• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2022.05a
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• pp.85-85
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• 2022

The world's most extensive and active deltas, Louisiana's wetlands, are deteriorating rapidly due to multiple stressors such as the discharge of the Mississippi River, sea-level rise, and coastal retreat, the substantial but spatially and temporally variable impacts. However, the ecological and anthropogenic histories, the mode of environmental changes on a multi-millennial timescale have not been thoroughly documented. This study, a palynology-based multiproxy analysis, investigates hydrological, geological, geochemical, and anthropogenic impacts on southern Louisiana wetlands and a variety of external forcing agents influencing ecological succession. Sediment cores extracted from a small pond on a mangrove-dominate island near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, USA yielded a 4,000-year record. The site has been transformed from freshwater to saline water environments, to a mangrove dominant island over the late Holocene. The multivariate principal component analysis identified the relative strength of external drivers responsible for each ecological shift. The Mississippi River delta cycle (lobe switching) was the dominant driver of ecosystem changes during the late Holocene, while relative sea-level rise, tropical cyclones, climate, and anthropogenic effects have been the main drivers late in the site's history.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.167-168
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• 2003

The Upo wetland, the largest natural wetland in Korea, is located in Changnyeong-gun, Gyeongsannam Province ($35^{\circ}33'$ N, $128^{\circ}25'$ E), and 70 km upstream from the Nakdong River estuary. Unlike most other Korean wetlands that have been destroyed under the name of economic development, the Upo wetland has been able to preserve its precious ecosystem throughout the years. Thanks to increased public awareness about natural wetlands and environmental conservation, the Korean Ministry of Environment designated the Upo wetland an 'Ecological Conservation Area' on July 26th, 1997. On March 2nd of the following year, the Upo wetland (8.54 $\textrm{km}^2$) was designated a 'Protected Wetland' in accordance with the international Ramsar Treaty. A 4.49m long (from 9.73 to 5.24 m in altitude) UP-1 core ($35^{\circ}33'05"N$, $128^{\circ}25'17"E$), recovered in the marginal part of the Upo wetland, is divided into eight buried paleosol units of different ages on the basis of the abundance of color mottles and vertical color variations (Aslan et al., 1998). Radiocarbon datings suggested that the paleosol profile represent the last 5700 years. The entire section of the core was more or less subjected to pedogenetic processes, and shows very weak to moderate soil profile development. These Holocene paleosols are therefore regarded as synsedimentary soils of deluvium (deposits formed by floods) origin (Sycheva et al., 2003). Unit 1 to 5 paleosols are generally silt-rich and exhibit moderate profile development. The boundaries between the units are somewhat distinguishable, but not so clear cut. This is due to variable repeated combination of accumulation, denudation and soil forming processes within various periods. Mottle textures gradually decrease in abundance with increasing clay content in Unit 6, which results in weak profile development. The lower boundary of Unit 6 lies around about 2000 yrBP, the beginning of Subatlantic in Korea (Kim et al., 2001). Abrupt sediment textural change is detected in Unit 7, which is interpreted to indicate the human activities on the Upo wetland. Unit 8 represents the recent soil forming processes. The preliminary results of this ongoing study imply the primary factor for pedogenetic processes is the water table fluctuations related to the sedimentary textures like grain size distributions, and the geomorphological stability of the Upo wetland.o wetland.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.109-137
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• 2020

Upo Wetland is the largest riverine wetland in Korea which has been inscribed on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance in 1998. In this study, sedimentological study was carried out in order to understand the environmental changes in Upo Wetland during the Holocene. The drilling work for recovering the Quaternary sediments was conducted on the inner part (UPW17-01, UPW17-02, and UPW17-03) and the outer part (UPL17-01, UPL17-02) of the Upo Wetland. The recovered sediments are commonly characterized by gravel-dominated deposits in the lower part and silty clay-dominated deposits in the middle to upper parts respectively, which are seemed to be changed from fluvial to palustrine/lacustrine environments around 4,000 cal yr BP. In order to establish the Holocene diatoms distribution from Upo Wetland, we identified 63 diatom taxa. Of these, 14 species were new records for Korea: Gomphonema consector, Gomphonema jadwigiae, Hantzschia abundans, Luticola pseudomurrayi, Luticola spauldingiae, Neidium suboblongum, Ninastrelnikovia gibbosa, Oricymba rhynchocephala, Pinnularia borealis var. lanceolata, Pinnularia latarea, Pinnularia paliobducta, Pinnularia saprophila, Sellaphora laevissima, Stauroneis pseudoschimanskii. All identified diatom species are illustrated by high-quality scanning electron microscopic and light microscopic microphotographs. The ecological habitat for all taxa are presented.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.454-466
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• 2013

To evaluate the organic matter and trace metal pollution in intertidal sediment of the coastal zone, various geochemical parameters (grain size, ignition loss [IL], chemical oxygen demand [COD], acid volatile sulfide [AVS], and metals [Al, Fe, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Mn, Hg, and As]) were measured for the intertidal surface sediment of the mainland and islands between Mokpo and Haenam in the southwestern coast of Korea. The surface sediments consist mainly of finer sediments, such as mud and silt. The concentrations of IL, COD, and trace metals in intertidal sediment were relatively high in the shoreline of the mainland than in that of islands and those in some stations exceeded the sediment quality guidelines (SQGs). Moreover, the concentrations of IL, COD, and trace metals (except As) in sediment showed relatively good positive correlations with mean grain size, indicating that the concentrations of organic matter and trace metals in intertidal sediment of the study region are dependent on grain size of sediment. Pollution evaluation for trace metals using geochemical assessment techniques, such as enrichment factor, geoaccumulation index, and SQGs, suggested that the intertidal sediments in the study region show light pollution with Cr and moderate pollution with As. More extensive interdisciplinary studies are required to determine the potential causes of As pollution in intertidal sediment.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2009

This study used a mesocosm which presumes movement of the nutrient (especially $PO_{4^-}P$) in the wetland. After setting up the mesocosm inside the wetland and adding the $PO_{4^-}P$, observed the movement of the $PO_{4^-}P$ every hour. We analyzed the variables which had the possibility of affecting $PO_{4^-}P$ concentration in the wetland-flora, absorbing rate of algae, settling rate, release rate. Immediately after adding $PO_{4^-}P$, the concentration of the TP in water column at each mesocosm was 0.48, 12.4, 20.4, $23.6\;mg\;L^{-1}$, after 21 days they were 0.6, 1.92, 6.97 and $6.94\;mg\;L^{-1}$ respectively. The concentration of the TP in water column at the mesocosm decreased on average 73.7%. The concentration of the $PO_{4^-}P$ inside reed, algae and sediment in the mesocosm was increased from $0.73mg\;gDW^{-1}$, $3.81mg\;gDW^{-1}$, $466.1mg\;kg^{-1}$ to $0.83mg\;gDW^{-1}$, $4.57mg\;gDW^{-1}$ and $813.3mg\;kg^{-1}$ respectively. Algae is more sensitive than reeds in absorption of the nutrient. TP removal by settling was highest. Budgeting of TP indicated that P moved from particulates in the water column to sediment and algae. Immediately after adding $PO_{4^-}P$, water column (24.2%) and sediment (49.0%) dominated TP storage, with algae (10.3%) and reed (16.4%) holding smaller proportions of TP. After 21 days, Sediment (59.0%) and algae (17.9%) dominated TP storage, with water column (7.1%) and reed (15.8%) holding smaller proportions of TP. Estimation of phosphate movement using mesocosms is an appropriate method because wetlands have many controlling factors. Analysed data can be compared to background data for wetland construction and management.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.1-10
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• 2019

Recently, groundwater contamination by mixed occurrence of arsenic (As) and nitrate ($NO_3{^-}$) has been a serious environmental issue all around world. In this study, we investigated the microbial As(III) oxidation characteristic under denitrification process to examine the feasibility of the microbial consortia in wetland sediment to simultaneously treat these two contaminants. The detail objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of $NO_3{^-}$ on the oxidation of As(III) in anaerobic environments and observe the microbial community change during the As oxidation under denitrification process. Results showed that the As(III) was completely and simultaneously oxidized to As(V) under denitrification process, however, it occurred to a much less extent in the absence of sediment or $NO_3{^-}$. In addition, the significant increase of As(III) oxidation rate in the presence of $NO_3{^-}$ suggested the potential of As oxidation under denitrification by indigenous microorganisms in wetland sediment. Genera Pseudogulbenkiania, and Flavisolibacter were identified as predominant microbial species driving the redox process. Conclusively, this study can provide useful information on As(III) oxidation under denitrifying environment and contribute to develop an effective technology for simultaneous removal of As(III) and $NO_3{^-}$ in groundwater.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.19-29
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• 2000

The physico-chemical characteristics of core sediment, community dynamics of Salix species during the sedimentation were investigated in 1990~1997 for the purpose of inquiry to reveal the effects of terrestrialization on the environment and plant community in a natural wetland. The study site, Paksil-nup wetland was a valley blocked lake located near Hwang-River, Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea. The values of conductivity, organic matter, total nitrogen, exchangeable K, and exchangeable Ca were higher, and pH was lower in the upper layer of the core sediment. Soil properties such as available phosphorus, exchangeable Ca, exchangeable Na increased, and organic matter, total nitrogen, exchangeable K decreased during the sedimentation. Salix nipponica was the dominant species, and Salix glandulosa was subdominant among 10 Salix species. Sahx species were supposed to be the pioneer plants in shrub and tree layers during the succession in Paksil-nup wetland. Age class of SaliX species community from the epilittoral zone to the infralittoral zone were low, and age of Saljx species distributed from 2 years to 11 years. DBH, height, mean number of branches, number of herb species, and light intensity were increased, whereas density was decreased from a lower age to a higher age community. Salix nipponica was superior than Sahx purpurea var. japonica and other Salix species during the interspecific competition among Salix species.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.603-610
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• 2008

A mathematical model was developed to understand how the presence of plants affects vertical profiles of electron acceptors, their reduced species, and trace metals in the wetland sediments. The model accounted for biodegradation of organic matter utilizing sequential electron acceptors and subsequent chemical reactions using stoichiometric relationship. These biogeochemical reactions were affected by the combined effects of oxygen release and evapotranspiration driven by wetland plants. The measured data showed that $SO_4{^{2-}}$ concentrations increased at the beginning of the growing season and then gradually decreased. Based on the measured data, it was hypothesized that the limitation of the solid phase sulfide in direct contact with the roots may result in the gradual decrease of $SO_4{^{2-}}$ concentrations. With the dynamic formulation for the limitation of the solid phase sulfide, model simulated time variable sulfate profiles using published model parameters. Oxygen release from roots produced divalent metal species (i.e. $Cd^{2+}$) as well as oxidized sulfur species (i.e. $SO_4{^{2-}}$) in the sediment pore water. Evapotranspiration-induced advection increased flux of divalent metal species from the overlying water column into the rhizosphere. The increased divalent metal species were converted to the metal sulfide with sufficient FeS around the rhizosphere, which contributed to the decrease of bioavailability and toxicity of divalent metal activity in the pore water. Since the divalent metal activity is a good predictor of the metal bioavailability, this model with a proper simulation of solid phase sulfide plays an essential role to predict the dynamics of trace metals in the wetland sediments.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.289-300
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• 2013

In this study, two types of wetland plants, Eichhornia crassipes (a floating plant) and Ceratophyllum demersum (a submerged plant) were introduced to wetland mesocosms to understand how the water properties of wetlands such as pH, dissolved oxygen content, water temperature, oxidation reduction potential, and nutrient concentrations are affected by different types of wetland plant. The floating plant lives on the water surface and can block light penetration; it exhibited the lowest water temperature and temperature difference between lower and upper layers. After the addition of contaminants, the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration decreased abruptly but recovered continuously in all mesocosms; especially the submerged plants, which photosynthesize in water, showed the largest increases in DO and diel periodicity DO, as well as in pH value. The oxidation-reduction potential in both water and sediment were affected by the presence of wetland plants and plant type and the results suggest that various aspects of wetland biogeochemistry are affected by the presence and type of wetland plants. The total nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations in water decreased in the following order: Water only < Water + Soil < Floating Plants < Submerged Plants. Although both floating and submerged plants can control algal concentrations, the effect was more prominent for floating plants.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2020.06a
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• pp.85-85
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• 2020

South Korea experiences few large scale erosion and sedimentation problems, however, there are numerous local sedimentation problems. A reliable and consistent approach to modelling and management for sediment processes are desirable in the country. In this study, field measurements of sediment concentration from 34 alluvial river basins in South Korea were used with the Modified Einstein Procedure (MEP) to determine the total sediment load at the sampling locations. And then the Flow Duration-Sediment Rating Curve (FD-SRC) method was used to estimate the specific degradation for all gauging stations. The specific degradation of most rivers were found to be typically 50-300 tons/㎢·yr. A model tree data mining technique was applied to develop a model for the specific degradation based on various watershed characteristics of each watershed from GIS analysis. The meaningful parameters are: 1) elevation at the middle relative area of the hypsometric curve [m], 2) percentage of wetland and water [%], 3) percentage of urbanized area [%], and 4) Main stream length [km]. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of existing models is in excess of 1,250 tons/㎢·yr and the RMSE of the proposed model with 6 additional validations decreased to 65 tons/㎢·yr. Erosion loss maps from the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), satellite images, and aerial photographs were used to delineate the geospatial features affecting erosion and sedimentation. The results of the geospatial analysis clearly shows that the high risk erosion area (hill slopes and construction sites at urbanized area) and sedimentation features (wetlands and agricultural reservoirs). The result of physiographical analysis also indicates that the watershed morphometric characteristic well explain the sediment transport. Sustainable management with the data mining methodologies and geospatial analysis could be helpful to solve various erosion and sedimentation problems under different conditions.