• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.201-208
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• 2007

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are anthropogenic contaminants found globally in water, ice, soil, air and sediment. Modern analytical techniques allow us to determine these chemicals in environmental matrices at parts per trillion levels or lower. Environmental forensic on PCBs opens up new avenues of investigation such as transport and fate of water masses in oceans, sedimentation, onset of primary production, migration of marine mammals, their population distribution and pharmacokinetics of drugs inside organisms. By virtue of persistence, bioaccumulation, bioconcentration and structure-activity relationship PCBs emerge as unconventional chemical tracers of new sort.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.787-799
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to investigate the accumulation of metallic elements and the control effect of marine pollution caused by ocean dumping in the sediments at a waste disposal area in the Yellow Sea. In July 2009, concentrations of organic matter and metallic elements (Al, Fe, As, Cd, Cr, Co, Hg, Ni, Mn, Pb, and Zn) were measured in surface sediments at the site. The ignition loss (IL) in the surface sediments showed a mean value of 15.4%, about 1.5 times higher than the mean value of the sediments in the coastal areas of Korea. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) at some disposal sites exceeded 20 mg $O_2/g{\cdot}dry$, which signifies the initial concentration of marine sediment pollutants in Japan. The disposal sites contain higher concentrations of Cr, Cu and Zn than the sediments of bays and estuaries that might be contaminated. The magnitude of both metal enrichment factors (EF) and adverse biological effects suggest that pollution with Cr and Ni occurred due to the dumping of waste in the study area. In addition, the geoaccumulation index (Igeo) showed that the surface sediments were moderately contaminated. By the mid-2000s, when the amount of waste dumped at this site was the highest, the concentration of metallic elements was higher than ever recorded. On the other hand, in 2008-09, the need for environmental management was relatively low compare with the peak. As a result, the quality of marine sediment has been enhanced, considering the effect of waste reduction and natural dilution in the disposal area.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.286-294
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• 2008

In order to understand the physical properties of deep-sea sediments, which mainly consist of pelagic red clays, sediment samples were collected at 24 stations using a multiple corer in the Clarion-Clipperton fracture zone of the northeast equatorial Pacific. The sampled sediment cores were examined for the mass physical properties(i.e. grain size distribution, mean grain size, water content, specific grain density, wet bulk density, void ratio, and porosity) and the geotechnical properties(i.e. shear strength and consistency limits) with the content of biogenic opal and mineral composition. Although KR1 and KR2 areas on the same latitude are logitudinally far from each other, the mass physical properties of these areas are not distinctly different except for shear strengths. The maximum shear strength of surface sediments in KR2 area is higher than that in KR1 due to the appearance of a consolidated lower layer(Unit 3) in the sediment core from KR2.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.337-345
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• 2003

Surficial sediments from the northern coastal area of Jeju Island, southeastern Yellow Sea (South Sea of Korea) were analyzed for grain-size texture, some geochemical characteristics and clay mineralogy in order to assess their provenance. Rare-earth element compositions and some geochemical discrimination diagrams, especially of Ti/Al, Nb/Al and Rb/Al ratios, were revealed to be useful indices for identifying the origin of sediments. These indices, together with clay mineral compositions, suggest that the coarse-grained sediments originate from the volcanic rocks of Jeju Island, whereas the fine-grained sediments are derived from Chinese rivers, especially the Changjiang River. The oceanic circulation pattern and the physical-chemical properties of seawater in the Yellow and East China seal support the possibility that the fine-pained Changjiang (Yangtze River) sediments can reach the coastal area of Jeju Island (southeastern Yellow Sea).

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.115-117
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• 2008

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.59-70
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• 1998

Two-dimensional trend-vector model of sediment transport is first tested in the tidal flat of Garolim Bay, mid-western coast of the Korean Peninsula. Three major parameters of surface sediment, i.e., mean grain size, sorting and skewness, are used for defining the best-fitting transport trend-vector on the sand ridge and muddy sand flat. These trend vectors are compared with the real transport directions determined from morphology, field observation and bedforms. The 15 possible cases of trend vectors are calculated from total sediments. In order to find the role of coarse sediments, trend vectors from sediments coarser than < 4.5 ${\phi}$, (sand size) are separately calculated from those of total sediments. As compared with the real directions, the best-fitting transport-vector model is the "case M" of coarse sediments which is the combined trend vectors of two cases: (1) finer, better sorted and more negatively skewed and (2) coarser, better sorted and more positively skewed. This indicates sand-size grains are formed by simpler hydrodynamic processes than total sediments. Transported sediment grains are better sorted than the source sediment grains. This indicates that consistent hydrodynamic energy can make sediment grains better sorted, regardless of complicated mechanisms of sediment transport. Consequently, both transported vector model and real transported direction show that the source of sediments are located outside of bay (offshore Yellow Sea) and in the baymouth. These source sediments are transported through the East Main Tidal Channel adjacent the baymouth. Some are transported from the subtidal zone to the upper tidal flat, but others are transported farther to the south, reaching the south tidal channel in the study area. Also, coarse sediment grains on the sand ridge are originally from the baymouth, and transported through the subtidal zone to the south tidal channel. These coarse sediments are moved to the northeast, but could not pass the small north tidal channel. It is interpreted that the great amount of coarse sediments is returned back to the outside of the bay (Yellow Sea) again through the baymouth during the ebb tide. The distribution of muddy sand in the northeastern part of study area may result from the mixing of two sediment transport mechanisms, i.e., suspension and bedload processes. The landward movement of sand ridge and the formation of the north tidal channel are formed either by the supply of coarse sediments originating from the baymouth and outside of the bay (subaqueous sand ridges including Jang-An-Tae) or by the recent relative sea-level rise.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.9-26
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• 2008

To clarify the reed (Phragmites australis) stand's effects on the sediment properties and its increasing pattern, breaths of reed stands in 1999 and 2000, and sediment properties - water, salt, organic matter, sulphur, nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen contents - along th depth at the three stands in 2007 were surveyed at Suncheon Bay. Regardless of reed stand, the more distance from the land was long, the more water and salt contents of sediment were high. Organic matter content of sediment was high and increased with the reed biomass at the upper layer but low regardless of biomass at the lower layer. Sulphur content of sediment was higher at old reed stand (0.33%) than at new stand (0.21%) or non-vegetated stand (0.23%). Carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen contents of sediment were similar at three stands in mean values. However, their contents were high at upper layer and low at lower layer in a stand. Therefore, the changing pattern of organic matter content with the depth was similar to but not coincided to the inorganic nutrients' ones. The mean breadth of reed stands increased $2.33{\pm}0.73m$ in 1999 and $3.65{\pm}1.64m$ in 2000. However, the increase of reed stands' breadth a year varied along the direction, year or stands, so that there was not a trend in increasing pattern. It was thought that this increasing pattern made the reed's patch round. The height and density of reed shoot in newly formed stand decreased with the distance from the center of stand. In the newly formed peripheral area of a reed stand, the shoot density was not related with the land (north) or sea (south) direction, however, the shoot height was higher in the sea (south) than in the land (north) direction.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.245-253
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• 2001

To investigate the effects of hydromechanical and textural characteristics of sediment deposits on the cultivation of Manila clam, Ruditapes philippinarum surface and sub-surface core sediments were collected seasonally in Gomso tidal flat. Grain size distribution were analyzed to investigate the annual variation of sediment texture. In winter unimodal distribution of grain size with the peak at $5\phi$ is dominant However, during the summer sediment texture become a little bit coarser and grain size distribution shows the peaks at $4\~5 \phi$. Optimum sediment texture for the cultivation of manila clam, R. philippinarum was found to be sandy silt in which mean Brain size was between 4 and $5 \phi$ with the sand content less than $50\%$ and clay content of $5\~10\%$. Mechanical and hydrological characteristics of sediment deposits were also studied in the laboratory and the results were applied to the numerical simulation for the behavior of surface sediment subjected to the cyclic loading from sea-water level change. Results of numerical simulation illustrate that the permeability of sediment had to be maintained in the range of $10^{-11}\sim10^{-12}m^2$ to ensure the proper sedimentological environment for the cultivation of manila clam, R. philippinarum. The deposits of virtually impermeable mud layer, with the threshold thickness of 4 cm, would be very hazardous to clam habitat.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.147-155
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• 2008

A series of experiments were conducted to find standard test organisms and to develop test protocols for sediment toxicity tests using indigenous amphipods inhabited in Korean coastal environments. The indigenous amphipods Mandibulophoxus mai and Monocorophium acherusicum were well associated with various sediment substrates from sand to mud. The tolerance limits to various physico-chemical factors affecting bioassay results such as temperature, salinity and total ammonium as well as the sensitivities to contaminants in water and sediments were investigated using M. mai and M. acherusicum in the present study. These amphipods were tolerable to the adequate ranges of salinity ($10{\sim}30\;psu$), temperature ($10{\sim}25^{\circ}C$) and ammonia (<50 ppm). They have relevant sensitivities to the reference toxicants, dissolved cadmium as well as other metals and organic pollutants, when compared to the standard test species used in other countries. Field-sediment toxicity tests revealed that M. mai would be more sensitive to sediment-associated pollutants than M. acherusicum, while the sensitivity of M. acherusicum was comparable to those of other sediment test species in other countries. Overall results of this first attempt to develop an amphipod sediment toxicity test protocol in Korea indicated that M. mai and M. acherusicum should be applicable in the toxicity assessment of contaminated sediments, following the further evaluation encompassing various ecological and toxicological evaluation and the standardization of test method.

• IEMEK Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.331-341
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• 2017

This paper presents the sea-trial results of Crabster CR6000 which is a deep-sea walking robot developed by KRISO in 2016. Crabster CR6000 is designed to inspect deep-sea environment rejecting the disturbance on the silent and calm abyssal area. The sea-trial was conducted at the East Sea and the Philippine Sea on December 2016. The Crabster CR6000 undocked successfully from the Shuttle after touchdown on the sea-bed and walked out on the soft sediment soil of the 4,743m seafloor at the fourth diving in the Philippine Sea. The advanced technologies and capabilities of CR6000 were verified from the operational and functional test conducted in the sea-trial. The experimental data acquired from the sea-trial were summarized and the first experience of the deep-sea walking robot was presented in this paper.