• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.180-183
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• 2007

Over the last century the mercury (Hg) concentration in the environment has been increased by human activities with inputs from sources such as atmospheric deposition, urban runoff, and industrial effluents. Mercury can be transformed to methylmercury (MeHg) in anaerobic conditions by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) and sediments are the principal location for MeHg production in aquatic environments. Interest in bioaccumulation of Hg and MeHg into lower trophic levels of benthic and pelagic organisms stems from public health concerns as these organisms provide essential links for higher trophic levels of food chains such as fish and larger invertebrates. Fish consumption is the major exposure route of MeHg to humans. Recently, it was reported that blood samples in Korea showed much higher Hg levels (5-8 times) than those in USA and Germany. Although this brings much attention to Hg research in Korea, there are very few studies on Hg biogeochemical cycling and bioaccumulation in aquatic environments. Given the importance of Hg methylation and MeHg transfer through food chains in aquatic environments, it is imperative that studies should be done in much detail looking at the fate, transport, and bioaccumulation of Hg and MeHg in the environment. Moreover, there should be long-term monitoring plans in Korea to evaluate the environmental and health effects of Hg and MeHg.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.99-111
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• 2022

Together with the development of measurement techniques, radiocarbon (¹⁴C) has been increasingly used as a key tool to investigate carbon cycling and associated biogeochemistry in the ocean. In this paper, the current status of radiocarbon studies in the East Sea (Japan Sea) is reviewed. Previously, spatiotemporal distribution and change of the water masses in the East Sea from 1979 to 1999 were investigated by using the ¹⁴C in the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). Researches on sinking particulate organic carbon (POC) revealed that POC in the deep ocean has more complex and heterogeneous origins than we expected. In particular, since 2011, Korean researchers have been collecting sinking particle samples for more than 10 years, so it is expected that ¹⁴C of POC will provide important information to understand carbon cycling in relation to climate change. Although the quantity of ¹⁴C data published in the East Sea is still limited, the importance and the future direction of using ¹⁴C to understand the biogeochemical mechanisms of carbon cycling and its role as a carbon reservoir in the East Sea are detailed herein.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.353-363
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• 2021

Fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) is referred to organic matter which absorbs efficiently solar radiation energy and fluorescence in the water column. The component and molecular structure of marine organic matter can be changed depending on the various substances and origins of organic matter, and then the organic matter has unique fluorescent properties. As the cutting-edge analytical techniques of optical measurement continuously developing from last few decades, a study on FDOM has been applied as a biogeochemical tracer to quantify the organic matter concentration and to investigate the behaviors and origins of organic matter. Especially, the marine environment around the Korean Peninsula is an ideal research area to study FDOM because of various oceanographic characteristics and the origins of organic matter. This study describes the general properties of FDOM and introduces the cycling and behaviors of marine organic matter based on the domestic research studies.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.103-111
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• 1997

Biogeochemical cycling of organic carbon is quantitatively partitioned in terms of 1) flux to the ocean bottom, 2) benthic utilization at or near the sediment-water interface, 3) remineralization and 4) burial within sediments, by making an independent determination for each component process from a single coastal site in Kwangyang Bay. The partitioning suggests that the benthic utilization at or near the sediment-water interface is the major mode of organic carbon cycling at the site. The benthic utilization takes 61.8% (441.6 gCm$^{-2}$ yr $^{-1}$) of the total near-bottem organic carbon flux, 714.6 gCm $^{-2}$yr$^{-1}$, and far exceeds the remineralization of organic carbon within the sediments which amounts only to 6% (41.24 gCm$^{-2}$yr$^{-1}$) of the total near-bottom flux. The residence time is about 1.6 years for the sedimentary metabolic organic carbon in the upper 45 cm. The dominant partitioning of the benthic utilization in the carbon budget suggests that most of labile organic carbons are consumed at or near the sediment-water interface and are left over to the sediment column by significantly diminished amounts.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.333-339
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• 2009

Using a novel pine needle agar, fifteen bacterial species were isolated from pine litter. These bacteria were able to degrade aromatic hydrocarbons derived from lignin and utilize the ortho-cleavage of the $\beta$-ketoadipate pathway to degrade protocatechuate or catechol. A different utilization array of aromatic hydrocarbons by these bacteria was also determined. This study provides the information on bacterial species living in pine litter and suggests that these bacteria have metabolic abilities to utilize aromatic hydrocarbons derived from lignin biodegradation.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.333-345
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• 2011

Aquatic macrophytes, often also called hydrophytes, are key components of aquatic and wetland ecosystems. This review is to briefly summarizes various macrophyte classifications, and covers numerous aspects of macrophytes' role in wetland ecosystems, namely in nutrient cycling. The most widely accepted macrophyte classification differentiates between freely floating macrophytes and those attached to the substrate, with the attached, or rooted macrophytes further divided into three categories: floating-leaved, submerged and emergent. Biogeochemical processes in the water column and sediments are to a large extent influenced by the type of macrophytes. Macrophytes vary in their biomass production, capability to recycle nutrients, and impacts on the rhizosphere by release of oxygen and organic carbon, as well as their capability to serve as a conduit for methane. With increasing eutrophication, the species diversity of wetland macrophytes generally declines, and the speciose communities are being replaced by monoculture-forming strong competitors. A similar situation often happens with invasive species. The roles of macrophytes and sediment microorganisms in wetland ecosystems are closely connected and should be studied simultaneously rather than in isolation.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.9-12
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• 1996

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) is one of major toxic pollutants in marine environments, This artificial chlorinated compound has been found in freshwater, seawater, soil, sediments and organismes living in various environments. Because of its toxicity and degradability, its uses in industrial processes have been banned after 1984 in Korea. Coastal area is an important environment for agriculture, industry, transportation, reduction of pollution loads through biogeochemical processes, cycling of nutrients and recreation. Input of pollutants from land and freshwater has been occurring through runoff, rivers and estuaries. Concentrations of PCBs were determined with GC-ECD. Concentrations of PCBs were in the range of 1.0 - 19.2 ng/g-dry weight of sediment(g-d.w.) at Ulsan, 4.5 -8,2 ng/g-d.w. at Onsan, 2.7 - 33.5 ng/g-d.w. at Masan and 4.0 - 60.7 ng/g-d.w. in Kwangyang, In Inchon area, PCBs were not detected in sediments. In sediments of Nakdong estuary, the distribution of PCBs' concentrations was 0.19 - 303 ng/g-d.w.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.413-413
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• 2023

Wetlands are a critical component of the global carbon cycle and are essential in mitigating climate change. Accurately quantifying wetland carbon emissions is crucial for understanding and predicting the impact of wetlands on the global carbon budget. The uncertainty quantifying carbon in wetlands may comes from the ecosystem's hydrological, biochemical, and microbiological variability. The Community Land Model is a sophisticated and flexible land surface model that offers several configuration options such as energy and water fluxes, vegetation dynamics, and biogeochemical cycling, necessitating careful consideration for the alternative configurations before model implementation to develop a practical model framework. We conducted a systematic literature review, analyzing the alternatives, focusing on the carbon stock pools configurations and the parameters with significant sensitivity for carbon quantification in wetlands. In addition, we evaluated the feasibility and availability of in situ observation data necessary for validating the different alternatives. This analysis identified the most suitable option for our study site, the Binbong Wetland, in Korea.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.120-129
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• 2012

We investigated seasonal variation of sediment-water oxygen and inorganic nitrogen fluxes, and denitrification at tidal flat sediments located in the Nakdong River Estuary from July 2005 to September 2006. Net oxygen fluxes, measured with sediment incubations at in situ temperature, varied from -37.0 to $0.5mmol\;O_2\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$. Oxygen fluxes into the sediments from the overlying water increased due to the increased water temperature. Denitrification rate ($4{\sim}2732{\mu}mol\;N\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$) in this study was higher compared to the other Korean coast measured with the same method. Denitrification showed the same seasonal variation as oxygen fluxes. Denitrification rate based on $^{15}N$-nitrate showed a strong correlation with nitrate flux into the sediments from the overlying water. Denitrification via "water column supplied nitrate ($D_w$)", calculated from Isotope pairing technique, also correlated well with nitrate flux into the sediments. Nitrate from water column seems to account for seasonal variation of denitrification in Nakdong River Estuary. To understand general patterns and trends of biogeochemical processes of sediments in the Nakdong River Estuary, we categorized biogeochemical fluxes measured in this study according to direction and sizes of fluxes. Type 1(high oxygen and inorganic nitrogen fluxes into the sediments and high denitrification) occurred in summer, whereas Type 2(low oxygen and inorganic nitrogen fluxes into the sediments and low denitrification) occurred in rest of the season. Intertidal flat sediments seem to react sensitively to influence of freshwater from the Nakdong River.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.109-120
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• 2007

The information on flowpath, storage, residence time, and interactions of water and carbon transport in a catchment is the prerequisite to the understanding and predicting of water and carbon cycling in the mountainous landscapes of Korea. In this paper, along with some up-to-date results, we present the principal methods that are currently used in HydroKorea and CarboKorea research to obtain such information. Various catchment hydrological processes have been examined on the basis of the water table fluctuations, the end-member mixing model, the cross correlation analysis, and cosmogenic radioactive isotope activity. In the Gwangneung catchment, the contribution of surface discharge was relatively large, and the changes in the amount, intensity and patterns of precipitation affected both the flowpath and the mean residence time of water. Particularly during the summer monsoon, changes in precipitation patterns and hydrological processes in the catchment influenced the carbon cycle such that the persistent precipitation increased the discharge of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrated in the surface soil layer. The improved understanding of the hydrological processes presented in this report will enable a more realistic assessment of the effects of climate changes on the water resource management and on the carbon cycling in forest catchments.