• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.24-36
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• 2019

In the mid-eastern Yellow Sea, glacio-eustatic sea-level fluctuations and a regional tectonic subsidence have combined to represent an aggradational stacking pattern of sedimentary units during late Pleistocene-Holocene. The accumulated sediments are divisible into two-type units of Type-A and Type-B in high-resolution air-gun seismic profiles and the deep-drilled core of YSDP-105. Type-A unit largely comprises clast-rich coarse-grained sediments of non-marine to paralic origin, whereas Type-B unit consists mostly of tidal fine-grained sediments. Based on a bottom model of the sedimentary units, this study suggested a geoacoustic model of long-coring bottom layers at the YSDP-105 drilling site of the mid-eastern Yellow Sea. The geoacoustic model of 64-m depth below the seafloor with four-layer geoacoustic units was reconstructed in continental shelf strata at 45 m in water depth. For actual modeling, the geoacoustic property values of the models were compensated to in situ depth values below the seafloor using the Hamilton modeling method. We suggest that the geoacoustic model will be used for geoacoustic and underwater acoustic experiments of mid- and low-frequency reflecting on the deep bottom layers in the mid-eastern Yellow Sea.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.210-221
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• 2008

The mesoscale environmental surveys were conducted between $5^{\circ}N\;and\;17^{\circ}N$ mainly along the $131.5^{\circ}W$ meridian from 1997 to 2002 to investigate controlling factors of carbon and nitrogen contents in bottom sediments. Sediments of the study area showed zonal distribution pattern depending on latitudinal position and can be classified into four types; calcareous ooze($5{\sim}6^{\circ}N$), siliceous sediments($8{\sim}12^{\circ}N$), pelagic red clay($16{\sim}17^{\circ}N$), and mixed sediments($7^{\circ}N$). Inorganic carbon(IC) contents varied depending on water depth and carbonate compensation depth(CCD). Carbonate materials were well preserved in the low latitude region, where water depths are shallower than CCD. In contrast, the higher latitude region dominated by siliceous sediment and pelagic red clays has low productivity in water column as well as the water depths deeper than CCD. Thus, most of carbonate materials were dissolved, which resulted in IC contents of less than 0.05% in the sediments. Organic carbon(OC) and total nitrogen contents(TN) in siliceous sediments were higher than in pelagic red clay sediments simply because of higher primary productivity in the siliceous sediment dominated area. The contents of OC and TN were lower in the calcareous ooze than in the siliceous sediments. It is attributed to the high input of calcareous material to the bottom due to relatively shallow water depth of the area, which diluted organic matter contents in the sediment. Overall results indicated that water depth relative to CCD, primary production in water column, and sedimentation rate largely controls the large-scale distribution of carbon and nitrogen contents in the study area.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.19-29
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• 2011

In order to assess the influences of bottom sediment on water quality, following measurement were made. (1) Estimations of pollutant loads from the bottom sediment based on mass balance concept, (2) measurements of pollutant concentrations in the sediment to assess the pollution level and influence potential, (3) in situ and laboratory measurements of Sediment Oxygen Demants (SOD) and pollutant load (sediment release) from bottom sediment. Analyses of inflow and outflow loadings using simple mass balance show that there are some variations found according to the pollutants. However, there is no consistent evidence that the sediment can be a source of pollutants. Pollutant concentrations in the sediment range 16~724.8 mg/kg (COD), 1.68 ~12.64 mg/kg (T-P), 5.6~76.8 mg/kg (T-N), 0.32~21.6 mg/kg ($NH_3$-N), 0.092~0.544 mg/kg ($NO_2$-N), 4.8~18.4 mg/kg ($NO_3$-N), and 1.59~11.23 mg/kg ($PO_4$-P). Measured SOD ranges $0.190{\sim}0.802g{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}d^{-1}$ and measured release rate ranges $-1618.42{\sim}10mg/m^2{\cdot}d$(COD), $-12{\sim}16mg/m^2{\cdot}d$(T-P), $-197.37{\sim}140mg/m^2{\cdot}d$(T-N), $0.4{\sim}74.32mg/m^2{\cdot}d$($NH_3$-N), $-2.04{\sim}0.8mg/m^2{\cdot}d$ ($NO_2$-N), $-70{\sim}40mg/m^2{\cdot}d$ ($NO_3$-N), and $-26.11{\sim}28.55mg/m^2{\cdot}d$($PO_4$-P). All study results indicate that bottom sediments in the Seoha weir show only limited effects on the water quality. It implies that sediment dredging is not an effective option or management measure to reduce pollutant loading.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.76-93
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• 2013

The hydrodynamics in the Youngsan River Estuary has changed due to coastal developments such as the estuary dam and two tidal barriers. As the freshwater discharge is artificially controlled, the circulation pattern is different from those of natural estuaries and the river-born sediment supply is restricted. 3D numerical modeling system EFDC was applied to investigate the sediment transport pattern and budget in summer with river floods. The real-time driving forces and the fluvial sediment discharges from the watershed modeling were assigned for the simulation period. The size classes of sand, silt and clay were adopted based on the grain-size distribution of bottom sediments. The modeling results were calibrated and validated with the observed tides, tidal currents and suspended sediment concentrations. The suspended sediments are transported to the offshore at surface layer, whereas upstream toward the dam at mid- and bottom layers in August 2011. The characteristic estuarine circulation induced by the freshwater discharge from the dam, causes the deposition of silt-sized sediments on the whole and the sustained suspension of clay-sized sediments.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.78-91
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• 2015

Macrobenthic community was studied at 87 stations including intertidal and subtidal area in Yoja Bay, south coast of Korea in summer season of July 2001. Duplicate sediment samples were taken using a van Veen grab ($0.1m^2$) in each station. Mud facies of the sediments were widly distributed in the bay. And relatively high content of sand was shown in the Bulgyo-cheon stream estuary. A total of 274 species was occurred with a mean density of $2,346ind./m^2$ and a mean biomass of $78.2g/m^2$. The polychaetes were species- and density-dominant faunal group with a total of 122 species (44.5% of the total number of species), and mean density of $1,543ind./m^2$ (65.8% of the mean density). Meanwhile, molluscs were biomass-dominant faunal group with $44.4g/m^2$. Bio-Env. analysis showed that the combination of bottom salinity and sand content of the surface sediments was highly correlated to the major macrobenthic communities. The macrobenthic species number, decreasing toward inner bay from mouth of the bay, was significantly correlated to the sediment environmental variables and bottom water salinity. The spatial distribution of abundance showed significant correlation to the sand and mud contents and mean grain size of the surface sediments. Major dominant species were Minuspio japonica (polychaete) with a mean density of $1,167ind./m^2$ at upper part of the bay where salinity was low and Eriopisella sechellensis (amphipod) with $152ind./m^2$ in central part of the bay. Species diversity (H') was $3.0{\leq}$ in the mouth part of the bay and ranged 2.0-3.0 in the inner part of the bay, which showed a significant positive correlation to bottom salinity. Total number of species also showed significant correlations to the sediment composition and bottom salinity. Based on the cluster analysis the macrobenthic community of the bay was classified into five station groups from the bay mouth toward the inner part of the bay depending on the species composition. From the SIMPER analysis Minuspio japonica, Eriopisella sechellensis and Sternaspis scutata mainly contributed to the classification of station group. These results suggested that the macrobenthic communities of the bay were mainly influenced by bottom salinity together with sediment composition, and that the studies of spatial distributions of major dominant species and benthic communities should be conducted continuously to monitor the Yeoja Bay benthic environment.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.242-248
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• 2001

A high resolution Chirp seismic profile and a multichannel seismic reflection profile were analysed to study the possibility of gas hydrate presence in the southwestern upper slope of the Ulleung Basin. The Chirp profile shows acoustic turbidity, acoustic void, and pockmarks, suggesting the presence of shallow gas in the sediments .Slope failures appear to have occurred in association with decomposition of gas hydrated sediments. A bottom-simulating reflector (BSR) is seen in subbottom depths of 60 to 110 m below the seafloor at water depths of 750 to 1130 m. The sediments above BSR are characterized by acoustic blanking probably due to amplitude reduction caused by a mixture of gas hydrate with sediments. The interval velocity above the BSR is 1,650 m/sec and it drops abruptly to 1,080 m/sec below the BSR. The sediment column between seafloor and the BSR thins with increasing water depth, which is very closely related to increasing geothermal gradient with increasing water depth in the Ulleung Basin.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.15-22
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• 2010

Calcium carbonate ($CaCO_3$) content was measured from 3 box core (BC060301, BC060303, BC070301) sediments, in addition to pilot core (PC313) sediments, from deep waters within the Western Pacific Ocean. At the two collection sites (BC060301, PC313) located close to the equator, downcore variation exhibited low $CaCO_3$ content during the interglacial period and high $CaCO_3$ content during the glacial period. Variation of coarse fraction (>$63\;{\mu}m$) content also followed changes in $CaCO_3$ content, indicating that dissolution effect of bottom water decreased during the glacial period. Such variation pattern is typical of the Pacific Ocean. However, downcore variation at the two collection sites (BC060303, BC070301) in the Philippine Sea contrasted the trend of the previous two cores (i.e., high $CaCO_3$ content during the interglacial period and low during the glacial period). This pattern is typical of the Atlantic Ocean. Such results may be attributed to the increasing dilution effect, initiated possibly by the increased transportation of terrigenous materials from nearby continent and archipelago during the glacial period when sea level was low. Alternatively, it is possible that the non-carbonate biogenic particles may have been responsible for dilution. Because of these uncertainties, the record of $CaCO_3$ variation in the deep Western Pacific Ocean is not regionally consistent.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.24-33
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• 2000

The value of beauty and the resources in the southern coastal sea is most important not only ecologically but also economically in Korea. Since 1980s, intensive use and consequent coastal water pollution have caused an increase in the frequency of red tides outbreak in this area. In this study, seawater and sediment were collected in summer and winter of 1998 and 1999, respectively. The status of seawater eutrophication, sediment oxygen demand(SOD), and nutrients release from sediment were measured. There was an obvious trend that COD and total phosphorous concentrations of summer sediments obtained from aquaculture farms were higher than those of winter sediments. It was concluded that sediments accumulated in the shellfish farms of southern coastal sea caused oxygen deficit in the bottom layer of seawater and played an important role for eutrophication.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 2003

In August-September 2001, 15 samples of bottom sediments were collected in the inner, middle and open parts of Amursky Bay near Vladivostok, Russia, and barfin plaice Pleuronectes pinnifasciatus was sampled from the inner and the middle locations of the bay. In the sediments from all three sites elevated concentrations of several heavy metals, i.e. Zn ($102-115{\mu}/g$ dry weight), Ni $(70-73{\mu}g/g)$ and Cu $(27-35{\mu}g/g)$ were discovered. The contents of oil hydrocarbons were very close to or slightly higher than the maximal normal environmental background level, $100{\mu}g/g$ dry weight. The sediments contained negligible amounts of hexachlorocyclohexane, while DDT concentrations were quite high (1.7-16.3ng/g dry weight). Generally, there were no substantial differences in the pollution levels of the locations studied and our results resembled those reported for Amursky Bay in the 1990s. Surprisingly, in 2001 'fiesh' DDT comprised 70-85% of the total DDT content in sediment from all the locations studied. In fish liver total DDTs concentrations were 212.8 and 122.54 ng/g wet weight for the inner and the middle locations, respectively, and 'fresh' DDT comprised 35 and 64% of DDTs, respectively. These results provide evidence of recent input of DDT from an unknown source into the ecosystem of Amursky Bay. Histopathological changes revealed in the plaice liver (vacuolization of hepatocytes, coagulative necrosis of hepatocytes, inflammatory reaction, and necrosis of epithelial cells of bile ducts) are probably connected with an intensive metabolism of DDT in the fish organism. No histological and histomorphometric differences were found in the state of the interrenal tissue. Similar condition of the liver and the interrenal tissue in barfin plaice sampled from the inner and the middle locations of Amursky Bay may be explained by the absence of great differences in the pollution levels of these sites.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 1995

The modal analysis was carried out for the total of 216 subface sediments of southern continental shelf of Korean peninsula. Sandy mud or muddy sand distributed in the range of 70∼100 m water depth revealed the bimodal type (sand and mud components). The relations of textural parameters obtained from every modal were consistent with those of shallow marine sediments. The characteristics of sand component between bimodal were as follows: (1) the distributions of mean grain size, sorting, shell content were repeatedly distributed like the directions of depth contour lines. (2) Sand component was composed of medium to fine sand (Mz, 1-3$\psi$) containing many shell fragments, a few pebbles, and iron-stained quartz. (3) The surface of quartz revealed the concordial breakage and V-shaped features formed at high energy environment. (4) In CM-pattern, sand component was plotted in rolling and bottom suspension area. These characteristics imply that sand component probably derives from shoreface sediments deposited at the beach environment.