Korean Ocean Research and Development Institute

About: Korean Ocean Research and Development Institute is a facility organization based out in Busan, South Korea. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Sea surface temperature & Gene. The organization has 1770 authors who have published 3032 publications receiving 50142 citations.

The effects of geothermal heating on the East/Japan Sea circulation

Abstract: [1] The magnitude of geothermal heating in the East/Japan Sea is about 100 mW/m2, twice that of a typical abyssal plain. In addition, bottom stratification in the East/Japan Sea is much weaker than that typical of the open ocean. Thus, geothermal heating could have more prominent effects in the East/Japan Sea than in the open ocean, and we tested this hypothesis via numerical modeling. With less than 100 mW/m2 bottom heat flux, we were able to reproduce bottom mixed layers that are thicker than ~1000 m as observed. Previously, no numerical model has been successful in reproducing such bottom mixed layers. Geothermal heating intensifies the bottom flows but the simulated flows are not as strong as the observed ones. Over the northern part of the East/Japan Sea, reduction in deep stratification strengthens deep water mass formation, intensifying cyclonic circulations located over this area, so the effects of the heating extend to the surface. As the cyclonic circulation becomes stronger, the water at the center of the gyre is trapped and more exposed to cold air, so it becomes cooler, and colder deep water is produced. When the geothermal heating is strong enough, the surface cooling effect dominates the bottom heating and the deep layer becomes cooler showing that the nonlinear effects of geothermal heating are far reaching. Thus, to account for the observed dynamics, the full three-dimensional circulation at the basin scale is needed.

Variation of the Tropical Cyclone Season Start in the Western North Pacific

Abstract: The variation of the tropical cyclone (TC) season in the western North Pacific (WNP) was analyzed based on the percentiles of annual TC formation dates. The results show that the length of the TC season is highly modulated by the TC season’s start rather than its end. The start of the TC season in the WNP has large interannual variation that is closely associated with the variation of the sea surface temperature (SST) in the Indian Ocean (IO) and the central-eastern Pacific (CEP). When the SSTs of the IO and CEP are warm (cold) in the preceding winter, anomalous high (low) pressure and anticyclonic (cyclonic) circulation are induced around the WNP TC basin the following spring, resulting in a late (early) start of the TC season. These results suggest that a strong El Nino in the preceding winter significantly delays the TC season start in the following year.

Population dynamics of a high-latitude coral Alveopora japonica Eguchi from Jeju Island, off the southern coast of Korea

Abstract: Although coral reefs are facing severe challenges from a variety of natural and anthropogenic stresses, there is anecdotal evidence that the high-latitude coral species Alveopora japonica Eguchi, 1968, has increased its population over the past two decades around Jeju Island, off the southern coast of Korea. The present study provides the first ecological data on this species. Alveopora japonica is opportunistically occupying the empty space left vacant following the recent kelp-forest decline. Colony abundance, age- and size-frequency distributions, lifespan, growth rates and biological characteristics such as surface area, weight and volume of two A. japonica populations in Jeju Island were investigated. Alveopora japonica around Jeju Island is characterised by a mean colony size of 30cm2, a slow growth rate (4.8mm year–1), and a short lifespan of 12–13 years, as determined by X-radiographic measurements. Alveopora japonica presented a dense population of 120 colonies m–2 on average. Population-age and -size structures at both sites reflected a healthy status and indicated a local stability, with a stationary size structure allowing population maintenance over time. The present study provided data to develop population-dynamics models to predict the potential outcomes of A. japonica populations to alternative management scenarios in Jeju Island.