• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.217-231
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• 2007

To explore limiting factors of spring bloom caused by waste disposal after dumping activity commenced in the Yellow Sea, we used a 1-dimensional temperature-ecological coupled model. The vertical structure of temperature and vertical diffusivity (Kh) are calculated by the temperature model with sea surface temperature using the 2.5 layers turbulence closure scheme. The ecological model applied results at the temperature model consisted of five state variables (DIN, DIP, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and detritus) forced by photosynthetically available radiation. We simulate year-to-year variations of plankton and nutrients using the coupled model from 1998 to 2000 and compare results of the model with observed data. It turned out that temperature is the growth factor of spring bloom in dumping area. During the winter the weak stratification made sufficient supply of the accumulated nutrients from the sea bed into the upper water column and led to the bloom in the coming spring. Radiation also turned out to be another important factor of spring bloom in the study area. Insufficient radiation of March 1999 showed low chlorophyll-a concentration despite sufficient nutrients in the surface.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.203-213
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• 1998

To investigate impacts of waste disposal on the marine environment for 9 years since dumping activity commenced in the Yellow Sea, chemical analysis of seawater has been done in and around the ocean dumping site. Results show that biogeochemical changes have occurred locally in the dumping area compared with the reference area, resulting in low dissolved oxygen saturation, low pH, and high accumulation of nutrients in the bottom layer. According to cluster analysis, chemical environment of the study area can be largely divided into surface layer and bottom layer, and again the bottom layer can be divided into that of dumping area where nutrients are accumulated and that of reference area. Low pH, low dissolved oxygen, high COD and accumulation of nutrients mainly characterize the dumping area. Average concentration of total inorganic nitrogen in the bottom layer below the thermocline has increased from $3.7{\mu}M$ to $9.5{\mu}M$, 250% accumulation in the dumping area since 1988. Therefore, the present results clearly show that the dumping site of Yellow Sea has received excessive sewage input beyond the environmental assimilatory capacity during the last decade. It may result in serious aggravation of seawater quality and basic ecosystem, and devastation of overall fishing grounds of Yellow Sea in the near future.