• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.12 no.2 s.25
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• pp.81-87
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• 2006

Algal growth potential(AGP) assay using Heterosigma akashiwo was conducted in Pukman Bay. The effects of nutrients and microorganisms on the growth of H. akashiwo were specifically evaluated by the algal bioassay method. The different types of growth response of H. akashiwo to the addition of nutrients, and the co-incubation with microorganisms were clearly observed. Before H. akashiwo red tide occurrence, the growth of H. akashiwo was significantly stimulated by addition of nitrate of $50{\mu}M$ with phosphate of $5{\mu}M$. The addition of single phosphate had no clear effect on the growth of H. akashiwo. And the co-incubation with microorganisms had no clear effect on the growth of H. akashiwo. This result indicates that nitrate potentially limited the growth of H. akashiwo before red tide occurrence. However, during a bloom of H. akashiwo, the growth was significantly stimulated by addition of either nitrate of $50{\mu}M$ or phosphate of $5{\mu}M$. The addition of trace metals and vitamin $B_{12}$ had no clear effect on the growth of H. akashiwo in the period. This result indicates that both nitrate and phosphate potentially limited the growth of H. akashiwo during the bloom. On the other hand, during the termination period of H. akashiwo bloom, the growth of H. akashiwo was slightly stimulated by addition of phosphate and nitrate. But the growth of H. akashiwo was significantly enervated by the co-incubation with microorganisms. This result indicates that microorganisms potentially limited the growth of H. akashiwo in the period of bloom termination.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.6_1
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• pp.1589-1597
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• 2021

Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in coastal areas is gaining importance as a major transport route that bring nutrients and trace metals into the ocean. This paper describes the analysis of the seasonal changes and spatiotemporal characteristicsthrough the modeling monthly SGD for 35 years from 1986 to 2020 for the Nakdong river basin. In this study, we extracted 210 watersheds and SGD estimation points using the SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) DEM (Digital Elevation Model). The average annual SGD of the Nakdong River basin was estimated to be 466.7 m²/yr from the FLDAS (Famine Early Warning Systems Network Land Data Assimilation System) recharge data of 10 km which is the highest resolution global model applicable to Korea. There was no significant time-series variation of SGD in the Nakdong river basin, but the concentrated period of SGD was expanded from summer to autumn. In addition, it was confirmed that there is a large amount of SGD regardless of the season in coastal area nearby large rivers, and the trend has slightly increased since the 1980s. The characteristics are considered to be related to the change in the major precipitation period in the study area, and spatially it is due to the high baseflow-groundwater in the vicinity of large rivers. This study is a precedentstudy that presents a modeling technique to explore the characteristics of SGD in Korea, and is expected to be useful as foundational information for coastal management and evaluating the impact of SGD to the ocean.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.83-91
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• 2021

BACKGROUND: Cultivation area using agricultural plastic film facilities in Korea is rapidly increasing every year; however, it accelerates the salt accumulation in soils due to repeated cultivation and excessive use of chemical fertilizers. Coal ash contains various trace elements and has high potential to be used in agricultural purposes. This research was aimed to improve the quality of salts-accumulated soils and crop growth grown in the plastic film facilities using the soil amendment derived from coal ash and zero-valent iron powder. METHODS AND RESULTS: Soil amendment used in the study was manufactured using coal ash with iron powder and subjected to a typical upland soil for soil quality enhancement and two salts-accumulated soils for crop growth. After one month incubation of the salts-accumulated soils treated with the soil amendment, soil pH increased significantly and soil EC decreased by approximately 50%, compared to the control or the treatment without the soil amendment. Since the soil salts' concentration is proportional to EC, the subjected soil amendment can be proposed as an effective way to overcome soil salts accumulation in agricultural plastic film facilities. For crop growth, the length of roots and stems increased by approximately 10% and the dry weight also increased by a maximum of 75%, compared to the control. CONCLUSION: The soil amendment made from waste resources such as coal ash and zero-valent iron was found to not only be effective in improving salt-accumulated soils and crop yield but also be safe against harmful heavy metals.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.145-153
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• 2022

Mercury (Hg) is a major concern in marine environment because of their bioaccumulation and biomagnification properties, and adverse effects to aquatic organisms at even a trace amount. However, little information on the effects of Hg, compared to other heavy metals, is available in marine small crustaceans. Here, we investigated the transcriptional modulation of metabolism-related genes in the brackish water flea, Diaphanosoma celebensis after exposure to sublethal concentration (0.2, 0.4, 0.8 ㎍/l) of HgCl₂ for 48 h. Relative mRNA expression levels of five detoxification enzyme-coding genes (cytochrome P450; cyp360A1, cyp361A1, cyp4AP3, cyp4C122, and cyp370C5) and six digestive enzyme-coding genes [alpha amylase (AMY), alpha amylase related protein (AMY-like), trypsin (TRYP), chymotrypsin-like protein (CHY), lipase (LIP), pancreatic lipase-related protein (PLRP)] were analyzed using quantitative real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). As results, Hg increased the mRNA level of cyp370C5 (clan2) and cyp4AP3 (clan4) in a concentration dependent manner. A significant increase in TRYP mRNA was also concentration-dependently observed after exposure to Hg. These findings suggest that cyp370C5 and cyp4AP3 play a key role in Hg detoxification in D. celebensis, and Hg can affect energy metabolism by modulating the transcription of digestive enzyme. This study will provide better understanding the molecular effects of Hg in marine small crustacean.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.997-1004
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• 2022

To verify the nutritional superiority and safety of Protaetia brevitarsis larvae fed a food source containing soybean curd cake, the nutrients and harmful substances of larvae reared only with fermented oak sawdust and a food source containing soybean curd cake were comparatively analyzed. The crude protein content was 50.0% in the larvae fed with a food source containing soybean curd cake (SCC), which was 1.1 times higher than that of the larvae fed with fermented oak sawdust (FOS) at 44.7%. Potassium, which showed the highest content among macrominerals, was 2.5 times higher in SCC (3,169.6 mg/100 g) than in FOS (1,245.9 mg/100 g). Among trace minerals, zinc showed 12.6 times higher content than FOS (8.2 mg/100 g) in SCC (103.0 mg/100 g). As a result of the analysis of harmful substances, all heavy metals met the edible insect control standards, and pathogenic microorganisms, such as E. coli and Salmonella spp, were not detected. According to the above study, the larvae of P. brevitarsis fed soybean curd cake contain various nutrients, and safety has also been confirmed, so it is judged to be suitable for use as food.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.21-32
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• 2023

Because the application of lithium has gradually increased for the production of lithium ion batteries (LIBs), more research studies about recycling using solvent extraction (SX) should focus on Li⁺ recovery from the waste solution obtained after the removal of the valuable metals nickel, cobalt and manganese (NCM). The raffinate obtained after the removal of NCM metal contains lithium ions and other impurities such as Na ions. In this study, we optimized a selective SX system using di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) as the extractant and tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) as a modifier in kerosene for the recovery of lithium from a waste solution containing lithium and a high concentration of sodium (Li⁺ = 0.5 ~ 1 wt%, Na⁺ = 3 ~6.5 wt%). The extraction of lithium was tested in different solvent compositions and the most effective extraction occurred in the solution composed of 20% D2EHPA + 20% TBP + and 60% kerosene. In this SX system with added NaOH for saponification, more than 95% lithium was selectively extracted in four extraction steps using an organic to aqueous ratio of 5:1 and an equilibrium pH of 4 ~ 4.5. Additionally, most of the Na⁺ (92% by weight) remained in the raffinate. The extracted lithium is stripped using 8 wt% HCl to yield pure lithium chloride with negligible Na content. The lithium chloride is subsequently treated with high purity ammonium bicarbonate to afford lithium carbonate powder. Finally the lithium carbonate is washed with an adequate amount of water to remove trace amounts of sodium resulting in highly pure lithium carbonate powder (purity > 99.2%).

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.79-87
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• 2016

Heavy metals such as cadmium (Cd) are highly toxic to aquatic organisms and human, even at trace concentration. Herein we investigated the effect of Cd on the gene expression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters and glutathione S-transferase (GST) in marine ciliate Euplotes crassus. Seven ABC transporters and one GST genes were partially cloned and sequences, and thereafter, transcriptional modulation of these genes after exposure to Cd for 8 h was investigated using quantitative real time RT- PCR (qRT-PCR). As results, sequence analysis and phylogenetic study revealed that E. crassus ABCs are likely typical ABC transports, in particular, B/C family, and GST gene may be similar to GST theta isoform. A significant increase in the expression of ABCs, except for ABCB21 was observed in a concentration dependent manner after exposure to Cd (0.1 and 0.5 mg/l) for 8 h. The GST mRNA level was the highest at 0.5 mg/l Cd and then reduced until control level. These findings suggest that ABCs and GST may be involved in a protective mechanism against Cd-mediated toxicity in E. crassus.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.229-238
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• 2023

Bentonite is a type of rock that has been used as a traditional mineral medicine. It has a variety of pharmacological activities, and is used in traditional Korean medicine to treat jaundice, diarrhea, and hemostasis. In modern medicine, it is used as a raw material and additive for medicines such as antacids, gastrointestinal protective agents, and laxatives. Bentonite produced in Korea was produced through diagenesis or hydrothermal alteration of tertiary volcanic debris distributed in the Pohang and Gyeongju areas. It is mainly used for industrial purposes such as papermaking, paint, civil engineering, casting, and animal feed. Recently, technology is being developed to use it in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. In this study, the geochemical characteristics of bentonite were identified by analyzing the main components and trace elements of 40 and 21 types of bentonite produced in the Gampo Gyeongju and Yeonil Pohang area. Also it were classifed by formation envrionment of bentonite deposits in the Gampo and Yeonil. As a result of the study, bentonite from the reserch area may be cased by argillic alteraton that alkali elements are removed form basaltic rocks by hydrothermal fluids and AI-CCPI alteration indices wrere also indentified argillic alteraton. It was found that there is a correlation between the behavior characteristics of heavy metal elements (P b, Cr, As) and the hydrothermal alteration of bentonite in the reserch area.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.33-40
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• 2007

This study centered on the quantitative analysis of about 27 trace elements including toxic ones using instrumental neutron activation analysis of fine ambient particulate matter in the third and fourth industrial complex area of Daejeon city, Korea. For analytical quality control, the certified reference material (NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S.A., SRM 2783, air particulate on filter media) was used. The errors relative to SRM values of Sb, Mn, V, Mg, Na, K, Ti, Co, Zn, and Sm fell below 5%, while those of Cr, Fe, Ba, Th, Ce, Al, and Cu were less than 10%. From the results of the quantitative analysis, the concentration of toxic metals such as As, Mn, Se, V, and Zn were $3.26{\pm}2.72$, $9.86{\pm}4.71$, $2.18{\pm}1.25$, $4.91{\pm}2.41$, $158{\pm}78ng/m^3$, respectively. And the results of factor analysis indicated that there are no more than six factors of sources of fine ambient particulate with statistical significance in the study area.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.765-779
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• 2023

The Daum Vent Field (DVF) was newly discovered in the Central Indian Ridge during the hydrothermal expedition by the Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST) in 2021. In this paper, we describe the detailed mineralogy and geochemistry of hydrothermal chimney and mound to understand the nature of hydrothermal mineralization in the DVF. The mineral assemblages (pyrite±sphalerite±chalcopyrite) of dominant sulfides, FeS contents (mostly <20 mole %) of sphalerite, and (Cu+Zn)/Fe values (0.001-0.22) of bulk compositions indicate that the DVF has an strong affinity with basaltic-hosted seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) deposit along the oceanic ridge. Combined with the predominance of colloform and/or dendritic-textured pyrite and relatively Fe-poor sphalerite in chimneys, the fluid-temperature dependency of trace element systematics (Co, Mn, and Tl) between chimney and mound indicates that the formation of mound was controlled by relatively reducing and high-temperature fluids compared to chimney. The δ³⁴S values (+8.31 to +10.52‰) of pyrite reflect that sulfur and metals were mainly leached from the associated basement rocks (50.6-61.3%) with a contribution from reduced seawater sulfur (38.7-49.4%). This suggests that the fluid-rock interaction, with little effect of magmatic volatile influx, is an important metal source for the sulfide mineralization in the DVF.