• Title/Summary/Keyword: ocean sediments

Search Result 548, Processing Time 0.024 seconds

Characteristics of Heavy Metals and Benthic Foraminifera on Surface Sediments in Masan Bay and Gadeog Channel, Korea (마산만과 가덕수로 표층퇴적물의 중금속 원소와 저서성 유공충 특성)

  • Woo, Han-Jun;Cho, Jin-Hyung;Choi, Jae-Ung
    • Ocean and Polar Research
    • /
    • v.29 no.3
    • /
    • pp.233-244
    • /
    • 2007
  • Nine surface sediments from Masan Bay and Gadeog Channel were taken for grain size and geochemical and foraminiferal analyses in August 2002. The sediments consist of mud with 7.29-8.54 $\phi$ in mean grain size. Average concentrations of Al, Fe and Mn are higher in Gadeog Channel than those in Masan Bay. On the other hand, average concentrations of Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, Cr, Ni and V are higher in Masan Bay than those in the channel. The latter group of elements show the highest concentration at station M4, off the outfall of treated wastewater disposal. Eighty-one foraminiferal species are identified in total assemblages, including 21 species of living populations. The number of individuals, species number, species diversity and equitability in Masan Bay have lower values than those in Gadeog Channel. The foraminiferal fauna off the outfall is relatively poor. Compared to geochemical and foraminiferal data obtained in 1996, heavy metals are more enriched, and the characteristics of foraminifera are little changed. These features indicate that the pollution of Masan Bay has not been reduced.

Changes of Sedimentary Environments in the Southern Tidal Flat of Kanghwa Island (강화 남부 갯벌의 퇴적환경 변화)

  • Woo, Han-Jun;Je, Jong-Geel
    • Ocean and Polar Research
    • /
    • v.24 no.4
    • /
    • pp.331-343
    • /
    • 2002
  • The southern tidal flat of Kanghwa Island with an area of approximately $90km^2$ is one of the biggest flats on the west coast of Korea. Surface sediments for sedimentary analyses were sampled at 83 stations in August 1997, September 1999 and August 2000. The very poorly-sorted mud sediments were predominant in the eastern part of the tidal flat, whereas the poorly-sorted sand-mud mixed sediments were dominant in the western part. The area of muddy sediment distribution diminished, but that of sandy mud sediment extended to southeastward tidal flat for three years. In the western part of tidal flat, deposition occurred during the period of spring to summer, whereas erosion occurred in winter. Sediment accumulation rates during three years indicated that the sediments deposited continuously in the eastern part of tidal flat, whereas eroded in the western part of tidal flat. Recently, construction of artificial structures such as new airport, island-connecting bridges and dikes near the tidal flat might change tidal current and river flow pattern. In order to reduce the ecological damage and to preserve tidal-flat environment, it is necessary to Investigate long-term impacts on sedimentary environment and ecology.

An Analysis of the Variation in the Settling Properties of Cohesive Sediments before and after Closure of the Saemankeum Seadike (새만금 끝막이 공사 전후의 점착성 퇴적물의 침강특성 변화 해석)

  • Yang, Su-Hyun;Hwang, Kyu-Nam
    • Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
    • /
    • v.22 no.4
    • /
    • pp.20-26
    • /
    • 2008
  • The primary purpose of this study was to quantitatively examine whether there was a difference in the settling velocities of cohesive sediments in the Saemankeum artificial lake before and after the closure of the Saemankeum seadike. Through in situ sediment sampling and laboratory experiments, the settling velocities were estimated as a function of the suspension concentration and their physico-chemical properties, such as grain size distribution, the percentage of organic contents, mineralogical composition, etc. were also examined. In this study, their inter-relation with settling velocities were also analyzed qualitatively. The result of the settling tests for Saemankeum sediments showed that there was a big difference in the settling velocities before and after the closure of the Saemankeum seadike. Its settling velocities in a flocculated settling region became remarkably larger after the closure compared to those before the closure, while they were similar but relatively smaller in a hindered settling region. This was found to be mainly due to the difference in their grain size.

Provenance of the Sediments of the Araon Mound in the Chukchi Sea, Arctic Ocean (북극 척치해 아라온 마운드 퇴적물의 기원지에 관한 연구)

  • Jang, JeongKyu;Koo, HyoJin;Cho, HyenGoo
    • Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
    • /
    • v.34 no.1
    • /
    • pp.15-29
    • /
    • 2021
  • In the Arctic Ocean, the distribution of sea ice and ice sheets changes as climate changes. Because the distribution of ice cover influences the mineral composition of marine sediments, studying marine sediments transported by sea ice or iceberg is very important to understand the global climate change. This study analyzes marine sediment samples collected from the Arctic Ocean and infers the provenance of the sediments to reconstruct the paleoenvironment changes of the western Arctic. The analyzed samples include four gravity cores collected from the Araon mound in the Chukchi Plateau and one gravity core collected from the slope between the Araon mounds. The core sediments were brown, gray, and greenish gray, each of which corresponds to the characteristic color of sediments deposited during the interglacial/glacial cycle in the western Arctic Ocean. We divide the core sediments into three units based on the analysis of bulk mineral composition, clay mineral composition, and Ice Rafted Debris (IRD) as well as comparison with previous study results. Unit 3 sediments, deposited during the last glacial maximum, were transported by sea ice and currents after the sediments of the Kolyma and Indigirka Rivers were deposited on the continental shelf of the East Siberian Sea. Unit 2 sediments, deposited during the deglacial period, were from the Kolyma and Indigirka Rivers flowing into the East Siberian Sea as well as from the Mackenzie River and the Canadian Archipelago flowing into the Beaufort Sea. Unit 2 sediments also contained an extensive amount of IRD, which originated from the melted Laurentide Ice Sheet. During the interglacial stage, fine-grained sediments of Unit 1 were transported by sea ice and currents from Northern Canada and the East Siberian Sea, but coarse-grained sediments were derived by sea ice from the Canadian Archipelago.

Characteristics of Total Carbon and Total Organic Carbon Using Elemental Analyzer in Hyung-Do Intertidal Zone Sediments (원소분석기를 이용한 형도 퇴적물의 총탄소 및 총유기탄소 특성)

  • Lee, Jun-Ho;Park, Kap-Song;Woo, Han-Jun
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
    • /
    • v.45 no.6
    • /
    • pp.673-684
    • /
    • 2012
  • Quantitative understanding of total carbon, total inorganic carbon and total organic carbon contained in ocean sediments is a basic data for interpretation of oceanic sediment environments. Elemental analyzer(EA) is frequently used for the analysis of carbon contents in inland soils and ocean sediments. Carbon and nitrogen contents of the soil reference material analyzed by an EA were 2.30% and 0.21% with standard deviations of 0.02 and 0.01, respectively. Relative standard deviations were 0.01 and 0.06, respectively, representing a high precision. Regression analysis of TOC and TC analysis results for the samples with TOC of less than 2.0% for the site in Hyung-Do showed a linear relationship with a slope of 0.9743($R^2$=0.9989, n=38), and the results of a relationship regression analysis between total organic carbon contents less than 0.5% and average grain size except for two samples showed a linear relationship with a slope of 0.0444($R^2$=0.6937 n=36). TOC contents of surface sediments were in the ranges of 0.10~1.67%(Average $0.26{\pm}0.37%$) with TOC values of 1.67% at S02 sampling site, 1.13% at S07 sampling site, and less than 1.00% at remaining sites. In the case of PC 01 core sediments, TOC showed the highest value of 0.20% near 70 cm. In the case of PC 02 core sediments, the highest value of 0.24% was indicated near 60 cm. The analysis method of organic carbon obtained from Hyung-Do Intertidal zone sediment sample results may be considered applicable to an organic carbon analysis for ocean sediments and useful for organic carbon analysis experiments of ocean sediments with a reduction in time required for the analysis and a high precision coupled with a high accuracy.

Benthic Foraminiferal Assemblage and Sedimentary Environment of Core Sediments from the Northern Shelf of the East China Sea (북동중국해 대륙붕 코아 퇴적물의 저서유공충 군집 특성과 퇴적환경 연구)

  • Kang, So-Ra;Lim, Dhong-Il;Kim, So-Young;Rho, Kyoung-Chan;Yoo, Hae-Soo;Jung, Hoi-Soo
    • Journal of the Korean earth science society
    • /
    • v.29 no.6
    • /
    • pp.454-465
    • /
    • 2008
  • Benthic foraminiferal assemblage and AMS radiocarbon dating of core sediments from the northern shelf of the East China Sea were analyzed in order to understand the paleoenvironment and sedimentary environmental changes around the Korean marginal seas since the last glacial maximum (LGM). The core sediments, containing continuous records of the last 16,000 years, reveal a series of well-defined vertical changes in number of species (S), P/T ratio and species diversity (H) as well as foraminiferal assemblage. Such down-core variations display a sharp change at a core depth of approximately 240 cm, which corresponds to ca. 10,000 year B.P. The sediments of the lower part of the core (240${\sim}$560 cm, Zone I), including the well-developed tide-influenced sedimentary structures, are characterized by high abundances of Ammonia beccarii and Elphidium clavatum (s.l.) and low values in number of species, P/T ratio and diversity. These tide-influenced signatures and foraminiferal assemblage characters suggest that the sediments of Zone I were deposited in a coastal environment (water depths of 20${\sim}$30 m) such as tidal estuary with an influence of the paleo-rivers (e.g., old-Huanghe and Yangtze rivers) during the early phase of the sea-level rise (ca. 16,000 to 10,000 years) since the LGM. In contrast, the upper core sediments (0${\sim}$240 cm, Zone II) are characterized by abundant Eilohedra nipponica and Bolivina robusta with a minor contribution of A. ketienziensis angulata and B. marginata. and high values in number of species, P/T ratio and diversity. Based on relative abundance of these assemblage, Zone II can be divided into two subzones (IIa and IIb). Zone IIa is interpreted to be deposited under the inner-to-middle shelf environment during the marine transgression in the early Holocene (after ca. 9,000 yr B.P.) when sea level rapidly increased. The sediments of zone IIb most likely deposited after 6,000 yr B.P. under the outer shelf environment (80${\sim}$100 m water depth), which is similar to modem depositional environments. The muddy sediments of zone IIb were probably transported from the old-Huanghe and Yangtze Rivers during the late Holocene. We suggest that the present-day oceanographic conditions over the Yellow and the East China Seas have been established after ca. 7,000${\sim}$6,000 yr B.P. when the Kuroshio Current began to influence this area.

Heavy Metal Contamination in Sediments by Herbei Sprit Oil Spill (허베이 스피리트 원유 유출 사고에 의한 퇴적물의 중금속 오염)

  • Song, Yun Ho;Choi, Man Sik;Woo, Jun Sik;Sim, Won Joon
    • The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
    • /
    • v.18 no.2
    • /
    • pp.70-79
    • /
    • 2013
  • Since crude oil contains various pollutants including heavy metals, the environmental impact should be assessed for heavy metals as well as oil itself. In order to estimate the extent of heavy metal contamination, surface sediments were collected at the intertidal and coastal zone around the Herbei sprit oil spill area during December 2007 and January 2008. Organic carbon, sulfur and heavy metals were determined to assess heavy metal contamination in sediments. The crude oils contained C, S, V and Ni, but little toxic metals such as As, Cd, etc. From organic carbon content, the highest contaminated site was estimated that oils contributed to sediments up to 10%, and this site showed high V concentration. Potentially contaminated sediments by crude oil could be differentiated from unaffected sediments through V/Al and Ni/Al ratios, which can be used as indicators of oil contamination even after the oils were fully degraded.

An Experimental Study on Depositional Parameters of Cohesive Sediments in Semi-closed Bay (준 폐만 점착성 퇴적물의 퇴적매개변수 산정에 관한 실험적 연구)

  • Jung, Eui-Taek;Kim, Yong-Muk;Kim, Dong-Ho;Hwang, Kyu-Nam
    • Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
    • /
    • v.24 no.3
    • /
    • pp.159-165
    • /
    • 2012
  • In this study, a series of deposition tests have been performed using an annular flume and depositional parameters of natural cohesive sediments have been estimated domestically for the first time. The natural cohesive sediments for deposition tests have been collected from Kwangyang Bay and total 18 deposition tests have been carried out on different bed shear stress respectively but with the same initial concentration. Test results for natural cohesive sediments of Kwangyang bay show that minimum bed shear stress ${\tau}_{bmin}$, standard deviation ${\sigma}_1$, and time scale parameter $({\tau}_b^*-1)_{50}$ are $0.11N/m^2$, 0.68 and 0.85, respectively. Through the comparison with results of previous studies for other sediments, the results of this study are shown to be good enough to verify.