What is responsible for increasing flood risks? The case of Gangwon Province,Korea

We examined the anthropogenic and natural causes of flood risks in six representative cities in the Gangwon Province of Korea. Flood damage per capita is mostly explained by cumulative upper 5% summer precipitation amount and the year. The increasing flood damage is also associated with deforestation in upstream areas and intensive land use in lowlands. Human encroachment on floodplains made these urban communities more vulnerable to floods. Without changes in the current flood management systems of these cities, their vulnerability to flood risks will remain and may even increase under changing climate conditions.     

Application of a variational inverse model to determine a wintertime circulation in the East Sea of Korea

Using a variational inverse model, a wintertime ocean circulation is obtained in the East Sea of Korea bounded by transects of 34° N, 38° N in latitude and 132° E in longitude and coastlines. The hydrographic data observed by FRDAK (Fisheries Research and Development Agency of Korea) are used for determining the vertical structure and also used as data constraints. In the current study, the model was constrained only by the geostrophic balance and bottom topography. Preliminary model results showed that the vertical distributions of temperature in February 1983 were homogeneous in the coastal region south of 35°30′ N and that the extension of cold water mass along the eastern coast of Korea was noticed in the northern part of the study area. Meandering northward flows with the scale of 150 km are also observed to be dominant in the surface layer (10–100 m).     

Ecotoxicological evaluation of sewage sludge using bioluminescent marine bacteria and rotifer

Bioassay using the marine bacteria,Vibrio fischeri and rotifer,Brachionus plicatilis, and chemical analyses were conducted to assess the toxicity of the various sewage sludges, one of the major ocean dumped materials in the Yellow Sea of Korea. Sludge elutriates extracted by filtered seawater were used to estimate the ecotoxicity of the sludge. Chemical characterization included the analyses of organic contents, heavy metals, and persistent organic pollutants in sludge. Bacterial bioluminescent inhibition (15 min), rotifer mortality (24 hr) and rotifer population growth inhibition (48 hr) assay were conducted to estimate the sludge toxicity. EC50 15 min (inhibition concentration of bioluminescence after 15 minutes exposed) values by Microtox® bioassay clearly revealed different toxicity levels depending on the sludge sources. Highest toxicity for the bacteria was found with the sludge extract from dyeing waste and followed by industrial waste, livestock waste, and leather processing waste. Clear toxic effects on the bacteria were not found in the sludge extract from filtration bed sludge and rural sewage sludge. Consistent with Microtox® results, rotifer neonate mortality and population growth inhibition test also showed highest toxicity in dyeing waste and low in filtration bed and rural sewage sludge. High concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals were measured in the samples from the industrial wastes, leather processing plant waste sludge, and urban sewage sludge. However, there was no significant correlation between pollutant concentration levels and the toxicity values of the sludge. This suggests that the ecotoxicity in addition to the chemical analyses of various sludge samples must be estimated before release of potential harmful waste in the natural environment as part of an ecological risk assessment.     

Distribution of Cs and Pu in the surface waters of the East Sea (Sea of Japan)

Surface and subsurface water samples for ¹³⁷Cs and ^239,240Pu analysis were collected in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) during August 1993. The ¹³⁷Cs levels of the surface waters are quite homogeneous in the East Sea (average = 3.1±0.2 mBq kg⁻¹). The ^239,240Pu levels vary from 6 to 10 μBq kg⁻¹ in the surface. ^239,240Pu to ¹³⁷Cs ratios in the surface water are within 0.002 to 0.003. The East Sea may be regarded as a part of the North Pacific Ocean in terms of ¹³⁷Cs dispersal in the surface, where the ¹³⁷Cs contents of the surface seawater seem to be controlled primarily by the atmospheric input. However, since our sampling was made just two months prior to the widely publicized Russian dumping incident on the 17th October 1993, our measurements may provide background data to assess the immediate impact of the Russian dumping on the levels of ¹³⁷Cs and ^239,240Pu in the East Sea.     

Experimental study of liquid immiscibility in the fluid-magmatic silicate systems containing Ti,Nb, Sr,REE, and Zr

Aluminosilicate alkaline systems containing Ti, REE (La, Ce), Y, Sr, and Nb were studied experimentally at T = 1200 and 1250°C and P = 2 kbar in the presence of aqueous and alkaline fluid. In the fluid-absent experiments with systems containing the same elements, loparite crystals in a silicate matrix were obtained. These systems in the presence of aqueous and alkaline fluid pressure conditions demonstrate an immiscible splitting into two liquids: (1) aluminosilicate matrix and (2) droplets enriched in Ti, REE (La, Ce), Y, Sr, and Nb, which contain silicate admixture and are compositionally close to loparites. According to approximate estimates, the partition coefficients between the melts of the droplets and aluminosilicate matrix (K = C _dr/C _sil) are more than 5 for TiO₂, < 0.35 for SiO₂, 10–20 for Nb₂O₅, > 15 for REE, and from 2.3 to 7.6 for SrO. Obtained unmixing may be of great significance for explaining the genesis of REE-Nb (loparite) deposits. In addition, the experiments demonstrate that Zr may be accumulated together with Ti and REE due to liquid immiscibility of this type. The partition coefficient of ZrO₂ between the melts of droplets and aluminosilicate matrix (K = C _dr/C _sil) according to approximate estimates varies from ∼ 3.5 to 9.     

A Simplified Basin Model For Simulating Runoff: The Struma River GIS

A GIS‐based distributed‐parameter runoff simulation model for the Struma River Basin in southwestern Bulgaria calculates the monthly snow/rain proportion, direct or surface runoff, snow cover and snowmelt, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and total runoff. Simulation during the Bulgarian hydrologic year from November to October was compared with observed runoff data. The model closely replicates mean monthly runoff from climate conditions during the years 1961 –1990 as well as specific years. The simplified GIS model simulates hydrologic processes under limited data availability.     

An experimental study of Cl and S distribution between sodalite and fluid

S and Cl distribution between sodalite and fluid was experimentally studied at temperatures of 300–800°C and pressure of 0.5–3 kbar. It is demonstrated that S is preferably distributed into fluid in equilibrium with sodalite of the composition X _S ^Sod > 0.05 throughout the whole temperature range. The distribution of S in the sodalite-fluid system is nonideal. An equation (derived from experimental data) is presented for evaluating the S mole fraction in fluid from the composition of sodalite at a known temperature. The S mole fractions in the fluid are evaluated for sodalite assemblages from nepheline syenites of the Lovozero Massif as being within the range of 0.036–0.23. The S mole fraction in the fluid is proved to increase with increasing mineral formation temperatures.     

Numerical Experiments of the Influences of the Transport Variation through the Korea Strait on the Japan/East Sea Upper Layer Circulation

Numerical experiments were performed in order to investigate the effects of variations of the transport through the Korea/Tsushima Strait, an inlet of the Japan/East Sea, on the upper layer circulation in the JES based on a 10-month transport observation from May 1999 to March 2000 (Perkins et al., 2000). All external forcings to the model were annual mean fields, except the transport variation through the Korea Strait. In the experiments where the periodic variation of the transport repeated continuously sinusoidally by several periods, strong variability of sea surface height (SSH) was detected in the region extending from the Korea Strait to the Japanese coast due to the geostrophy of the buoyancy forcing at the Korea Strait. The region along the Korean coast is more sensitive to the long-term variations than the short-term (≤60-day period) ones. In two experiments forced by realistic and monthly mean transport, the difference of rms of sea surface height was largest at the Japanese coast and relatively large at the East Korean Warm Current separation region (128∼130°E, 39∼41°N) and to the east of Yamato Rise. The distribution of difference of eddy kinetic energy at 100 m depth between the two experiments was similar to that of the rms of SSH. In the distributions of mean SSH and mean kinetic energy at 100 m depth the realistic transport invokes eddy variability to interact with mean current resulting in the changes of the mean SSH and the mean kinetic energy at the East Korean Warm Current separation region, but it does not produce conspicuous changes in the mean fields of entire JES compared with the mean fields forced by the seasonal transport.     

Morphology and molecular characterization of the epiphytic dinoflagellate Prorocentrum cf. rhathymum in temperate waters off Jeju Island, Korea

Prorocentrum spp. are planktonic and/or benthic species. Benthic Prorocentrum species are of primary concern to scientists and the public because some of them are toxic. We established clonal cultures of 3 strains of Prorocentrum species that were collected from the thalli of a macroalga in the coastal waters off Jeju Island, located at the southern end of Korea. The Korean strains of P. cf. rhathymum, which are morphologically almost identical to the Virgin Island strain of P. rhathymum, were different from P. mexicanum because the former dinoflagellate has one simple collar-like spine in the periflagellar area, while the latter dinoflagellate has a 2- or 3-horned spine. In addition, the sequences of the small subunit (SSU) rDNA of the Korean strains were identical to those of the Malaysian and Floridian strains of P. rhathymum, while the sequences of the large subunit (LSU) rDNA of the Korean strains were 0.1–0.9% different from those of the Iranian and Malaysian strains of P. rhathymum. In phylogenetic trees based on the SSU rDNA sequences, the Korean strains of P. rhathymum formed a clade with the Malaysian and Floridian strains of P. rhathymum and the Vietnamese and Polynesian strains of P. mexicanum. However, in phylogenetic trees based on the LSU rDNA sequences, the Korean strains of P. rhathymum formed a clade with the Iranian strain of P. rhathymum and the Spanish and Mexican strains of P. mexicanum. Therefore, the molecular characterization of the Korean strains does not allow us to clearly classify them as P. rhathymum, nor P. mexicanum, although their morphology has so far been reported to be closer to that of P. rhathymum than P. mexicanum and thus we designated them as P. cf. rhathymum.     

The effects of climate change and urbanization on the runoff of the Rock Creek basin in the Portland metropolitan area,Oregon, USA

Climate changes brought on by increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are expected to have a significant effect on the Pacific Northwest hydrology during the 21st century. Many climate model simulations project higher mean annual temperatures and temporal redistribution of precipitation. This is of particular concern for highly urbanized basins where runoff changes are more vulnerable to changes in climate. The Rock Creek basin, located in the Portland metropolitan area, has been experiencing rapid urban growth throughout the last 30 years, making it an ideal study area for assessing the effect of climate and land cover changes on runoff. A combination of climate change and land cover change scenarios for 2040 with the semi‐distributed AVSWAT (ArcView Soil and Water Assessment Tool) hydrological model was used to determine changes in mean runoff depths in the 2040s (2030–2059) from the baseline period (1973–2002) at the monthly, seasonal, and annual scales. Statistically downscaled climate change simulation results from the ECHAM5 general circulation model (GCM) found that the region would experience an increase of 1·2 °C in the average annual temperature and a 2% increase in average annual precipitation from the baseline period. AVSWAT simulation shows a 2·7% increase in mean annual runoff but a 1·6% decrease in summer runoff. Projected climate change plus low‐density, sprawled urban development for 2040 produced the greatest change to mean annual runoff depth (+5·5%), while climate change plus higher‐density urban development for 2040 resulted in the smallest change (+5·2%), when compared with the climate and land cover of the baseline period. This has significant implications for water resource managers attempting to implement adaptive water resource policies to future changes resulting from climate and urbanization. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.