• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.120-128
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• 2001

Pollution sources and their environmental contributions were investigated to select the best management practices for the effective control of water quality. The nitrogen isotope mass ratio was determined to estimate the nitrate sources and their contribution. Sampling sites were chosen by calculating effluent loads at each watershed. Two liters each of the surface water samples were collected from four sites at Bokha river and two sites and Gwanri river. They were sequentially prepared through distillation method and analyzed using an isotope ratio mass spectrometer(IsoPrime EA). As revealed by the experimental values obtained the mass ratio values ($\delta$$^{5}$ N) of watersheds with a large amount of nonpoint sources were less than +5 an indication that the samples were influenced by chemical fertilizers. However watersheds with large amount of point sources were influenced not only by chemical fertilizers but also by animal and municipal wastes. The mass ratio values of samples generally decreased during rainy days. But during dry days the mass ratio values well-reflected the nitrate sources and the condition of watersheds. Through this study the nitrogen isotope mass ratio has been found to be useful for estimating nitrate sources and their contribution to the rural watersheds.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.31-42
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• 2022

Dissolved organic matter (DOM), which changes according to various factors, is ubiquitously present from natural environments to engineered treatment systems. Only limited information is available regarding the environmental functions of DOM after bulk analyses are only applied for characterization. In this paper, latest DOM analytical techniques are briefly introduced, which include fluorescence excitation-emission matrix with parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC), size-exclusion chromatography with an organic carbon detector (SEC-OCD), carbon/nitrogen stable-isotope ratio, and Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectroscopy (FT-ICR-MS). Recent examples of using advanced analyses to interpret the phenomena associated with DOM occurring in natural and engineered systems are presented here. Through EEM-PARAFAC, different components like protein-like, fulvic-like, and humic-like can be identified and tracked individually through the investigated systems. SEC-OCD allows researchers to quantify different size fractions. FT-ICR-MS provides thousands of molecular formulas present in bulk DOM samples. Lastly, carbon/nitrogen stable-isotope ratio offers reasonable tools for tracking the sources in environments. We also discuss the advantages and weakness of the above-mentioned characterizing tools. Specifically, they focus on single environmental factors (different sourced-DOM and interaction of sediment-pore water) or simple changes after individual treatment processes. Through collaboration with the advanced techniques later, they help the researchers to better understand environmental behaviors in aquatic systems and serve as essential tools for addressing various pending problems associated with DOM.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers Conference
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• 1999.10c
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• pp.777-782
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• 1999

It has been acknowledged that fertilizer and animal waste have different ratio of \ulcornerN/\ulcornerN which is presented as a symbol of $\delta$\ulcornerN, and that the values of $\delta$\ulcornerN for fertilizer and animal waste are placed less than +8 $\textperthousand$ and higher than +10$\textperthousand$, respectively. By this reason, the demarcation range for the source nitrogen mass ratio is between +8$\textperthousand$ and +10$\textperthousand$. In this study, we would suggest a possible method to trace the major pollution basis using the nitrogen isotope analysis method for management of water quality.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.138-147
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• 2020

The Singil Stream, flowing into an artificial lake, Lake Shihwa (South Korea), experiences a strong anthropogenic pressure with continuous organic matter (OM) inputs from rural, urban, and industrial areas. In this study, we investigated suspended particulate matter (SPM) and streambed sediments collected along the Singil Stream in 2014 and 2016, by applying a dual element approach (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) to identify OM sources. The SPM and streambed sediment samples from the indusrial area showed higher organic carbon and nitrogen concentrations (or contents) than those from the other areas, with distinctively lower δ¹⁵N values. Accordingly, our dual element approach indicates that the industrial area was the predominant OM source influencing OM quality and thus water quality of the Singil Stream flowing into Lake Shihwa during the study periods. However, further studies are necessary to better constrain OM sources in the Singil Stream since OM sources from the industrial area appear to be complex.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.19 no.spc
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• pp.161-164
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• 2011

Nitrogen fixation by legumes can be valuable sources for organic farming. This study was to investigate the effect of different legume mixtures on nitrogen fixation and transfer to grasses on spring paddy field. Three different mixtures were used (rye+hairy vetch, Italian ryegrass+crimson clover, oat+pea) in a randomized complete block design with three replications and sowed in pots with different sowing rate (5:5 rye:hairy vetch,7:3=Italian:crimson, 6:4=oat:pea) on early March. $(^{15}NH_4)SO_4$ solution at. 99.8 atom%$^{15}N$ was applied to the each pot at the rate of 2kg N $ha^{-1}$ on $16^{th}$ April. Forage were harvested at ground level in heading stage and separated into legume and grass. Total N content and $^{15}N$ value were determined using a continuous flow stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry. DM yield of rye+vetch, Italian+crimson and oat+pea were 6,607, 3,213 and 4,312kg/ha, respectively. Proportion of N from fixation was 0.73(rye+vetch), 0.42(Italian+crimson) and 0.93(oat+pea). The percentages of N transfer from legume to grass were from 61% to 24% in different method by treatments and -35% to 21% in isotope dilution method.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.533-539
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• 2017

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope results recorded in human bone reflects palaeodiet, nutrition, subsistence and palaeoenvironment. We analyzed the remains of the Naju Yeongdong-ri people, who live at around $6^{th}$ century, excavated from stone chambers and stone-lined tombs. The following results of the analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes were obtained: ${\delta}^{13}C=-19.5{\pm}0.7$‰, ${\delta}^{15}N=9.6{\pm}0.7$‰, (n=9). The value for stable carbon isotopes indicates that the Naju Yeongdong-ri people had a largely $C_3$-based diet such as rice, barley, and beans. On the other hand, the value for stable nitrogen isotopes reflect the consumption of terrestrial animal protein. This study presents new information on the dietary patterns of the Naju Yeongdong-ri people, whose tombs were similar to the Baekje tomb style and their burial type was much like the one followed by the indigenous people of the Yeongsan river basin.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.147-152
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• 2015

Nitrogen (N) loading from domestic, agricultural and industrial sources can lead to excessive growth of macrophytes or phytoplankton in aquatic environment. Many studies have used nitrogen stable isotope ratios to identify anthropogenic nitrogen in aquatic systems as a useful method for studying nitrogen cycle. In this study to evaluate the precision and accuracy of Kjeldahl processes, two reference materials (IAEA-NO-3, N-1) were analyzed repeatedly. Measured the ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_3$ and ${\delta}^{15}N-NH_4$ values of IAEA-NO-3 and IAEA-N-1 were $4.7{\pm}0.2$‰ and $0.4{\pm}0.3$‰, respectively, which are within recommended values of analytical uncertainties. Also, we investigated spatial patterns of ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_3$ and ${\delta}^{15}N-NH_4$ in effluent plumes from a waste water treatment plant in Han River, Korea. ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_3$ and ${\delta}^{15}N-NH_4$ values are enriched at downstream areas of water treatment plant suggesting that dissolved nitrogen in effluent plumes should be one of the main N sources in those areas. The current study clarifies the reliability of Kjeldahl analytical method and the usefulness of stable isotopic techniques to trace the contamination source of dissolved nitrogen such as nitrate and ammonia.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.102-112
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• 2022

This study investigated dietary habits and intra- and inter-specific food resource partitioning of co-occurring walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) and Pacific cod (G. macrocephalus) from the waters off the north-eastern coast of South Korea using stomach contents and stable isotopes (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) analyses. Both species are mesopelagic carnivores that consumed mainly benthopelagic crustaceans, but teleosts were also abundant in the diet of Pacific cod. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) ordination and permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) of dietary data revealed significant intra- and inter-specific dietary differences, i.e., food resource partitioning. Nitrogen stable isotope values (δ¹⁵N) were similar between walleye pollock and Pacific cod, but carbon stable isotope values (δ¹³C) were significant different, suggesting different trophic positioning. Canonical analysis of principal coordinate (CAP) ordination plot further demonstrated that differences in the type and range of prey ingested by the two species contributed such an inter-specific difference in the diet compositions. Ontogenetic changes in diet compositions were evident. As walleye pollock, they preyed more upon carid shrimps and cephalopods, but no such trend was observed in the diets of Pacific cod. While stable isotope values indicated that large-sized specimens of both species were significantly enriched in ¹⁵N relative to smaller conspecifics thus supporting these data. Consequently, in this study, both methodologies, i.e., stomach contents and stable isotope analyses, provided evidence of inter- and/or intra-specific dietary segregations and trophic niche partitioning between co-occurring walleye pollock and Pacific cod off eastern Korean waters.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.493-505
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• 2020

Food web structures in the lower trophic levels of the seas around the Korean peninsula were investigated in August 2019 using stable isotopes. There were variable ratios of the carbon (-26.18 ~ -20.61 ‰) and nitrogen stable (5.36 ~ 15.20 ‰) isotopes in the particulate organic matter (POM). Most of the organisms ingested micro-POM as a major food source, but this varied spatially. The chaetognaths (3.40 ± 0.61) occupied the highest trophic level. The isotope mixing model showed that the proportions (13 ~ 51 %) of some organisms (i.e., copepods and euphausiids) reflected the relative contributions as major food sources for chaetognaths at each site.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.495-508
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• 2013

Recently, stable isotopes (${\delta}^{18}O$ and ${\delta}D$) of water are increasingly analyzed using laser-based technologies. These methods have advantages over Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) in that they can be used for in-situ measurements and require much less maintenance and preparation work. Two types of laser-based methods are currently available, which have different analytical principles; OA-ICOS (off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy) and WS-CRDS (wavelength-scanned cavity ring-down spectroscopy). In the WS-CRDS instrument, water is vaporized at controlled environment and transferred to an optical cavity by nitrogen carrier gas, and stable isotopic compositions of water vapor are measured using the degree of absorbance of specific wavelengths and the ratios of attenuation time of the laser intensity with the sensitivity of ppb to tens of ppt level. In this study, we introduce the principle of the WS-CRDS technology and the performance results including stability and comparisons with Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) and suggest possible applications of various topics in isotope hydrology.