Cho, J.H.; Son, Y.B.; Shin D.-H.; Moh, T.J.; Jang S.; Lee S.Y.; Lim D.G., and Kum B.C., 2020. Changes in underwater visibility due to turbidity associated with Typhoon Soulik. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 417-421. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Changes of visibility in the water column off the southern coast of Korea due to the effects of Typhoon Soulik (Aug. 22–23, 2018; 955 hPa; maximum wind speed, 40 m/s) were investigated. The beam attenuation coefficient (BAC) was measured using a transmissometer (C-Star; Wet Labs, Inc.), and visibility range was calculated using the conversion method employed by the US Navy. For comparison and verification of the data, a conductivity–depth–temperature (CTD) probe (SBE19 Plus; Sea-Bird Scientific) equipped with optical backscatter and fluorescence sensors was deployed simultaneously with the transmissometer. The Secchi depth was also estimated during each cast to improve accuracy. The Secchi depth deviated by up to 20% from the calculated visibility range. Additionally, during continuous observation of BAC from the seafloor upward, a light source (color temperature: 6,500 K) was installed on a 5-m bar with length markings, and a video camera recorded changes in visibility. Daily Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) satellite data were used to identify changes in surface visibility in the study area. Before the typhoon, the visibility in the water column was in the range 25–30 m. Near the seafloor, visibility approached 0 m due to a 3–6-m turbidity current. The visibility distance was significantly shorter in the bottom layers based on video images. Four days after Typhoon Soulik had passed over the Korean Peninsula, the visibility was in the range 2.6–9.0 m in the upper layers of the water column, increasing gradually to 11 m in the middle layers. The size of the turbid bottom current did not differ significantly between observations before and after the typhoon. Surface visibility calculated from satellite data also decreased by 20–30% compared to that before the typhoon.

Benthic foraminifera are widely used as indicators of marine environmental conditions due to their sensitivity to ecological changes and their excellent preservation in sediments. In this study, benthic foraminiferal assemblages from a sediment core collected in the central Yellow Sea were investigated to document faunal composition and examine temporal changes since the Late Pleistocene. A total of 54 benthic foraminiferal species belonging to 33 genera, 25 families, seven orders, three classes, and one phylum were identified. Among them, 12 species are newly recorded in Korean waters, reflecting the current incompleteness of regional faunal inventories and the importance of detailed taxonomic studies. The assemblages exhibit distinct stratigraphic variations. The lower interval (>30 ka) is characterized by low-diversity assemblages dominated by taxa commonly associated with marginal marine environments. The middle interval (ca. 20–25 ka) shows the occurrence of taxa typically reported from boreal to subarctic environments, suggesting changes in environmental conditions during the Last Glacial Maximum. In contrast, the upper interval (Holocene) is marked by increased species diversity and the dominance of taxa characteristic of normal marine shelf environments. These assemblage changes are interpreted as reflecting long-term responses of benthic communities to sea-level fluctuations, sedimentary conditions, and regional oceanographic variability in the Yellow Sea. In particular, the development of fine-grained deposits in the Central Yellow Sea Mud (CYSM) and the establishment of stable marine shelf conditions during the Holocene likely played important roles in shaping benthic habitats. This study provides new baseline data on benthic foraminiferal diversity in the Yellow Sea and demonstrates the potential of these assemblages as useful, though indirect, indicators for reconstructing past environmental changes. The results highlight the importance of integrating detailed taxonomic analyses with stratigraphic records to improve our understanding of marine biodiversity and paleoenvironmental variability in marginal seas.

Foraminifera are unicellular protists with external shells (tests) that may be calcareous (porcelaneous or hyaline), agglutinated, or organic-walled. Their test morphology and as-assemblage composition closely track environmental forcing, making them robust bioindicators of marine change. Documenting morphology and faunal composition is therefore essential for interpreting species distributions and their paleoenvironmental significance. Here we provide a systematic account of foraminiferal assemblages from core sediments in the Ulleung Basin, East Sea (Sea of Japan), with accompanying imagery and diagnostic notes. We identify 47 species across 32 genera and 20 families, including 15 planktic and 32 benthic taxa. Seven species are newly recorded for Korean waters: the planktic Tenuitellita fleisheri and Neogloboquadrina atlantica subsp. praeatlantica, and the benthic Islandiella algida, Uvigerina asperula, Pseudonodosaria aequalis, Pseudonodosaria obtusissima, and Astacolus crepidula. The presence of these previously unreported taxa likely reflects historical under-sampling and limited taxonomic emphasis in the region, coupled with the geomorphological challenges of the Ulleung Basin. In addition, the recognition of five distinct morphotypes of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma points to substantial past environmental variability in the basin. Continued evaluation of morphological diversity and distributional patterns in these assemblages will support stratigraphic applications and reconstruction of past marine environments in the East Sea by clarifying depth-wise faunal turnovers that likely record a composite signal of hydrographic variability overprinted by episodic seismic disturbance and slope current reworking.

A detailed analysis of high-resolution (3.5 kHz) chirp seismic profiles acquired in the Gunsan Basin of the central Yellow Sea revealed that hydrocarbon gases are actively seeping via the formation of many plumes. The uppermost sedimentary layer was acoustically confirmed to be fully or partially charged with gases. Somewhat favored by the low-tide period, episodic gas seepage is mainly associated with the underlying fault systems of Cretaceous-Cenozoic sedimentary strata in the southwestern part of the basin. Catastrophic gas expulsion seems to have formed a crater at the sidewall of a sedimentary ridge and two diapirs. Here, methane is poorly concentrated but rich in the heavy carbon isotope (δ¹³C, −52.6‰ to −44.7‰ The Vienna Peedee Belemnite [VPDB]), indicating that methane formed mainly through biodegradation of heavy oils at depth remains in the shallow sediments following its expulsion. Episodic rapid upward advection of porewater is also manifest by unmixed heavy methane trapped in the upper part of the primary biogenic methane (δ¹³C, about −90‰ VPDB)-filled sediment core. These findings imply that the Gunsan Basin fulfills the requirements for possible generation and preservation of oil and gas, like the petroliferous basins of eastern China and the Yellow Sea.