Ulva and Enteromorpha (Ulvaceae, Chlorophyta) from two sides of the Yellow Sea: analysis of nuclear rDNA ITS and plastid rbcL sequence data

Ulvacean green seaweeds are common worldwide; they formed massive green tides in the Yellow Sea in recent years, which caused marine ecological problems as well as a social issue. We investigated two major genera of the Ulvaceae, Ulva and Enteromorpha, and collected the plastid rbcL and nuclear ITS sequences of specimens of the genera in two sides of the Yellow Sea and analyzed them. Phylogenetic trees of rbcL data show the occurrence of five species of Enteromorpha (E. compressa, E. flexuosa, E. intestinalis, E. linza and E. prolifera) and three species of Ulva (U. pertusa, U. rigida and U. ohnoi). However, we found U. ohnoi, which is known as a subtropical to tropical species, at two sites on Jeju Island, Korea. Four ribotypes in partial sequences of 5.8S rDNA and ITS2 from E. compressa were also found. Ribotype network analysis revealed that the common ribotype, occurring in China, Korea and Europe, is connected with ribotypes from Europe and China/Japan. Although samples of the same species were collected from both sides of the Yellow Sea, intraspecific genetic polymorphism of each species was low among samples collected worldwide.     

Estimation of net ecosystem metabolism of seagrass meadows in the coastal waters of the East Sea and Black Sea using the noninvasive eddy covariance technique

We measured the community-scale metabolism of seagrass meadows in Bulgaria (Byala [BY]) and Korea (Hoopo Bay [HP]) to understand their ecosystem function in coastal waters. A noninvasive in situ eddy covariance technique was applied to estimate net O₂ flux in the seagrass meadows. From the high-quality and high-resolution time series O₂ data acquired over > 24 h, the O₂ flux driven by turbulence was extracted at 15-min intervals. The spectrum analysis of vertical flow velocity and O₂ concentration clearly showed well-developed turbulence characteristics in the inertial subrange region. The hourly averaged net O₂ fluxes per day ranged from -474 to 326 mmol O₂ m^-2 d^-1 (-19 ± 41 mmol O₂ m^-2 d^-1) at BY and from -74 to 482 mmol O₂ m^-2 d^-1 (31 ± 17 mmol O₂ m^-2 d^-1) at HP. The net O₂ production rapidly responded to photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) and showed a good relationship between production and irradiance (P-I curve). The hysteresis pattern of P-I relationships during daytime also suggested increasing heterotrophic respiration in the afternoon. With the flow velocity between 3.30 and 6.70 cm s^-1, the community metabolism during daytime and nighttime was significantly increased by 20 times and 5 times, respectively. The local hydrodynamic characteristics may be vital to determining the efficiency of community photosynthesis. The net ecosystem metabolism at BY was estimated to be -17 mmol O₂ m^-2 d^-1, which was assessed as heterotrophy. However, that at HP was 36 mmol O₂ m^-2 d^-1, which suggested an autotrophic state.     

Quantification of Aquatic Nano Particles after Different Steps of Bodensee Water Purification with Laser‐induced Breakdown Detection (LIBD)

The laser‐induced breakdown detection (LIBD) is a very sensitive method for the direct detection of colloids based on the plasma generation on single particles by a focused, pulsed laser beam and the detection of the produced shock wave or plasma light emission. For the determination of colloid sizes the light emission of single plasmas is detected by a microscope CCD‐camera system. With known mean particle diameter and breakdown probability the particle concentration can be calculated. The application of the LIBD to monitor the change of colloid concentration and size during the purification steps of drinking water at the Bodensee (Lake Constance, Germany) water purification plant is shown. The breakdown probability, correlating to colloid number density, decreases with every purification step. By addition of FeCl₃ as a precipitating agent and with an additional filtration step, not only suspended matter, but also colloids are effectively removed. After this process a remaining particle concentration of 50 ng/L and a mean particle diameter of 27 nm are found.     

Application of general circulation models to the study of stratospheric ozone

Summary Observations of the ozone distribution indicate that modifications are required to the photochemical theory. These modifications involve ozone destruction by hydrogen and nitrogen products and ozone transport (both vertical and horizontal) due to atmospheric motions in the stratosphere. If the photochemical terms in the ozone continuity equation are omitted, changes due to atmospheric transport alone can be evaluated.Numerical computations were made of the three-dimensional wind structure as derived from the 12-layer (0–36 km) General Circulation Model developed by NCAR. The results showed that ozone is transported from the equatorial stratosphere poleward and downward in both hemispheres. The horizontal transport is primarily by the Hadley Cell in the tropics and by large-scale eddies in mid and high latitudes. The dominant mechanism for ozone transport are found to be similar to those derived for the horizontal heat and momentum transport found in other general circulation studies.     

Paleozoic sedimentation and tectonics in Korea: A review

Abstract The geological history of the Korean Paleozoic is recorded in lower and upper Paleozoic strata, mostly distributed in two relatively large sedimentary basins, the Taebaeksan and Pyeongnam basins. The lower Paleozoic sedimentary rocks are exclusively of marine origin, dominated by shallow platform carbonate rocks with minor interbedded siliciclastic rocks. The development of the lower Paleozoic sequence was mostly controlled by eustatic changes, having cyclic sedimentation of various temporal scales. During the early Paleozoic the Korean Peninsula was located in a low‐latitude tropical region and experienced frequent storm activities. The upper Paleozoic sequence comprises paralic to non‐marine rocks with minor limestone intercalations in the lower part of the sequence. Upsection changes in sandstone composition and mudrock geochemistry of the upper Paleozoic Pyeongan Supergroup in the Samcheok coalfield indicate that sediments may have been derived from the continued uplift and unroofing of a collisional orogen source. There exists a great unconformity between the lower and upper Paleozoic strata, which spans the geological time from the Late Ordovician to Early Carboniferous. The unconformity period is conventionally thought to be of non‐deposition, but a recent study suggests that it is characterized by continuous sedimentation and significant removal (>1 km thick) of sediments by erosion. No Paleozoic tectonic history has been addressed so far, and thus it needs further study to elucidate geological events during the middle–late Paleozoic in the Korean Peninsula. Tectonostratigraphic correlation of the Korean Peninsula with neighboring Chinese blocks has been a hot issue for a long time. Although the eastward extension of the Chinese collision belt has been recently suggested to be the Imjingang belt located in the middle of the peninsula, further studies are needed to test this hypothesis because results of recent paleontological, sedimentological and stratigraphic studies on Paleozoic sediments are not in agreement with this possibility.     

Effect of structure and texture on infiltration flow pattern during flood irrigation

Understanding the flow pattern of water and solute in subsurface soils is critically important in the fields of agricultural and environmental sciences. Dye tracer tests using a flood irrigation of Brilliant Blue FCF solution (5 g l^-1) and excavation method was performed to investigate the effect of texture and structure on the infiltration pattern at three different field soils developed from granite (GR), gneiss (GN) and limestone (LS). The GR soil showed a homogeneous matrix flow in the surface soil with weak, medium granular structure and a macropore flow along pegmatitic vein and plant root in C horizon. The surface horizon (A1) of GN soil with moderate, medium granular structure and many fine roots had matrix flow. The fingering occurred at the interfaces of sandy loam A horizon and loamy sand C horizon in GR soil and loam A1 horizon and sandy loam A2 horizon in GN soil. The LS soil with strong, coarse prismatic structure and the finest texture showed a macropore flow along cracks and had the deepest penetration of the dye tracer. The macropore (crack and vein), layer interface and plant root induced the preferential flow in the studied soils.     

Capturing the heterogeneity of urban growth in South Korea using a latent class regression model

This study aims to analyze the spatial patterns of urban growth in South Korea between 2000 and 2010. Fourteen suspected causative independent variables were selected and latent class regression (LCR) was used to analyze the relationship between dependent (urban growth) and independent (causative) variables. The goodness‐of‐fit was assessed by comparison to logistic regression (LR) analysis. The LR analysis produced consistent coefficients for each independent variable across the study area. In contrast, an LCR analysis, with a three‐class assumption, resulted in a different magnitude and directional effects of the coefficients for each class. The LCR analysis enabled the identification of both spatially homogeneous and heterogeneous areas. In addition, the LCR analysis performed better than the LR analysis with a lower Akaike information criterion and Bayesian information criterion value, and a higher receiver operating characteristic value. We conclude that LCR analysis should be used to establish causative “driving” factors for efficient urban growth planning and urban spatial policy.     

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.