• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.158-177
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• 2023

An estuary is a transitional water area that links the land and sea through rivers and streams, transporting various components from the land to the sea, which plays an important role in determining primary productivity in the coastal environment, and this coastal ecosystem captures a huge amount of carbon into biomass, known as blue carbon, which mitigates climate change as a potential carbon reservoir. This study examined the variation of mean grain size and organic carbon content of the surface sediments for 6 years and analyzed their relationship in the western and southern estuarine areas (Han River Estuary, Geum River Estuary, Yeongsan River Estuary, Seomjin River Estuary, and Nakdong River Estuary) and the East Sea upwelling area. During the sampling period (2015 to 2020), seasonal variation of both properties was not observed, because their variations might be controlled by diverse oceanographic environments and hydrographic conditions within each survey area. However, despite the synoptic problem of all samples, the positive relationship was obtained between the averages of mean grain size and organic carbon content, which clearly distinguishes each survey area. The unique positive relationship in all estuarine areas implies that the same process by sediment clay particles is important in the organic carbon accumulation. However, additional important factor may be expected in the organic carbon accumulation in the East Sea upwelling area. Further necessary data (sedimentation rate, dry bulk density etc) should be required for the estimation of carbon stock to evaluate the major estuaries in Korea as potential carbon reservoirs in the coastal environment.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.287-304
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• 2007

This study was carried out to investigate spatio-temporal variations of benthic environment and macrobenthic polychaete communities in Gamak Bay where excessive organic matters from untreated sewage effluents and fish and shellfish farming activities have been accumulated in certain regions. Such environmental variables as sediment composition, organic content, acid volatile sulfide and dissolved oxygen content etc. were measured and polychaete specimens were taken in September 1999 and February 2000. In September 1999, organic contents were up to three times higher in the northwestern part of the bay and the area closed to Gukdong harbor than in the rest of the bay. In particular, benthic environment of the northwestern part of the bay was extremely deteriorated by the occurrence of hypoxia and highly concentrated sulfide. Of 28 stations investigated in summer, 5 stations located in the northwestern part were azoic. In the rest of the stations, a total of 119 polychaete species were sampled with a mean density of 900 $ind./m^2$. While species richness was higher in the entrance and central part of the bay where water exchanges with open sea were relatively active, density was higher in the moderately enriched stations neighbouring Gukdong harbor and fish farms where such potential indicators of organic pollution as Aphelochaeta monilaris, Lumbrineris longifolia were largely dominant. In February 2000, a total of 81 polychaete species appeared with a mean density of 2,802 $ind./m^2$ from 12 stations sampled in winter. Azoic areas were recolonized by Capitella capitata, Pseudopolydora paucibranchiata and Dipolydora socialis which showed maximum density in the innermost station. On the other hand, the rest of the stations were dominated by Euchone alicaudata and Praxillella affinis. The configuration of the stations sampled in summer and winter on the multidimensional scaling plots reflected the position of each stations within the bay in which there were great differences in organic content, sulfide concentration and oxygen content rather than in sediment composition. Therefore, heterogeneities in polychaete community structure in Gamak Bay were primarily influenced by the degree of the disturbance depending on the position within the bay.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.742-749
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• 2009

To examine the characteristics of the nutrient release from the sediments in two reservoirs, Lake Paldang and Lake Cheungpyeung, we analyzed physical and chemical properties of the sediments and calculated the nutrient release rates from the sediments. The particle properties of sediments in Lake Paldang changed from silt to sand after summer rainy season, especially in the water area of the Kyeungan River where the water depth was shallow and the width of river was narrow. The sediments in Lake Cheungpyeung had higher contents of silt and clay than in Lake Paldang, and the particle size was not much different before and after rainfall. The release rates of nutrients in two lakes varied with the kind of nutrients and the season. The release rates of DTN and ${NH_4}^+-N$ in Lake Paldang were faster in spring than autumn. But the Lake Cheungpyeung showed similar values of release rates before and after summer rainy season. ${NO_3}^--N$ and phosphorous were not released from sediments or were absorbed into sediments all the time in two lakes. Compared with other lakes, the sediments of two lakes consisted of bigger particles and had a lower organic matters content than other lake-type reservoirs. Due to the short hydraulic retention time and no stratification throughout the year in Lake Paldang and Lake Cheungpyeung, the release rates of nutrients from sediment in these reservoirs were lower than other lakes and this seems to be a typical characteristic of river-type reservoirs.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.243-255
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• 2014

This study was investigated to estimate the relations between benthic environments and benthic polychaetous community from April 2012 to February 2013. Twenty four stations were selected sequentially with Seomjin River Estuary from the northern part of Gwangyang Bay. The study area could be divided into three characteristic zones based on salinity, water temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH such as Saline Water Zone (SWZ), Brackish Water Zone (BWZ), and Fresh Water Zone (FWZ). Salinity was above 30.0 psu in SWZ, drastically decreased toward inland in BWZ, and nearly zero psu in FWZ. SWZ showed its specific environmental characters like that water temperature fluctuated with little seasonal change and DO showed the lowest values among three zones, and pH maintained as consistent value without seasonal fluctuation. In FWZ, on the other hand, water temperature showed high seasonal fluctuation, DO showed the highest values among three zones, and pH fluctuated greatly. In sedimentary environment, mud, sand and sand/gravel were found as dominant sedimentary deposits in SWZ, BWZ and FWZ, respectively. Organic matter content and AVS in surface sediment were high in SWZ, while Chl-a content high in FWZ. This study area showed a marked environmental difference between FWZ and SWZ as follows: FWZ has coarse sediment and low salinity, low organic matter content, low AVS in FWZ but SWZ has fine sediment and high salinity, high organic matter content and AVS. Species number and mean density of benthic polychaete community was highest in Saline Water Zone (SWZ), drastically decreased in Brackish Water Zone (BWZ), and lowest in Fresh Water Zone (FWZ). Dominant polychates above 5.0% of individual numbers were 6 taxa. Lumbrineris longifolia, Prionospio cirrifera, Tharyx sp. occurred as main dominant species of all study periods, and Hediste sp., Praxillella affinis, Tylorrhynchus sp. dominantly occurred at some seasons. Inhabiting areas of dominant species were separated characteristically. Representative species in SWZ were Lumbrineris longifolia, Tharyx sp., Mediomastus sp.. Wide-appearing species between SWZ and BWZ were Prionospio cirrifera, Heteromastus filiformis, Aricidea sp.. Characteristic species in FWZ were Tylorrhynchus sp. and Hediste sp.. As the results of cluster analysis and nMDS based on the species composition of polychaetous community, unique station groups were established in SWZ and FWZ. Stations in BWZ were sub-divided into several groups with season. Pearson's correlation analysis and PCA between benthic environments and ecological characteristics of polychaetous community showed that salinity, sediment composition, organic content and dissolved oxygen played a role to determine the temporal and spatial distribution of the ecological characteristics as species number, mean density, abundance of main species, and ecological indices.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.477-490
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• 2003

Bottom sediments from Youngil Bay, East Coast of Korea, were analyzed for grain composition as well as elemental compositions and total organic carbon (TOC) content in order to investigate the spatial variability and content of metal elements. Grain size distribution of the sediments seems to be controlled by anticlockwise current pattern with bottom topography of the study area. Spatial variability of TOC and all elemental contents reflects those of grain size, but an exception was found in the harbor area (Old-Port): their contents are high in the central part of the bay with the muddy sediment and decrease toward the sand-dominated coastal zone. However, contents of Ca, Sr, K are high in the sand-dominated coastal zone and contents of some heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Zn) are high in the Old-Port area and the mouth of Hyeongsan River. The correlation matrix and R-mode factor analyses reveal that four important factors controlling the distribution of metals in the bay are sediment grain size (or quartz dilution effect), the formation of sulfide minerals associated with decomposition of organic matters under anoxic geochemical environment, calcium carbonate (mainly shell fragments) and coarse-grained feldspar mineral. According to the metal content of labile fraction an CER (concentration enrichment ratio) value, high accumulation of some heavy metals in the harbor area seems to result not formed by early diagenetic processes under anoxic environment.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.631-644
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• 2006

The study area is a pocket beach which consisted of sandy beach, dune, agricultural land and residential area etc. The coastal dune area is classified to foredune, dune plain, secondary (or back) dune. The foredune area is covered by herbaceous dune plants(ex. Carex kobomugi, Wedelia prostrata, etc.), whereas the dune plain area is covered by herbs and shrubs(Vitex rotundifolia). The most inner area, secondary dune, is planted by pine forest(Pinus thunbergii). The mean size of the beach and dune sediments ranges from 1.1 to $1.8{\Phi}$, which mean these values are higher than normal sediments. Sorting and Skewness is $0.6{\sim}-1.2{\Phi}$ and $-2.7{\sim}1.6{\Phi}$ respectively. We found that the soil formation process in the secondary dune area has been progressed rapidly from the analysis of fine grain content, organic matter content, and CEC.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.137-144
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• 2000

The observations on the seasonal fluctuation and distributional characteristic of organic matters on surface sediments and its origin were carried out at the 25 stations in Keogeum-sudo, southern coast of Korean Peninsula from February to October in 1993. I made an analysis on the environmental factors for surface sediments such as temperature, ignition loss, chemical oxygen demand, pheopigment, total sulphide, water content, mud content in grain size, COD/IL ratio and COD/sulphide ratio. The results are as follows ; 1) The range of temperature on the surface sediments was between 6.2${\circ}C$ and 24.6${\circ}C$. The highest mean temperatuer of mud was 24.0${\circ}C$ in summer, the lowest 6.6${\circ}C$ in winter. 2) Ignition loss(IL) fluctuated between 1.2% in winter and 16.8% in spring, that is to say, the seasons of increasing in temperature were very high ignition loss. 3) Chemical oxygen demand(COD) showed the highest mean value of 20.52 mg/g dry in summer within the range of 15/46~32.78 mg/g dry, while showed the lowest of 5.79 mg/g dry in winter within the range of 7.4~17.39 mg/g dry. 4) Pheopigment concentrations showed the highest mean value of 4.85 $\mu\textrm{g}$/g dry in autumn within the range of 0.84~9.21 $\mu\textrm{g}$/g dry, while it did the lowest mean value of 1.97 $\mu\textrm{g}$/g dry in summer within the range of 0.23~4.83 $\mu\textrm{g}$/g dry. 5) Total sulphide (H2S) fluctuated between no detect(ND) in spring, and 2.43 mg/g dry in sutumn. The highest mean value was 0.68 mg/g dry in sutumn, the lowest was 0.16 mg/g dry in spring. 6) Water content(WC) and mud content in grain size showed the mean value of 43.2% within the range of 26.5~59.7% and 91.0% within the range of 57.8~99.2%, respectively. 7) By the analytical results on the source of organic matter, it had been dumped from the seaweed farms in Keogeum-sudo coastal waters.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.15-31
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• 1991

A total of 90 surface sediment samples, collected from the continental margin area bordering east and southeast coast of Korea, were subject to the geochemical analyses with the aim of filling the gap in our knowledge of this environment. The analyzed items included the major elements (Al, Fe, Mg, Ca, K, Na, p and Mn), organic carbon, and some trace metals (Ba, Co, Cu, Sr and Zn). The sediment grain-size exerted a predominant influence on the contents of most elements, with the exceptions of Ca, K, Sr and Ba. The Ca and Sr contents, being closely interrelated each other, were mainly controlled by the calcium carbonate content. The K content, on the other hand, appeared to be influenced by both illite and feldspar. The Ba content showed a certain relationship with that of K, suggesting a common source of these two elements; potassium feldspar. The R-mode factor analysis result also reaffirmed the above-mentioned controlling factors on the sediment geochemistry. The grain-size dependency of trace metals obscures their areal distribution pattern from the total contents. However, with the metal/aluminum ratios we could differentiate the subtle difference in the metal enrichment. Hence, sediments of the southern coastal area appear to receive some anthropogenic inputs of metals, though the effect is still negligible.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.80-88
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• 2016

The main purpose of this study was to derive managerial priority for pollutants in drinking water using the Delphi technique and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. We collected fundamental existing items based on a literature review for water pollutants, and deduced a total of 36 sub-items from nine core sectors, as follows: organic matter; inorganic substances; pathogenic organisms; chemicals; heavy metals; radioactive substances; sediment deposits; heat; and oil, and then conducted the first round of an expert study to ensure that objective indicators properly evaluate major issues for management of for drinking water quality. In the following round, the necessity and importance assessments of adjusted items were implemented using a content validity ratio index. Finally, items modified by Delphi surveys were applied to AHP. We computed weighted values by pair-wise comparison of sub-items and each of five sectors modified by the second round. According to the results of AHP, the managerial priority for pollutants in drinking water was as follows; while heavy metal placed first in importance, pathogenic organisms came second, followed by inorganic substances, organic matter and chemical substances from the sector perspective.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.12 no.7
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• pp.735-744
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• 2003

The field observations on a seasonal characteristic of organic matter and its origin in the surface sediment were carried out at 35 stations in Deukryang bay, southern coast of Korean Peninsula from May 1995 to February 1996. The analytical parameters were mud temperature, ignition loss(IL), chemical oxygen demand(COD), pheopigment, sulfide and water content. The origin and seasonal dynamics of organic matter in Deukryang Bay were analyzed by COD/IL, COD/sulfide ratio and principal component analysis(PCA). As a results of the mud temperature fluctuated between 2.1$^{\circ}C$ with the lowest mean 4.6$^{\circ}C$ in winter and 27.6$^{\circ}C$ with the highest mean 25.5$^{\circ}C$ in summer. The range of ignition loss(IL) was from 3.1% in autumn to 21.5% in winter. Chemical oxygen demand(COD) showed the highest mean value of 8.45 mg/g dry in spring within the range of 2.90∼18.21 mg/g dry, while it showed the lowest value of 4.33 mg/g dry in autumn within the range of 0.67∼10.37 mg/g dry. Pheopigments showed the highest mean value of 9.04 $\mu\textrm{g}$/g dry in autumn within the range of 1.36∼20.44 $\mu\textrm{g}$/g dry, while it did the lowest mean value of 2.20 $\mu\textrm{g}$/g dry in summer within the range of 0.33∼11.36 $\mu\textrm{g}$/g dry. The range of total sulfide (H$_2$S) was from no detect(ND) to 3.30 mg/g dry in spring. And water content showed the annual mean value of 43.6% within the range of 23.6∼54.9%. The source of organic matter by COD/IL and COD/sulfide ratio in Deukryang Bay had been producted by primary producer in sea water areas except the areas effected by small stream, domestic and animal wastes. And the analytical results of PCA was able to be divided into three different regions. The former was characterized by the shallow depth and authigenic organic matter from phytoplankton in northwest area and northeastern inner bay, the secondary was done by deeper depth and allochthonous one from lands in southeast area and eastern entrance of bay, and the latter was done by authigenic one from the farm of seaweeds such as, sea cabbage, sea mustard etc in western entrance of bay. But a study on the relationship between sulfide and COD concentration in the northeastern inner bay which was characterized by the water stagnation will to take much more studying including major constituents of organic matter in the future.