The Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) and the Yellow Sea Cold Bottom Water (YSCBW) are two protruding features, which have strong influence on the community structure and distribution of zooplankton in the Yellow Sea. Both of them are seasonal phenomena. In winter, strong north wind drives southward flow at the surface along both Chinese and Korean coasts, which is compensated by a northward flow along the Yellow Sea Trough. That is the YSWC. It advects warmer and saltier water from the East China Sea into the southern Yellow Sea and changes the zooplankton community structure greatly in winter. During a cruise after onset of the winter monsoon in November 2001 in the southern Yellow Sea, 71 zooplankton species were identified, among which 39 species were tropical, accounting for 54.9 %, much more than those found in summer. Many of them were typical for Kuroshio water, e.g. Eucalanus subtenuis, Rhincalanus cornutus, Pareuchaeta russelli, Lucicutia flavicornis, and Euphausia diomedeae etc. 26 species were warm-temperate accounting for 36.6% and 6 temperate 8.5%. The distribution pattern of the warm water species clearly showed the impact of the YSWC and demonstrated that the intrusion of warmer and saltier water happened beneath the surface northwards along the Yellow Sea Trough. The YSCBW is a bottom pool of the remnant Yellow Sea Winter Water resulting from summer stratification and occupy most of the deep area of the Yellow Sea. The temperature of YSCBW temperature remains ${\leq}{\;}10^{\circ}C$ in mid-summer. It is served as an oversummering site for many temperate species, like Calanus sinicus and Euphaisia pacifica. Calanus sinicus is a dominant copepod in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea and can be found throughout the year with the year maximum in May to June. In summer it disappears in the coastal area and in the upper layer of central area due to the high temperature and shrinks its distribution into YSCBW.

Difference of Dissolved Inorganic Phosphorus (DIP), Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen (DIN) and Dissolved Silicate (DSi) budgets in the Bohai Sea between 1982 and 1992 related the decrease of the Yellow River discharge is discussed on the basis of observed data. The estuarine circulation in the Bohai Sea had been weakened from 1982 to 1992 due to the decrease of the Yellow River discharge and the average residence time of fresh water had become longer. DIN concentration increased but DIP and DSi concentrations decreased from 1982 to 1992 in the Bohai Sea. Primary production was regulated mainly by water temperature and DIN concentration in 1982 but it was regulated mainly by DIP concentration in 1992. Primary production was larger than decomposition plus bottom release and nitrogen fixation was larger than denitrification in 1982. However, decomposition plus bottom release was larger than primary production and denitrification was larger than nitrogen fixation in 1992 in the Bohai Sea.

The Yellow Sea is known to be a very productive region in terms of fisheries. However, its trophic status seems to be highly variable, ranging from oligotrophic to eutrophic, based on new production (NP) values. The NP and regenerated production (RP) values estimated from $^{15}N$-labelled nitrate and ammonium uptake in spring (April 1996) and winter (February 1997) during this study ranged from 0.05 to 19.8 mg $N m^{-2} d^{-1}$ and from 0.1 to 22.8 mg $N m^{-2}d^{-1}$, respectively. Our measurements and earlier observations suggested that NP in the Yellow Sea varied over the four orders of magnitude (range 0.05-180.9 mg $N m^{-2} d^{-1}$) temporally and spatially, and that RP (range 0.1-507.5 mg $N m^{-2}d^{-l}$) based on ammonium predominated during most period of the year, except in winter when both productions were low. The significant nitrogen uptake by phytoplankton below the euphotic zone and episodic entrainment of phytoplankton from below the euphotic zone into the euphotic zone, and nitrite excretion and dissolved organic nitrogen release during nitrate uptake might explain the apparent dominance of RP in the Yellow Sea.

The evolution of intricate and striking patterns of suspended sediments (SS), which are created by certain physical dynamics in the East China and Yellow Seas, has been investigated using satellite ocean color imageries and vertical profiles of particle attenuation and backscattering coefficients. The structure of these patterns can reveal a great deal about the process underlying their formation. Sea surface temperature (SST) analyzed from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) thermal infrared data were used to elucidate the physical factors responsible for the evolution of suspended sediment patterns in the East China Sea. The concomitant patterns of suspended sediments were tracked from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) ocean color data. The detailed examination about these patterns gave birth to the definition of the evolution of suspended sediments (SS) into four stages: (1) Youth or Infant stage, (2) Younger stage, (3) Mature stage, and (4) Old stage. We describe about the three directional forces of the tidal currents, ocean warm currents and estuarine circulations that lead to occurrence of various stages of the evolution of suspended sediments that increase turbidity at high levels through out the water column of the inner and outer shelf areas during September to April. The occurrence of these four stages could be repeatedly observed. In contrast, vertical profiles of the particle attenuation ($c_{p}$) and backscattering ($b_{bp}$) coefficients displayed obvious patterns of the propagation of suspended sediment plume from the southwestern coastal sea that leads to eventual collision with the massive sediment plume originating from the Yangtze banks of the East China Sea.

Based on the MASNUM wave-current coupled model, the temperature and salinity structures along $36^{\circ}N$ in the Yellow Sea are simulated and compared with observations. Both the position and strength of the simulated thermocline are similar to data analysis. The wave-induced mixing is strongest in winter and plays a key role in the formation of the upper mixed layer in spring and summer. Numerical experiments suggest that in the coastal area, wave-induced mixing and tidal mixing control the vertical structure of temperature and salinity.

Spectral attenuation of light and upwelling radiance were measured in the western coast of Korea on board the R/V Inchon 888 of the Korean National Fisheries Research and Development Institute(NFRDI) during four seasons. The goal of these efforts was to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of the inherent and apparent optical properties of the water, and the factors that control their distribution. Our data indicate that while stratification of the water column, phytoplankton, and wind stress determined the vertical distribution of the optical parameters offshore, it was the tidal current and sediment type that controlled both the vertical and horizontal distribution in the coastal areas. These findings led to the development of a model that estimates the spectral attenuation of light with respect to depth and time for the Yellow Sea. The model integrates water leaving radiance from satellites, sediment types, current vectors, sigma-t, bathymetry, and in situ optical measurements in a learning algorithm capable of extracting optical properties with only knowledge of the environmental conditions of the Yellow Sea. The performance of the model decreases with increase in depth. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of the model is 2% for the upper five meters, 8-10% between 6 and 50 meters, and 15% below 51 meters.

Based on the data obtained under the China-Korea joint project (1997-2001) and historic observations, the distribution, transportation and sedimentation of sediment in the southern Yellow Sea (SYS) are discussed, and the controversial formation mechanism of muddy sediments is also explored. The sediment transport trend analysis indicates that the net transport direction of sediment in the central SYS (a fine-grained sediment deposited area) points to $123.4^{\circ}E,\;35.1^{\circ}N$, which is a possible sedimentation center in the central SYS. The sediment transport pattern is verified by the distribution of total suspended matter (TSM) concentration and ${\delta}^{13}C$ values of particulate organic carbon (POC), the latter indicates that the bottom water plays a more important role than the surface water in transporting the terrigenous material to the central deep-water area of the SYS, and the Yellow Sea circulation is an important control factor for the sediment transport pattern in the SYS. The carbon isotope signals of organic matter in sediments indicate that the Shandong subaqueous delta has high sedimentation rate and the deposited sediments originate mainly from the modern Yellow River. The terrigenous sediments in deep-water area of the SYS originate mainly from the old Yellow River and the modern Yellow River, and only a small portion originates from the modern Yangtze River. The analytical results of TSM and stable carbon isotopes are further confirmed by another independent tracer of sediment source, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Five light mineral provinces in the SYS can be identified and they indicate inhomogeneity in sources and sedimentary environment. The modern shelf sedimentary processes in the SYS are controlled by shelf dynamic factors. The muddy depositional systems are produced in the shelf low-energy environments, which are controlled by some meso-scale cyclonic eddies (cold eddies) in the central SYS and the area southwest of the Cheju Island. On the contrary, an anticyclonic muddy depositional system (warm eddy sediment) appears in the southeast of the SYS (the area northwest of the Cheju Island). In this study, we give the cyclonic and anticyclonic eddy sedimentation patterns.

The Yellow Sea is characterized by relatively shallow water depth, varying range of tidal action and very complex coastal geometry such as islands, bays, peninsulas, tidal flats, shoals etc. The dynamic system is controlled by tides, regional winds, river discharge, and interaction with the Kuroshio. The circulation, water mass properties and their variability in the Yellow Sea are very complicated and still far from clear understanding. In this study, an effort to improve our understanding the dynamic feature of the Yellow Sea system was conducted using numerical simulation with the ROMS model, applying climatologic forcing such as winds, heat flux and fresh water precipitation. The inter-annual variability of general circulation and thermohaline structure throughout the year has been obtained, which has been compared with observational data sets. The simulated horizontal distribution and vertical cross-sectional structures of temperature and salinity show a good agreement with the observational data indicating significantly the water masses such as Yellow Sea Warm Water, Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water, Changjiang River Diluted Water and other sporadically observed coastal waters around the Yellow Sea. The tidal effects on circulation and dynamic features such as coastal tidal fronts and coastal mixing are predominant in the Yellow Sea. Hence the tidal effects on those dynamic features are dealt in the accompanying paper (Kim et at., 2004). The ROMS model adopts curvilinear grid with horizontal resolution of 35 km and 20 vertical grid spacing confirming to relatively realistic bottom topography. The model was initialized with the LEVITUS climatologic data and forced by the monthly mean air-sea fluxes of momentum, heat and fresh water derived from COADS. On the open boundaries, climatological temperature and salinity are nudged every 20 days for data assimilation to stabilize the modeling implementation. This study demonstrates a Yellow Sea version of Atlantic Basin experiment conducted by Haidvogel et al. (2000) experiment that the ROMS simulates the dynamic variability of temperature, salinity, and velocity fields in the ocean. However the present study has been improved to deal with the large river system, open boundary nudging process and further with combination of the tidal forcing that is a significant feature in the Yellow Sea.

A total of 116 surface sediment samples were obtained on the Yellow Sea and analyzed for grain size and geochemical elements in order to interpret the present sediment transportation. Thirty-nine cores and 3,070 line-km shallow seismic profiles are analyzed for sedimentary records of Yellow Sea in the past. Results show that the boundary of sediment transport between Korean side and Chinese side is about between $123^{\circ}E$ and $124^{\circ}E$. The similar result is produced from Shi et al. (in this publication). Two cyclonic patterns of surface sediments are recognized in the northeastern and southwestern Yellow Sea, while the strong front zone of the mud patch and sandy sediments are found in the southeastern Yellow Sea (the southwestern part of Korean coasts). The formation of fine-particle sediment packages, called for Northwest Mudbelt Deposit (NWMD), Hucksan Mudbelt Deposit (HSMD) and Jeju Mudbelt Deposit (JJMD), are resulted from eddies (gyres) of water circulations in the Yellow Sea. NWMD has been formed by cyclonic (anticlockwise) eddy. NWMD is composed of thick, homogeneous, relatively semi-consolidated gray clay-dominated deposit. On the other hand, HSMD and JJMD are formed by anticyclonic (clockwise) eddies. They are thick, homogeneous, organic-rich gray, silt-dominated deposit. Both core and surface sediments show that the middle zone across Chinese and Korean side contains bimodal frequency of grain-size distribution, indicating that two different transport mechanisms exist. These mud packages are surrounded by sand deposits from both Korea and China seas, indicating that Yellow Sea, which is the shallow sea and epicontinental shelf, is formed mostly by sand deposits including relict sands. The seismic profiles show such as small erosional/non-depositional channels, sand-ridges and sand-waves, Pleistocene-channelfilled deposits, a series of channels in the N-S major channel system, and thick Holocene sediment package, indicating that more complex sedimentary history exists in the Yellow Sea.

A series of mesocosm experiments has been conducted to investigate the effects of sediment on the qualities of superficial water over the tidal flats. The experiments involved two different kinds of sediments (Silt and Fine Sand) to mimic the natural habitats. Other environmental conditions in the mesocosm were kept as natural as possible. The mesocosm coincided with the annual patterns of the natural water qualities and was identical with the composition of benthic organisms of three reference sites of natural tidal flats. DIP has been leached out from sediment from June to October, but not for ammonium and DIN. The mesocosm was successfully able to simulate the environmental situations of natural tidal flat and will be a useful tool to assess the environmental impacts by human activities.