• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.13-28
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• 2008

About 450 specimens of Lockeia were discovered from the lacustrine siltstone of the Early Cretaceous Jinju Formation of Jin Island, southern coast of Korea. They are very elongated, seed-shaped Lockeia characterized by a large size, mostly 60-70 mm long and 15-20 mm wide. They are characteristically sharp longitudinal furrow bounded by steeply inclined both margins, elevated marginal rims and sharp pointed both longitudinal furrow ends. This trace fossil is herein described as Lockeia gigantus ichnosp. nov. Plicatounio, a freshwater bivalve which does not occur occurs occasionally within Lockeia gigantus is regarded as the most-likely producer of this resting trace fossil. This new trace fossil represents the largest Lockeia ever known and the first record of Lockeia from the Cretaceous non-marine deposits in the world. This fossil also represents an unusual example of resting trace fossil (Lockeia) associated with a possible producer (bivalve Plicatounio) lived in community in the shallow lacustrine environment.

• Proceedings of the Zoological Society Korea Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.55-58
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• 2000

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.695-702
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• 2000

The ichnogenus Protovirgularia McCoy, 1850 is reported from nonmarine strata of the Cretaceous Jinju Formation of the Sacheon area Korea. There, the Jinju Formation is composed mainly of fine-grained sandstone, grey to brownish grey mudstone, and shale which were deposited in a freshwater lacustrine environment. This occurrence represents the fist formal recording of the ichnotaxon from Korea and the first, on a global basis, from a nonmarine depositional environment.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.305-316
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• 2009

Experiments to explain fossilization have been introduced in elementary and middle school science textbooks. Most of them have explained the processes by the mold and cast formed by imprint of bivalve or leaf. The processes explained in the textbooks are more similar to that of trace fossil than body fossil, because the external molds from experiment are imprints after the model was taken off. However fossils of the figures in the textbooks are mostly body fossils. Therefore, the students may be willing to equate the experiment process with the fossilization of the body fossils. The misconceptions were confirmed in this study by the questionnaire which asked 9th grade students on this subject. Many students thought that the body fossils were fossilized imprints and the fossils of terrestrial organism were formed on land without transportation, that is, they did not understand well about biostratinomy and crustal movement. The misconception about the environment in which fossils formed was already reported in a survey on the elementary school students, but has not revised until ninth grade. Therefore, to remove the misconception related to the fossilization, the fossil models in the experiments may be replaced by trace fossils, or new experiments for body fossil should be designed.

• The Korean Journal of Petroleum Geology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.34-42
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• 2006

Ichnology is the study of traces made by various organisms, which includes classification and description of traces, and interpretation of sedimentary process, behavior of organism and depositional environment based on traces and organism behavior. Ichnofacies, which is defined as the association of several traces related together with substrate characteristics and sedimentary processes, is closely related to depositional environment. Ichnology has been applied to sedimentology (to understand physical characteristics of depositional environment, sedimentation pattern and event bed), sequence stratigraphy (to recognize sequence boundaries and biostratigraphic discontinuities such as MFS, TSE and RSE), oil exploration (providing of many information without big cost) and palaeocology. Preliminary ichnological study on the Ganghwa intertidal flat shows that dominant ichofacies are changing with season and location, suggesting that their seasonal variation would be a good indicator to understand the seasonal change of sedimentary processes, the small- scale change of sedimentary environment and the preservation potential of such units. Ichnology on intertidal flat in western coast of Korea has a great potential to apply its results to petroleum geology as well as sedimentology.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.74-93
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• 2019

The Bird Track Site in the Haman Formation in Yongsanri (Natural Monument No. 222) was reported on the named Koreanaornis hamanensis and Jindongornipes kimi sauropod footprint Brontopodus and ichnospecies Ochlichnus formed by Nematoda. This site has outstanding academic value because it is where the second-highest number of bird tracks have been reported in the world. However, only 25% of the site remains after being designated a natural monument in 1969. This is due to artificial damage caused by worldwide fame and quarrying for flat stone used in Korean floor heating systems. The Haman Formation, including this fossil site, has lithofacies showing reddish-grey siltstone and black shale, alternately. The boundary of the two rocks is progressive, and sedimentary structures like ripple marks and sun cracks can clearly be found. This site was divided into seven formations according to sedimentary sequences and structures. The results of a nondestructive deterioration evaluation showed that chemical and biological damage rates were very low for all formations. Also, physical damage displayed low rates with 0.49% on exfoliation, 0.04% on blistering, 0.28% on break-out; however, the joint crack index was high, 6.20. Additionally, efflorescence was observed on outcrops at the backside and the northwestern side. Physical properties measured by an indirect ultrasonic analysis were found to be moderately weathered (MW). Above all, the southeastern side was much fresher, though some areas around the column of protection facility appeared more weathered. Furthermore, five kinds of discontinuity surface can be found at this site, with the bedding plane showing the higher share. There is the possibility of toppling failure occurring at this site but stable on plane and wedge failure by means of stereographic projection. We concluded that the overall level of deterioration and stability were relatively fine. However, continuous monitoring and conservation treatment and management should be performed as situations such as the physicochemical weathering of the fossil layer, and the efflorescence of the mortar adjoining the protection facility's column appear to be challenging to control.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.458-472
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• 2018

Pterosaur tracks were discovered recently in the Daegok-ri dinosaur tracksite (Ulsan Metropolitan City Cultural Properties No. 13), Ulju-gun, Ulsan. Those tracks were reported as being the first in the Cretaceous deposits of Ulsan area. This tracksite is located relatively far from the Gyeongsangnam-do coastal area where pterosaur tracks were reported intensively, and there are stratigraphic differences. This study described the pterosaur tracks and trackway of the Daegok-ri tracksite and discussed the spatio-temporal distribution of the Cretaceous pterosaurs in the Korean Peninsula. The pterosaur footprints founded in Daegok-ri can be classified as Pteraichnus ichnosp., followed by the morphological characteristics. Based on the distribution of the pterosaur tracks on the Korean Peninsula including the Daegok-ri pterosaur tracks, it was estimated that the Cretaceous pterosaurs on the Korean Peninsula had survived approximately for 40 million years from 120 Ma (i.e., Early Cretaceous) to 80 Ma (i.e., Late Cretaceous) and inhabited in various sedimentary environments regardless of the basin size and the specific sedimentary environments. Furthermore, the occurrence of the sauropod, ornithopod, theropod, pterosaurs, birds, and crocodyliforms tracks/trackways in the Daegok-ri area represented that the Cretaceous vertebrate ichnodiversity was fairly high.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.46-67
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• 2014

The Dinosaur track-bearing deposits recently found at Bangudae Petroglyph site in Ulju (National Treasure No. 285) have been studied in the aspects of sedimentology, paleoenvironments, and significance in natural history. The dinosaur tracks occur in the Daegu Formation (late Early Cretaceous), and over 80 footprints including 43 ornithopod footprints, 36 sauropod footprints, and 2 theropod footprints are preserved in this tracksite. The track-bearing deposits consist of irregularly interlaminated siltstone and mudstone, calcareous sandy to silty mudstone, thin-bedded tuffaceous sandstone, planar- to cross-laminated sandstone, and thin- to medium-bedded graded sandstone, and they are interpreted to be sheetflood deposits on an alluvial plain. Diverse types of ripples and mudcracks, rainprints, and invertebrate trace fossils are observed in these deposits, and the crest-lines of wave ripples do not show preferred orientation. Dinosaur footprints occur as true prints, underprints, overtracks, and casts on the bedding surfaces, and the orientation of trackways are scattered. It is interpreted that paleoclimatic condition of the track-bearing deposits were semiarid with alternation of wetting and drying periods, and that dinosaurs frequented small and shallow ponds during wetting periods and recorded their tracks on an alluvial plain. The frequent occurrence of dinosaur tracks in study area indicates that the Cretaceous deposits around Daegokcheon Stream are very useful sedimentological and paleontological records to understand the paleoecology and paleoenvironments during the dinosaur age in Korean Peninsula. Consequently the dinosaur track-bearing deposits around Daegokcheon Stream should be further studied in sedimentary geology and paleontology in order to enhance cultural heritage value of the Petroglyphs of Bangudae Terrace as the World Heritage.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.259-269
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• 2002

Based on sedimentary structures, degree of bioturbation, and internal erosional layers, the deep-sea core sediments in the East Sea (Ulleung and Yamato basins) and the Northwestern Pacific Ocean (Shikoku Basin) can be divided into two parts (upper and lower) with the boundary of around 10,000 years B.P. in age. The upper part of core KT94-10 from Shikoku Basin is characterized by low sedimentation rate, internal erosion layer, high degree of bioturbation and cross-lamination structures. It can be interpreted as the bottom-current deposits which show some different characteristics from turbidite or hemipelagic sediment. However, its lower part consists of highly bioturbated, massive mud, suggesting that it be not related to the influence of bottom current. On the other hand, the cores in Ulleung and Yamato basins do not show any evidence of bottom-current deposits: their upper parts consist of bioturbated mud, and lower parts are characterized by laminated mud with pyrite filaments, indicating anaerobic condition. Consequently, these sedimentological characteristics suggest that deep-sea circulation would be changed from slow-moving to fast-moving one at this bounding time commonly in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean and the East Sea. Also, even in the same time, the deep-sea circulation in the Northwestern Pacific area would be relatively faster than that in the East Sea.