• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.137-148
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• 2022

In this study, ship movement simulation was performed based on a marine physics model for the ancient port presumed under the past environmental conditions in the coastal area of Hwaseong, which played an important role as a center of trade in the Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla periods. The paleo topographical surface was reconstructed through the analysis of borehole sediments, and the paleo coastline was extracted through the geomorphological maps published during before independence. Based on the established paleo environmental conditions of the Hwaseong coast, the marine physics model (FVCOM) was used to simulate the flow of surface currents and the route of floating materials assumed to be ancient ships. As a result, the processes of moving ships from the port to the open sea in the Eunsupo area, which is estimated location of the ancient port related to Dangseong, was well simulated, and thus the reliability of the location of the ancient port estimated by the scientific method was secured. This study is significant as a result of convergence research that encompasses archeology, history, geomorpology, geology, and oceanography.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.217-225
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• 2021

The family Platycephalidae is a taxonomic group of economically important demersal flathead fishes that predominantly occupy tropical or temperate estuaries and coastal environments of the Indo-Pacific oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. In this study, we for the first time analyzed the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the flathead Platycephalus cultellatus Richardson, 1846 from Vietnam by Next Generation Sequencing method. Its mitogenome was 16,641 bp in total length, comprising 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes, and 22 transfer RNA genes. The gene composition and order of the mitogenome were identical to those of typical vertebrates. The phylogenetic trees were reconstructed based on the concatenated nucleotide sequence matrix of 13 PCGs and the partial sequence of a DNA barcoding marker, cox1 in order to determine its molecular phylogenetic position among the order Scorpaeniformes. The phylogenetic result revealed that P. cultellatus formed a monophyletic group with species belonging to the same family and consistently clustered with one nominal species, P. indicus, and two Platycephalus sp. specimens. Besides, the cox1 tree confirmed the taxonomic validity of our specimen by forming a monophyletic clade with its conspecific specimens. The mitogenome of P. cultellatus analyzed in this study will contribute valuable information for further study on taxonomy and phylogeny of flatheads.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.632-638
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• 2022

As Korean coastal activity is high, the incidence of accidents caused by marine waste is extensive. An accident in which marine floating waste ropes and fishing nets are wound around the propeller of a sailing ship is termed "Rope wrapped accident." To prevent such accidents, this study applied the Finite Element Method (F.E.M.) for performance evaluation of the shaver type cutter, commercialized in Korea, through a structural safety review and water tank test. The results demonstrate that all parts constituting the rope cutter were damaged before reaching 0.5s, and the safety factor of each part was found to be at least 2 based on the maximum stress generated compared to the tensile strength. In the basin test, the cutting process of the shaver type rope cutter was reviewed, and the installation angle was set for each case considering that the rope floating in the sea actually enters at various angles. Consequently, as it was successful at cutting in all the cases, it can be concluded that there will be no problem in cutting the rope regardless of the mounted angle of the cutting blade.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.53-74
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• 2020

It is important to understand the current status and problems of the North Korean shipping industry to prepare for inter-Korean trade in the future era of peace in the Korean Peninsula. In this study, the status of vessels calling in North and South ports was analyzed by year, cargo type (vessel type), and North Korean port type using Port-MIS data. In particular, considering the three years (2006-2008) in which inter-Korean trade was the most active, the flow of maritime transport was analyzed by visualizing data on vessels' arrival and departure in the North and South ports. Findings revealed that sea transportation between Haeju-Incheon was the most frequent, while the Haeju-Mokpo and Nampo-Incheon routes in the west coast area, and the Najin-Busan route in the east coast area were active. With reference to general cargo vessels, ports located on the west coast of Korea tended to operate between those located on the North coast of North Korea and on the east coast of South Korea. These results are expected to serve as a basis for establishing research and policies related to coastal shipping between the two Koreas in the future.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.71-86
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• 2022

The water quality index (WQI) has been widely used to evaluate marine water quality. The WQI in Korea is categorized into five classes by marine environmental standards. But, the WQI calculation on huge datasets is a very complex and time-consuming process. In this regard, the current study proposed machine learning (ML) based models to predict WQI class by using water quality datasets. Sihwa Lake, one of specially-managed coastal zone, was selected as a modeling site. In this study, adaptive boosting (AdaBoost) and tree-based pipeline optimization (TPOT) algorithms were used to train models and each model performance was evaluated by metrics (accuracy, precision, F1, and Log loss) on classification. Before training, the feature importance and sensitivity analysis were conducted to find out the best input combination for each algorithm. The results proved that the bottom dissolved oxygen (DO_Bot) was the most important variable affecting model performance. Conversely, surface dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN_Sur) and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP_Sur) had weaker effects on the prediction of WQI class. In addition, the performance varied over features including stations, seasons, and WQI classes by comparing spatio-temporal and class sensitivities of each best model. In conclusion, the modeling results showed that the TPOT algorithm has better performance rather than the AdaBoost algorithm without considering feature selection. Moreover, the WQI class for unknown water quality datasets could be surely predicted using the TPOT model trained with satisfactory training datasets.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.191-203
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• 2022

This study is a follow-up study of vulnerable areas according to the vulnerability assessment of groundwater resource management in Korea. In this study, an optimal operation plan for groundwater resource management was proposed for areas vulnerable to groundwater resource management in Korea derived from previous studies. Prior to presenting the optimal operation plan for groundwater resource management, this study grasped the current status of changes in groundwater level and seawater penetration area for vulnerable areas using MODFLOW, a groundwater flow analysis program. As a result of the analysis using basic data for 10 years from 2009 to 2018, the groundwater level fell and the sea infiltration area increased. The final purpose of this study, the optimal operation plan for groundwater resource management, was selected as a total of four alternatives that can be expected to have positive effects to increase groundwater level and reduce seawater penetration. As a result of analyzing the amount of change in groundwater level and seawater penetration by applying the selected optimal operation plan, positive effects were found in all methods. It is expected that the optimal operation plan for groundwater resource management proposed in this study will be applied not only to vulnerable areas of groundwater resources in Korea but also to areas requiring development to establish efficient groundwater resource management measures.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.95-120
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• 2023

Methane (CH₄) is a key greenhouse gas in the atmosphere with 85 times greater greenhouse potent relative to carbon dioxide (CO₂). The atmospheric concentration of CH₄ is rapidly increasing due to the intensive usage of CH₄ and the thawing of the cryosphere. Additionally, with the current warming of ocean water, the dissociation of gas hydrates, an ice-like compound and the largest reservoir of CH₄ on Earth, is expected to occur, resulting in the release of CH₄ from the seafloor into the overlying water and atmosphere. Moreover, bottom water hypoxia is another concern that potentially introduces greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. With ongoing global warming and eutrophication, the size and duration of bottom water hypoxia are rapidly increasing. These low-oxygen conditions would relocate the redox zone shallower in sediment or in the water column, causing the release of CH₄ into the atmosphere and thereby intensifying global warming. However, there exists a gap in the understanding of CH₄ dynamics including its generation in relation to bottom water hypoxia. Therefore, this review article aims to understand the relationship between CH₄ and bottom water hypoxia and to draw attention to CH₄ investigation in Korea.

• Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.49-57
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• 2010

The topographical rolling distribution characteristics of 10 geological areas in Gyeongsangbuk-do are analyzed using GIS. PEs, PEgrgn, Pp₂, Kav·Kiv, and Khgr regions occupy the more than 60% that are a steep slope-a high elevation and a steep slope-a middle elevation region, and form high moutains in Gyeongsangbuk-do. Meanwhile, Ke_1-9 and Te_1-2 regions take possession of the more than 70% that are a low elevation region. Ke_1-9 region form landward flatlands and hills around Nakdong river and tributaries of Nakdong river in Gyeongsangbuk-do. Then, Te_1-2 region form coastal lowlands adjacent the East sea in Gyeongsangbuk-do. Also, Jgr region take possession of the more than 70% that are a middle elevation region, and form low moutains or flatlands in Gyeongsangbuk-do. Finally, Ols₁ region take possession of the more than 50% that are a steep slope region, and form landward moutains in Gyeongsangbuk-do.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.352-362
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• 2022

Photosynthesis and respiration of seagrasses are mainly controlled by water temperature. In this study, the photosynthetic physiology and respiratory changes of the Asian surfgrass Phyllospadix japonicus, which is mainly distributed on the eastern and southern coasts of Korea, were investigated in response to changing water temperature (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30℃) by conducting mesocosm experiments. Photosynthetic parameters (maximum photosynthetic rate, P_max; compensation irradiance, I_c; and saturation irradiance, I_k) and respiration rate of surfgrass increased with rising water temperature, whereas photosynthetic efficiency (α) was fairly constant among the water temperature conditions. The P_max and I_k dramatically decreased under the highest water temperature condition (30℃), whereas the I_c and respiration rate increased continuously with the increasing water temperature. Ratios of maximum photosynthetic rates to respiration rates (P_max : R) were highest at 5℃ and declined markedly at higher temperatures with the lowest ratio at 30℃. The minimum requirement of H_sat (the daily period of irradiance-saturated photosynthesis) of P. japonicus was 2.5 hours at 5℃ and 10.6 hours at 30℃ for the positive carbon balance. Because longer H_sat was required for the positive carbon balance of P. japonicus under the increased water temperature, the rising water temperature should have negatively affected the growth, distribution, and survival of P. japonicus on the coast of Korea. Since the temperature in the temperate coastal waters is rising gradually due to global warming, the results of this study could provide insights into surfgrass responses to future severe sea warming and light attenuation.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.558-568
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• 2023

Vibrio vulnificus is an aquatic bacterium causing septicemia and wound infection in humans. To understand this pathogen at the genomic level, it was performed whole genome sequencing of a cefoxitin-resistant strain, V. vulnificus 1908-10 possessing virulence-related genes (vvhA, viuB, and vcgC) isolated from Gadeok island coastal seawater in South Korea. The genome of V. vulnificus 1908-10 consisted of two circular contigs and no plasmid. The total genome size was estimated to be 5,018,425 bp with a guanine-cytosine (GC) content of 46.9%. We found 119 tRNA and 34 rRNA genes respectively in the genome, along with 4,352 predicted protein sequences. Virulence factor (VF) analysis further revealed that V. vulnificus 1908-10 possess various virulence genes in classes of adherence, antiphagocytosis, chemotaxis and motility, iron uptake, quorum sensing, secretion system, and toxin. In the comparison of the presence/absence of virulence genes, V. vulnificus 1908-10 had fur, hlyU, luxS, ompU, pilA, pilF, rtxA, rtxC, and vvhA. Of the 30 V. vulnificus comparative strains, 80% of the C-genotype strains have all of these genes, whereas 40% of the E-genotype strains have all of them. In particular, pilA were identified in 80% of the C-type strains and 40% of the E-type strains, showing more difference than other genes. Therefore, V. vulnificus 1908-10 had similar VF characteristics to those of type C strains. Multifunctional-autoprocessing repeats-in-toxin (MARTX) toxin of V. vulnificus 1908-10 contained 8 A-type repeats (GXXGXXXXXG), 25 B.1-type repeats (TXVGXGXX), 18 B2-type repeats (GGXGXDXXX), and 7 C-type repeats (GGXGXDXXX). The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) showed that the RtxA protein of V. vulnificus 1908-10 had the effector domain in the order of cross-liking domain (ACD)-C58_PaToxP-like domain- α/β hydrolase-C58_PaToxP-like domain.