Assessment of the governance system for the management of the East Sea-Jung dumping site,Korea through analysis of heavy metal concentrations in bottom sediments

As with many countries, the Korea government has made a variety of efforts to meet the precautionary principle under the London Convention and Protocol acceded in 1994 and 2009. However, new strategies for the suitable marine dumping of waste materials have since been developed. In this study, the distribution and contamination of heavy metals including Al, Fe, Mn, Li, Co, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Pb and Hg in bottom sediments were analyzed and compared to various criteria in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the management of the East Sea-Jung (ES-Jung) dumping site by the Korea government. The results indicate that the average metal concentrations were significantly lower than Effects Range Low (ERL) values, and generally similar to or lower than the Threshold Effect Levels (TEL) from the Sediment Quality Guidelinces (SQGs). According to analyses of various metal contamination indexes (Enrichment Factor: EF, Pollution Load Index: PLI and the Index of Geoaccumulation: Igeo), most areas were found to be uncontaminated by heavy metals with the exception of several moderately contaminated stations (ESJ 33, 54, 64 and ESJR 20). Heavy metal concentrations in areas grouped as G1, G2, DMDA, N-Ref and S-Ref which showed similar characteristics between 2007-2013 and 2014, were compared. Unexpectedly, most concentrations in the northern reference area (N-Ref) were much higher than those in the actual dumping areas (G1 and G2), may be due to the influences from nearby cities to the west of the ES-Jung site, rather than from the dumping site itself. Additionally, heavy metal concentrations in the dredged material dumping area (DMDA) were found to be low although they have slightly increased over time and those in the southern reference area (S-Ref) were found to have gradually decreased with year. The concentrations of most metals in the East Sea-Jung dumping site were similar to or less than those in the Earth’s crust and approximately the same as those in continental sediments. As a result, this site can be considered as uncontaminated or slightly contaminated. This implies that the efforts made by the Korea government to manage and govern the dumping site through various policies, including ‘the focal point system’, ‘the responsibility zones system’ and ‘the principle of pollution causing party liability’, have been successful.     

Evaluation of a regional ocean reanalysis system for the East Asian Marginal Seas based on the ensemble Kalman filter

Ocean Science Journal - This study introduces the East Asian Marginal Seas (EAMS) reanalysis system and evaluates its products from 1982 to 2006. The EAMS reanalysis system consists of an ocean...     

Development of the Operational Oceanographic System of Korea

Ocean Science Journal - The Korea Operational Oceanographic System (KOOS) was developed at the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) to produce real-time forecasting and...     

Fish protein recovered using ph shifting method and its physicochemical properties

The solubility of meat protein of croaker and jack mackerel was significantly affected by pH shifting. The protein yield of alkali-aided processing is higher than those of conventional and acid-aided processing. The addition of sarcoplasmic protein increases the breaking force and deformation value. The breaking force of recovered protein gel from alkali-aided processing is decreased by the addition of NaCI. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis （SDS-PAGE） revealed that fish protein of alkali is similar to that at pH7.0. Alkali-aided processing for recovering fish protein is a valuable method for increasing the utilization of frozen and pelagic fishes and for making kamaboko products.     

Earthquake response analysis of the Hualien soil–structure interaction system based on updated soil properties using forced vibration test data

This paper presents results of the earthquake response analysis on a large‐scale seismic test (LSST) structure which was built at Hualien in Taiwan for an international cooperative research project. The analysis is carried out using a computer program which has been developed based on axisymmetric finite element method incorporating dynamic infinite elements for far‐field soil region and a substructured wave input technique. The non‐linear behaviour of the soil medium is taken into account using an iterative equivalent linearization procedure. Two sets of the soil and structural properties, namely the unified and the FVT‐correlated models, are utilized as the initial linear values. The unified model was provided by a group of experts in charge of the geotechnical experiments, and the correlated model was obtained through a system identification procedure using the forced vibration test (FVT) results by the present authors. Three components of ground accelerations are artificially generated through an averaging process of the Fourier amplitude spectra of the ground accelerations measured near the test structure, and they are used as the control input motions for the earthquake analysis. It has been found that the earthquake responses predicted using the generated control motions and with the FVT‐correlated model as the initial linear properties in the equivalent linearization procedure compare very well with the observed responses. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental study on the aseismic capacity of a wooden house using shaking table

The aseismic capacity of a typical Korean wooden house built using traditional construction methods is quantitatively estimated. Tenon joints were used in wooden frames. Two 1:4 scale models were tested for rock and soil foundation conditions. Scaled real earthquake time histories were input for the tests. The natural frequency and modal damping ratio of the wooden house in the elastic range were 1·66 Hz and 7 per cent, respectively. The Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) at the collapse of the house at the soil site was 0·25g, whereas PGA for moderate damage at the rock site was 0·6g. A significant reduction in acceleration response and increase in displacement response was observed for rock and soil foundation conditions, respectively. The wooden house studied is much more vulnerable at soil sites than at rock sites due to the rich low-frequency contents of the input motion and the flexible characteristics of the wooden house. Non-linear dynamic analyses using the modified Double-Target model were compared with test results. The modified Double-Target model appropriately simulates the non-linear inelastic behaviour of a wooden house with tenon joints. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Petrology, geochronology and tectonic implications of Mesozoic high Ba–Sr granites in the Haemi area, Hongseong Belt, South Korea

Collision between the North and South China continental blocks began in the Korean peninsula during the Permian (290–260 Ma). The Haemi area in the Hongseong collision belt (proposed as the eastern extension in South Korea of the Dabie–Sulu collision zone of China) within the Gyeonggi Massif comprises post-collisional high Ba–Sr granite with intermediate enclaves that intruded into the Precambrian rocks. The intermediate enclaves have a shoshonitic affinity whereas the granite is a high-K calc-alkaline variety. The chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) pattern with relative enrichment of LREE over HREE and absence of a significant negative Eu anomaly typifies both enclaves and granite. Geochemical similarities of enclaves and granite are attributed to the involvement of enriched mantle sources in their genesis. However, dominant crustal components were involved in the formation of high Ba–Sr granites. A granite crystallization age of 233 ± 2 Ma was obtained from SHRIMP U–Pb zircon dating. This age is slightly younger than the Triassic collision event in the Hongseong Belt. Geochemical data, U–Pb zircon age, and regional tectonics indicate that the Haemi high Ba–Sr granite formed in a post-collisional tectonic environment. A Mesozoic post-collisional lithospheric delamination model can account for the genesis of high Ba–Sr granite in the Haemi area.     

Holocene paleoclimate changes determined using diatom assemblages from Lake Long,King George Island,Antarctica

Formation of Lake Long, King George Island, Antarctica started about 4,000 years B.P., after which the diatom community changed in response to environmental shifts driven by climatic oscillations (warm/wet and cool/dry). Successive sequences of diatoms in a 7.5-m drill core were divided into 11 assemblage zones by cluster analysis. The most obvious change was an alternation of major dominants, Achnanthes minutissima, Fragilaria alpestris and Fragilaria pinnata v. antarctica according to the climatic oscillations in the late Holocene. Variations in diatom assemblages clearly reflect two warm periods, a single cool period, and three transition periods. The recent warm period (zones 2 and 1) has persisted for approximately 450 years, perhaps sufficiently long to suggest the imminent onset of a new transition period. A recent high TOC (total organic carbon) value in the core reflects a warm period in Antarctica during the late Holocene.     

Sedimentological, geochemical and palaeontological evidence for a neoglacial cold event during the late Holocene in the continental shelf of the northern South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica

Two sediment cores obtained from the continental shelf of the northern South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica, consist of: an upper unit of silty mud, bioturbated by a sluggish current, and a lower unit of well-sorted, laminated silty mud, attributed to an intensified Polar Slope Current. Geochemical and accelerator mass spectrometry ¹⁴C analyses yielded evidence for a late Holocene increase in sea-ice extent and a decrease in phytoplankton productivity, inferred from a reduction in the total organic carbon content and higher C : N ratios, at approximately 330 years B.P., corresponding to the Little Ice Age. Prior to this, the shelf experienced warmer marine conditions, with greater phytoplankton productivity, inferred from a higher organic carbon content and C : N ratios in the lower unit. The reduced abundance of Weddell Sea ice-edge bloom species ( Chaetoceros resting spores, Fragilariopsis curta and Fragilariopsis cylindrus ) and stratified cold-water species ( Rhizosolenia antennata ) in the upper unit was largely caused by the colder climate. During the cold period, the glacial restriction between the Weddell Sea and the shelf of the northern South Shetland Islands apparently hindered the influx of ice-edge bloom species from the Weddell Sea into the core site. The relative increases in the abundance of Actinocyclus actinochilus and Navicula glaciei , indigenous to the coastal zone of the South Shetland Islands, probably reflects a reduction in the dilution of native species, resulting from the diminished influx of the ice-edge species from the Weddell Sea. We also document the recent reduction of sea-ice cover in the study area in response to recent warming along the Antarctic Peninsula.