• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.31-50
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• 2009

The demarcation of Maritime Boundary is directly related to the expansion of jurisdiction and the securing of resources. Resource diplomacies of the three countries Korea, China and Japan represent a major task for the national administrations : to secure resources as well as to stablize and sustain resources for future national economies. At the sea area around Korea as well, countries are fiercely competing to secure resources and to expand jurisdiction. This is evidenced by the fact that various principles and logics which are beneficial to each own country are presented through international precedents, agreement between countries and the theories of the international law scholars. They say that the conclusion of demarcation of maritime boundary for the Yellow Sea would be easy from the point that there is no dispute related to island dominion in the waters of the Korean Peninsula especially the Yellow Sea, but still we need to have a strategic approach to this issue from the point that the factors used for claiming maritime boundaries may expand the waters of a country over much. For example, the continental shelf boundary in consideration of the distribution of sedimentary deposits in the Yellow Sea which is being raised by China began from the hypothesis that the inflow of sedimentary deposits to the Yellow Sea through the rivers of China represents absolute majority, but the results of the latest studies raised questions on the hypothesis. Especially, the studies done by Martin and Yang revealed that the inflow of sedimentary deposits to the Yellow Sea from the Yellow River is approximately less than 1% of total sedimentary deposits in the Yellow Sea, and also the result of analysis on the causes and counter policy measures on the environment of Bohai, China supports the reliability of the results of such studies. From a legal aspect, the sedimentary deposits of rivers which are claimed by China represent extremely weak ground for the claim for the title of the continental shelf. The siltline claimed by China seems to be based on the Article 76-4-(a)(i) of UNCLOS. This is, however, not the definition on the title of the continental shelf but it is only a technical formula to utilize in a case where a country desires to expand the continental shelf to over 200 nautical miles. Scientific and Technical Guidelines of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf also confirm this point through the Article 2.1.2 of the Guideline. The only case in which sedimentary deposits of rivers were referred to as concrete demarcation of maritime boundary was in the which was concluded in 1986 between India and Myanmar at the Andaman Sea. In the said case, India acknowledged the boundary up to the isobath of 200m which Myanmar claimed based on the sedimentary deposits of the Irrawaddy River. It has limits as a case for acknowledging the sedimentary deposits, however, because in fact India's acknowledgment was made in exchange for the condition that Myanmar gave up the dominion of two islands which they had been claiming from India up until that time.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.212-221
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• 2004

Concentrations of suspended particulate matters (SPM) and their distribution patterns were monitored three times in the East China Sea during the winter season in 1998 and 1999. SPM concentrations showed significant temporal variations controlled by the atmospheric conditions and sea states. In coastal area, SPM values were about 10-20 mg/l in fair weather conditions, but exceeded 100mg/l during the storm periods. Turbid waters were distributed widespread in the continental shelf of the East China Sea and the coastal area of the Korean Peninsula, and these two areas were connected along a NE-SW direction. The distribution patterns of turbid waters were interpreted as representing the transport behavior of suspended matter. Although the primary source of inner shelf mud deposits of Korea seems to be the Korean Peninsula, contribution from the East China Sea to the coastal area of Korea increases especially during the winter season.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.520-531
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• 2022

The Yellow Sea experienced glacio-eustasy sea-level fluctuations during the Quaternary period. In the middle part of the Yellow Sea, the Quaternary successions were accumulated by alternating terrestrial, paralic, and shallow marine deposits that reflected the fluctuating sea levels. A long core of 69.2 m was acquired at the YMGR-102 site (33°50.1782'N and 123°48.3019'E) at a depth of 72.5 m in the middle of the Yellow Sea. A four-layered geoacoustic model was reconstructed for the sedimentary succession. It was based on seismic characteristics from 3.5 kHz SBP and air-gun seismic profiles and 96 grain-size properties in the core sample from YMGR-102. For the underwater simulation and experiments, the in-situ P-wave speeds were calculated using the sound speed ratio of the Hamilton method. The geoacoustic model of YMGR-102 can contribute to the reconstruction of geoacoustic models, reflecting the vertical and lateral variability of the acoustic properties in the continental shelf of the middle Yellow Sea.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.14-22
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• 2000

The relationship between the distribution of demersal fishes and that of the water masses was examined by using the catches data and hydrographic data in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea on May 13-19, 1996 and May 10-17, 1997. During the study period, the dominant fish species were Cleisthenes pinetorum herzinsteini, Lophiomus setigerus and Pseudosciaena polyactis. These three low temperature water species accounted for $21-24\%$ of the total catches. The percentage of the low temperature water species was high in the Yellow Sea and the coastal area on the continental shelf of the East China Sea but was low in the vincinity of Kyushu during the study period. In the East China Sea, the isotherm of $15^{\circ}C$ at 50m, mid layer depth, was located more southeast in 1996 than in 1997. The bottom water temperature was about it lower in 1996 than in 1997. The direction of the detided current on the continental shelf of the East China Sea was southward in 1996 and northward in 1997. Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water (YSBCW) strongly expanded to south in 1996 when the northward current was weak. But, Tsushima Warm Current (TSWC) strongly intruded into the continental shelf of the East China Sea in 1997. As YSBCW expanded strongly to south in 1996, the percentage of the low temperature water species relative to the total catches was high. But, TSWC strongly intruded and the percentage of low temperature water fishes was low in 1997.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.414-426
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• 1993

A description is given of the recent techniques employed for the measurement of currents in the East China Sea continental shell The variability of the currents in the region is briefly discussed as it affects the measurement Data sources have been collated to develop an inventory of current observations in the shelf seas around Korea.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2004

The clay minerals of thirty-four bottom sediments collected from the northwestern continental shelf of the East China Sea have been determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. The clay mineral distribution is mainly controlled by the sediment source and the dominant circulation pattern. The predominant clay mineral in our study area is illite comprising more-than 70% of whole clay fraction. The highest concentration of illite (>72%) is found in the southeastern offshore parts beyond the reach of terrigenous input from the Cheju Island. It means that these illites are largely transported by the Kuroshio Current from the South China Sea. Smectite is highly concentrated in the northwest middle part and in the outer-shelf mud patch. It seems to be due to the high supply of smectite transported from China where the fine-grained sediments are discharged from the modern and ancient Huanghe River. The relatively high abundance of kaolinite is likely derived from the Changjiang River via Taiwan ·Warm Current. In contrast, the large amounts of chlorite and high chlorite/kaolinite ratios occur in the northwestern are, reflecting the transportation by the Huanghai Sea Coastal Current from the southern Yellow Sea.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.243-258
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• 2005

A fully-nonlinear two-dimensional dynamically interfaced nested tidal model has been developed with improved efficiency, usability, relocatability and also adopting different time steps for economizing computational times, which is based on two-dimensional tidal model of Choi(1990) with resolution of $1/15^{\circ}$ inlatitude by $1/12^{\circ}$ in longitude covering the whole Yellow and East China Seas continental shelf. To illustrate the validity and applicability of the present model, numerical model experiment was carried out for tidal distribution in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea emphasizing the Saemangeum area with enhanced grid system. The results from comparison with observed value showed that the present model gives reasonable agreement. The present modeling system is a relocatable tide forecasting system designed to predict tides at any location within the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea continental shelf sea.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.45-58
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• 1992

A three-dimensional hydrodynamic numerical model is used to compute the annual and seasonal meteorologically-induced residual circulation on the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea continental shelf. The model is formulated having irregular coastal boundaires and non-uniform depth distribution representative of nature. The previous three-dimensional model of the East China Sea (Choi. 19U) has been further refined to resolve the flow over the continental shelf in more detail. The mesh resolution of the present finite difference grid system used is 4 minutes latitude by 5 minutes longitude over the entire shelf. The circulation pattern showing depth and spatial distribution of currents over the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea is presented. Meteorologically-induced currents are subsequently used to compute turn-over times for the three depths (surface. mid-depth. bottom) and the total water column of various regions of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.231-244
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• 1990

The objectives of this multiyear research are directed toward the investigation of mesoscale circulation dynamics in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. With the advent of Supercomputers and increasing necessity of resolving the flow with enough details, a hydrodynamic numerical model of the East China Sea has been developed with resolution of 1/15$^{\circ}$latitude by 1/12$^{\circ}$longitude covering the entire continental shelf. As a first step M$_2$tidal regime representing the domanant tidal conditions of the shelf was computed. Preliminary results are presented and discussions for further developments are presented.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.29-38
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• 2005

The distributions of fish larvae and juveniles from the East China Sea, Yellow Sea and near Tsushima Island were investigated in Spring using the Maruchi (1994-1995) and Unagi (1996-1997) nets. A total of 94 species of fish larvae and juveniles belonging to 49 families under 17 orders were identified, of which Engraulis japonicus was dominant in every year except 1995 where Trachurus japonicus was dominant. Cluster analysis based on abundance and species composition by sampling stations (St.) revealed that the similar stations formed an arcuate group from Tsushima Island to southern Jeju Island in 1994, and from the Yellow Sea to southern Jeju Island in 1996. We concluded that these patterns resulted from the influence of the Tsushima Current prevailing in the east, and the Chinese Continental Waters and/or Hwanghae Cold Waters prevailing in the west, with Jeju Island exerting an influence in the centre. The diversity and composition of St. 97-3 and St. 97-5, both located where the Tsushima Current splits from the Kuroshio Current, was greatly different despite their close proximity. However, the former is located on the continental shelf, with the latter on the continental slope. This suggested that both topography and the Kuroshio Current have the most influence on the distribution of fish larvae and juveniles in this region. Furthermore, the weak Hwanghae Cold Waters of 1997 may have also limited the mixing of fish larvae and juveniles between the two stations.