using an modified Redfield ratio (170/110) at the sediment/water interface were in the range of 89.5-228.1 mg C m$\^$-2/ day$\^$-1/(average: 158.0 mg C m$\^$-2/ day$\^$-1/). We suggest that these results are maximum values at the presents situation in the bay because the sampling sites were located near point sources of organic materials. This study will need to be carried out at many coastal sites and throughout the seasons to allow an understanding of the mechanisms of eutrophication e.g. the spatial distribution of oxygen consumption within the oxic zone and hypoxic conditions in the coastal sea.

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

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.216-224
• /
• 2006

To clarify the formation process and characteristics of oxygen deficient water mass in Gamak Bay, oxygen deficiency was weekly observed from 17 June to 12 September 2005. Surface water temperature was significantly lower in the outer bay than in the inner bay, whereas the bottom water temperature was higher in the central area of bay than in the outer and inner bay. The vertical stratification of water mass was strongly formed during the period, and thermocline was observed between 3 and 5m deep. The oxygen deficiency in the bottom layer began to appear at early July in the inner bay and gradually spread to the center area of the bay in early August. The mean transparency and light attenuation coefficient($K_d$) in water mass was 4.0m and 0.47, respectively. Average concentrations of nutrient and chlorophyll ${\alpha}$ in the bottom layer were significantly higher than those in surface, and those concentrations were significantly higher in the inner bay than in the outer bay. During the formation of oxygen deficiency in the bottom layer, oxygen penetration depth in the bottom sediment were extremely shallow, and oxygen consumption rate in the bottom sediment were lower than that in the area where oxygen deficient water mass disappeared. Dissolved oxygen concentrations in the bottom layer are negatively correlated with nutrient concentrations, whereas those in the surface layer did not show a significant relationship with nutrient concentrations. Elevated loss of oxygen in the bottom water mass was attributed to the increase of the oxygen consumption rates in sediments and the decomposition of organic matter by microorganism.

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

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.439-448
• /
• 2010

General consensus on typical vertical profile of dissolved oxygen in the Ulleung Basin is that dissolved oxygen concentration beyond 300 m decreases with increasing depth. However, the results of our observations in 2005 and 2006 revealed three different dissolved oxygen distribution types in the deep layer of the Ulleung Basin. The first type showed oxygen concentration decreasing with increasing depth (Type-1), the second showed oxygen concentration decreasing very sharply near the bottom boundary layer but constant in the bottom adiabatic layer (Type-2), the final was of the oxygen minimum layer above the bottom boundary layer (Type-3). Type-2 was the most common pattern in the Ulleung Basin. Type-1 was most common close to the Japan Basin, including the Ulleung Interplane Gap, while Type-3 was found around Dok do. Oxygen Consumption Rate (OCR) at surface sediment estimated using the dissolved oxygen distribution at the bottom boundary layer was $0.2{\sim}5.8\;mmol{\cdot}m^{-2}d^{-1}$, which coincided with OCR from direct sediment incubation. This implies that organic matter decomposition at surface sediment may play an important role in dissolved oxygen distribution patterns at the bottom boundary layer of the Ulleung Basin.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.159-167
• /
• 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
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.31-37
• /
• 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
• /
• v.22 no.7
• /
• pp.854-862
• /
• 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.