• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.401-410
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• 2003

Three beaches of the Seogwang-ri coast in the western part of Wu Island, Jeju-do, are solely composed of rhodoliths (red algal nodules). The beach sediments are coarse sand to granule in size and they show the banded distribution according to size. Commonly the larger pebble-sized rhodoliths are concentrated near the rocky coast, resulting from the transportation of the nodules from shallow marine environments by intermittent typhoons. Based on the internal texture of the rhodoliths, it appears that crustose red algae, Lithophyllum sp., is the main contributor for the formation of the rhodolith. The coarse sand to granule-sized grains show that they started to grow from the nucleus as rhodoliths, but the surface was severely eroded by waves. However, the pebble to cobble-sized grains exhibit the complete growth pattern of rhodoliths and sometimes contain other calcareous skeletons. It is common that encrusting red algae are intergrown with encrusting bryozoan. The surface morphology of rhodolith tends to change from the concentric to domal shape towards the outer part. This suggests that the rhodolith grew to a certain stage by rolling, but it grew in more quiet condition without rolling as it became larger. Aragonite and calcite cements can be found in the pores within rhodoliths (conceptacle, intraskeletal pore in bryozoan, and boring), and this means that shallow marine cementation has occurred during their growth. Growth of numerous rhodoliths in shallow marine environment near the Seogwang-ri coast indicates that this area has suitable oceanographic conditions for their growth such as warm water temperature (about 19$^{\circ}C$ in average) and clear water condition due to the lack of terrestrial input of volcanoclastic sediments. Fast tidal current and high wave energy in the shallow water setting can provide suitable conditions enough for their rolling and growth. Typhoons passing this area every summer also influence on the growth of rhodoliths.

• ALGAE
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.63-71
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• 2013

Lithothamnion muelleri is reported for the first time as one of the main components of rhodolith beds along the Eastern Pacific Ocean based on samples from Washington State (USA), Pacific Baja California (M$\acute{e}$xico), southern Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Individual rhodoliths ranged from fruticose to lumpy in morphology, and bi-sporangial, tetrasporangial, and gametangial plants were similar to those described from Australia and Brazil. Our study revealed a surprisingly wide latitudinal distribution of this species along the American continent. Its documentation in the Eastern Pacific will facilitate a more accurate interpretation of the ecology, biology, and biogeography of rhodolith beds worldwide.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.307-320
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• 2021

Udo Rhodolith Beach is a small-scale, mixed sand-and-gravel beach embayed on the N-S trending rocky coast of Udo, Jeju Island, South Korea. This study analyzes the short-term topographic changes of the beach during the extreme storm conditions of four typhoons from 2016 to 2020: Chaba (2016), Soulik (2018), Lingling (2019), and Maysak (2020). The analysis uses the topographic data of terrestrial LiDAR scanning and drone photogrammetry, aided by weather and oceanographic datasets of wind, wave, current and tide. The analysis suggests two contrasting features of alongshore topographic change depending on the typhoon pathway, although the intensity and duration of the storm conditions differed in each case. During the Soulik and Lingling events, which moved northward following the western sea of the Jeju Island, the northern part of the beach accreted while the southern part eroded. In contrast, the Chaba and Maysak events passed over the eastern sea of Jeju Island. The central part of the beach was then significantly eroded while sediments accumulated mainly at the northern and southern ends of the beach. Based on the wave and current measurements in the nearshore zone and computer simulations of the wave field, it was inferred that the observed topographic change of the beach after the storm events is related to the directions of the wind-driven current and wave propagation in the nearshore zone. The dominant direction of water movement was southeastward and northeastward when the typhoon pathway lay to the east or west of Jeju Island, respectively. As these enhanced waves and currents approached obliquely to the N-S trending coastline, the beach sediments were reworked and transported southward or northward mainly by longshore currents, which likely acts as a major control mechanism regarding alongshore topographic change with respect to Udo Rhodolith Beach. In contrast to the topographic change, the subaerial volume of the beach overall increased after all storms except for Maysak. The volume increase was attributed to the enhanced transport of onshore sediment under the combined effect of storm-induced long periodic waves and a strong residual component of the near-bottom current. In the Maysak event, the raised sea level during the spring tide probably enhanced the backshore erosion by storm waves, eventually causing sediment loss to the inland area.