• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2012

A deep-sea manganese nodule miner consists of 4 parts: the pickup device, crusher, disposal device, and tracked vehicle. The tracked vehicle is an essential component to keep the self-propelled miner moving across deep-sea soil. The performances of the tracked vehicle are influenced by noise factors: the shear strength of the seafloor, bottom current, seafloor slope, track speed, reaction forces of flexible hose, etc. It is necessary to adopt a robust design method that improves the performances and minimizes the variation caused by noise factors. Taguchi's method, the most widely known robust design method, searches for the robust optimum using an orthogonal array composed of the product of the inner array and outer array. In this paper, we propose a new screening technique to reduce the number of input factors and apply the MRSN (Multi-Response Signal to Noise) ratio to convert multiple performances into single one in order to overcome the difficulties and limitations of using Taguchi's method in a case with many input factors and multiple performances. A test miner was already designed and tested. It has about 1/10 the capacity of a commercial one and was successfully operated at an in-shore area. Taguchi's robust design was applied to the tracked vehicle of the test miner, and design improvements were implemented for the vehicle.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.277-288
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• 2014

The Korean government is considering the implementation of a project to develop a deep-sea human-operated vehicle (HOV) to improve the level of deep-sea research. Information on the scientific benefits from the project is urgently needed in order to come to a decision about whether to implement the project. This paper measures the conservation value of developing nine attributes associated with HOV by using the choice experiment (CE). A survey of about 356 experts was undertaken and 132 experts completely responded to the survey. To deal with the CE data from the survey, we employed a multinomial logit model. All the coefficient estimates are statistically significant and consistent with prior expectations. Therefore, we can judge that the respondents' works required in the CE survey were within their cognitive abilities and they reported responsible and significant values. Each marginal willingness to pay for each attribute associated with the HOV is statistically significant and provides good information on the scientific values with regard to developing the HOV. The results can be utilized in evaluating and planning several alternatives related to developing the HOV.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.235-244
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• 2004

The shear strength of deep-sea core sediments from the nofheast equatorial Pacific was measured in various conditions to ensure precision of results. The comparison items were 1) two different measuring systems (hand-held vane and motorized vane), 2) in different places of on-board immediately after collecting the core samples and on-land laboratories after storing these samples for three months in a cold room, 3) two different core samples from a multiple corer within a sampling station, and 4) four different measuring points (holes) from a core sample. In this experiment, the values of shear strength in deep-sea sediments show significant change with depth which increase toward the bottom of core. Also, the results of two cores recovered at the same station indicate that vertical variation of shear strength is mainly caused by the change of physical properties. They strongly support the fact that the difference of vue syrtem and/or experimental conditions are not major factor in the variation of geotechnical properties.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.782-795
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• 2019

Safety is always acritical focus of exploration of ocean resources, and it is well recognized that human factor is one of the major causes of accidents and breakdowns. Our research developed a dynamic human reliability assessment approach, Predicted Mean Vote-Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Method (PMV-CREAM), that is applicable to monitoring the cognitive reliability of oceanauts during deep-sea missions. Taking into account the difficult and variable operating environment of manned submersibles, this paper analyzed the cognitive actions of oceanauts during the various procedures required by deep-sea missions, and calculated the PMV index using human factors and dynamic environmental data. The Cognitive Failure Probabilities (CFP) were calculated using the extended CREAM approach. Finally, the CFP were corrected using the PMV index. This PMV-CREAM hybrid model can be utilized to avoid human error in deep-sea research, thereby preventing injury and loss of life during undersea work. This paper verified the method with "Jiaolong" manned submersible 7,000 m dive test. The"Jiaolong" oceanauts CR(Corrected CFP) is dynamic from 3.0615E-3 to 4.2948E-3, the CR caused by the environment is 1.2333E-3. The result shown the PMV-CREAM method could describe the dynamic human reliability of manned submersible caused by thermal environment.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.237-245
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• 2016

In this study, the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of low-salt Myungran jeotkal (Alaskan pollock roe) were evaluated after fermentation at $4^{\circ}C$ and $20^{\circ}C$ with or without the addition of deep sea water, salt from deep sea water, and vegetable-origin lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus fermentum JS, LBF). When fermented at $20^{\circ}C$, the addition of LBF to Myungran jeotkal resulted in a slow increase in lactic acid content, followed by an abrupt increase after five days of fermentation. However, when fermented at $4^{\circ}C$, the lactic acid content did not change significantly. Further, when Myungran jeotkal fermented at $4^{\circ}C$, the pH decreased as lactic acid production increased. The salinity of Myungran jeotkal fermented at $4^{\circ}C$ and $20^{\circ}C$ was 7% and was not affected by fermentation period. When fermented at $20^{\circ}C$, volatile basic nitrogen and amino nitrogen contents increased with increasing duration of fermentation. Further, volatile acid content decreased, however, the content of amino nitrogen increased after 11 days of fermentation with LBF and no salt effects were observed. When fermented at $20^{\circ}C$ for 13 days, preference (sensory evaluation) was the highest in all experimental groups after 9 days of fermentation, and then decreased as the fermentation period increased. The free amino acid content was highest (1,648.8 mg/100 g) in Myungran jeotkal when sun-dried salt and LBF were added, 2.3 times higher than in the control.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.18-29
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• 2019

ROV surveys were conducted using 500 meter mini class ROV with HD video camera, 2 LED lights, a simple manipulator and 8 thrusters near the Dokdo and Simheungtaek seamount. Total six dives have been conducted using the ROV "V8 SII" from Sweden and ROV's support ship, "KOSAL V" at 4 stations between 45 and 370 meters with diving time ranged from 30 to 120 minutes. Dense communities of sea anemone (Actinostolidae sp.) and ophiuroids (Ophiuridae sp.) on the surface of rocky bottom and snow crab on the soft bottom with muddy-sand were observed at northwestern part of Simheungtaek seamount. We obtained the following results 1) habitats information for snow crab, one of the major fisheries resources, and deep-sea fauna, 2) observation on the specific topography and sediment conditions, 3) observation of the seabed surface covered with the discarded fishing gears. This study represents the first report of in situ visual observation of deep-sea organisms and their habitats near the Dokdo slopes and flat top of the Simheungtaek seamount in the East Sea. These results indicated that immediate oceanographic survey using the mini class ROV is available in the East Sea.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.21-32
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• 2018

Due to the escalation in hydrocarbon consumption, the offshore industry is now looking for advanced technology to be employed for deep sea exploration. Riser system is an integral part of floating structure used for such oil and gas extraction from deep water offering a system of drill twines and production tubing to spread the exploration well towards the ocean bed. Thus, the marine risers need to be precisely employed. The incorporation of the strengthening material, fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) for deep and ultra-deep water riser has drawn extensive curiosity in offshore engineering as it might offer potential weight savings and improved durability. The design for FRP strengthening involves the local design for critical loads along with the global analysis under all possible nonlinearities and imposed loadings such as platform motion, gravity, buoyancy, wave force, hydrostatic pressure, current etc. for computing and evaluating critical situations. Finite element package, ABAQUS/AQUA is the competent tool to analyze the static and dynamic responses under the offshore hydrodynamic loads. The necessities in design and operating conditions are studied. The study includes describing the methodology, procedure of analysis and the local design of composite riser. The responses and fatigue damage characteristics of the risers are explored for the effects of FRP strengthening. A detail assessment on the technical expansion of strengthening riser has been outlined comprising the inquiry on its behavior. The enquiry exemplifies the strengthening of riser as very potential idea and suitable in marine structures to explore oil and gas in deep sea.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.173-182
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• 2007

It is well known that manganese nodules enriched with valuable metals are abundantly distributed in the abyssal plain area in the Clarion-Clipperton (C-C) fracture zone of the northeast Pacific. Previous studies using deep-sea camera (DSC) system reported different observations about the relation of seafloor topographic change and nodule abundance, and they were sometimes contradictory. Moreover, proper foundation on the estimation of DSC underwater position, was not introduced clearly. The variability of the mining condition of manganese nodule according to seafloor topography was examined in the Korea Deep Ocean Study (KODOS) area, located in the C-C zone. In this paper, it is suggested that the utilization of deep towing system such as DSC is very useful approach to whom are interested in analysing the distributional characteristics of manganese nodule filed and in selecting promising minable area. To this purpose, nodule abundance and detailed bathymetry were acquired using deep-sea camera system and multi-beam echo sounder, respectively on the seamount free abyssal hill area of southern part ($132^{\circ}10'W$, $9^{\circ}45'N$) in KODOS regime. Some reasonable assumptions were introduced to enhance the accuracy of estimated DSC sampling position. The accuracy in the result of estimated underwater position was verified indirectly through the comparison of measured abundances on the crossing point of neighboring DSC tracks. From the recorded seafloor images, not only nodules and sediments but cracks and cliffs could be also found frequently. The positions of these probable unminable area were calculated by use of the recorded time being encountered with them from the seafloor images of DSC. The results suggest that the unminable areas are mostly distributed on the slope sides and hill tops, where nodule collector can not travel over.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.323-337
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• 1999

Seafloor morphology and manganese nodule occurrence were studied in the Korea Deep-sea Environmental Study (KODES) area, northeast equatorial Pacific, to understand their relationship. Study area is composed of three elongated valleys and hills with about 100~200 m height along NNE-SSW direction. Valley region is generally flat. However, hill region is very rugged with big cliffs of about 100m height and small depressions of several tens of meters depth. Tectonic movement along the Clarion-Clipperton fracture zone, consequent formation of elongated abyssal hills and Valleys, erosion of siliceous bottom sediments by bottom currents, and dissolution of carbonate sediments on the abyssal hills below CCD result in the rugged morphology. Manganese nodule occurrence is closely related to the morphology of the study area; mostly rounded-shaped manganese nodules with about 5 cm diameter are abundant on the flat valley region, whereas irregular shaped nodules (or manganese crust) with less than 5 cm to about 1 m diameter occur on the hill. These results supports the previous reports that nodule abundance, composition, and morphology are variable both on regional and local small scales on the seafloor even within some abundant nodule provinces depending on oceanographic characteristics such as bathymetric features, surface sediment type, sediment thickness, and so on. We suggest that such oceanographic characteristics affect interrelatedly on the formation of manganese nodules, and tectonic movement of the Pacific plate ultimately constrain the nodule occurrence. A potential mining place in the KODES area seems to be the valley region, which is elongated to the NNW-SSE direction with 3-4 km width.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.602-613
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• 2013

This paper aims at an investigation of the features of bacterial communities in surface sediments of the South China Sea (SCS). In particular, biogeographical distribution patterns and the phylogenetic diversity of bacteria found in sediments collected from a coral reef platform, a continental slope, and a deep-sea basin were determined. Bacterial diversity was measured by an observation of 16S rRNA genes, and 18 phylogenetic groups were identified in the bacterial clone library. Planctomycetes, Deltaproteobacteria, candidate division OP11, and Alphaproteobacteria made up the majority of the bacteria in the samples, with their mean bacterial clones being 16%, 15%, 12%, and 9%, respectively. By comparison, the bacterial communities found in the SCS surface sediments were significantly different from other previously observed deep-sea bacterial communities. This research also emphasizes the fact that geographical factors have an impact on the biogeographical distribution patterns of bacterial communities. For instance, canonical correspondence analyses illustrated that the percentage of sand weight and water depth are important factors affecting the bacterial community composition. Therefore, this study highlights the importance of adequately determining the relationship between geographical factors and the distribution of bacteria in the world's seas and oceans.