• 한국해양학회지
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.42-49
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• 1994

A series of radiocarbon dating from intertidal, subtidal, and inner continental shelf deposits investigated along the west coast of Korea as well as from its offshore sea floor (namely, the eastern Yellow Sea Basin) how (1) the Holocene sea level rise, i.e., the ecstatic sea-level history during the oxygen isotope stage 1, and (2) pre-Holocene sea-level fluctuations during the oxygen isotope stages 2 and 3. Marine geophysical investigations in the Yellow Sea reported a possible development of desert and loses deposits due to dieselization under the cold and dry climate during the Last Glacial Maximum. The Kanweoldo deposit overlain unconformably by the Holocene intertidal deposits, which is mainly exposed along the tidal channels and intertidal flats in the Cheonsu Bay, the west coast of Korea, shows the characteristic cryogenic structure (cryoturbation). Such cryoturbation structure of the Kanweoldo deposit appears to indicate the cold and dry climate under the ecstatic sea-level paleoshoreline standing before and after of the pre-Holocene interstitial period (about 30000 y BP is suggested and its shoreline curve is constructed.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.9-26
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• 1999

The Ulleung Basin (Tsushima Basin) in the southwestern East Sea (Japan Sea) is floored by a crust whose affinity is not known whether oceanic or thinned continental. This ambiguity resulted in unconstrained mechanisms of basin evolution. The present work attempts to define the nature of the crust of the Ulleung Basin and its tectonic evolution using seismic wide-angle reflection and refraction data recorded on ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs). Although the thickness of (10 km) of the crust is greater than typical oceanic crust, tau-p analysis of OBS data and forward modeling by 2-D ray tracing suggest that it is oceanic in character: (1) the crust consists of laterally consistent upper and lower layers that are typical of oceanic layers 2 and 3 in seismic velocity and gradient distribution and (2) layer 2C, the transition between layer 2 and layer 3 in oceanic crust, is manifested by a continuous velocity increase from 5.7 to 6.3 km/s over the thickness interval of about 1 km between the upper and lower layers. Therefore it is not likely that the Ulleung Basin was formed by the crustal extension of the southwestern Japan Arc where crustal structure is typically continental. Instead, the thickness of the crust and its velocity structure suggest that the Ulleung Basin was formed by seafloor spreading in a region of hotter than normal mantle surrounding a distant mantle plume, not directly above the core of the plume. It seems that the mantle plume was located in northeast China. This suggestion is consistent with geochemical data that indicate the influence of a mantle plume on the production of volcanic rocks in and around the Ulleung Basin. Thus we propose that the opening models of the southwestern East Sea should incorporate seafloor spreading and the influence of a mantle plume rather than the extension of the crust of the Japan Arc.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.443-453
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• 2006

Using seismic profiles obtained in the Antarctic Peninsula continental margin around Smith Island located at the southwestern end of the South Shetland Islands, we investigated sediments distribution, sedimentation, continental shelf formation, and tectonic evolution history. The study area is a very unique area that has two tectonic provinces with a tectonic boundary near Smith Island just the landward projection of the Hero Fracture Zone (HFZ). To the southwest of the Island, the margin became inactive margin after the collision of the ridge crest of the Antarctic-Phoenix ridge and trench, whereas to the northeast the margin is still apparently active margin with the spreading center and trench morphology in the sea. Generally the northeastern margin has the shelf sedimentary basins wth thick sedimentary layers, well-developed forearc basin, broad continental slope and distinct trench morphology, and the southwestern margin is characterized by steep and narrow continental slope and localized shelf basins. the mid-shelf basement high structures are distinct in the southwestern margin, which are thought to be formed by thermal effect caused by the subducted spreading centers. The high is observed in the area just northeast of the Island, implying that the tectonic boundary along the landward projection of the HFZ is not sharply defined.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.303-312
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• 2011

Analysis of high-resolution seismic profiles from the southeastern continental shelf of Korea reveals that the Holocene transgressive deposits consist of five sedimentary units characterized by retrograding or backstepping depositional arrangements. Unit I, forming a linear sediment body along the shelf margin, is an ancient beach/shoreface deposit formed during the early stage of transgression. During the transgression, the paleo-channels were backfilled with fluvial or coastal-plain sediments, forming Unit II as an incised-channel fill deposit. The near-surface sediment was reworked and eroded by shoreface erosion, forming a thin lag of sands (Unit III) on the midshelf. During the middle stage of the transgression, the shoreline may have stabilized at around 70 - 80 m below the present sea level for some period of time to allow the formation of sand ridge systems (Unit IV). Unit V in the inner shelf was deposited in an estuarine environment during the middle to late stage of transgression. Such transgressive stratigraphic architecture is controlled by a function of lateral changes in the balance among rates of relative sea-level rise, sediment input and marine processes at any given time.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.52-59
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• 2008

We have developed a new deep-towed marine DC resistivity survey system. It was designed to detect the top boundary of the methane hydrate zone, which is not imaged well by seismic reflection surveys. Our system, with a transmitter and a 160-m-long tail with eight source electrodes and a receiver dipole, is towed from a research vessel near the seafloor. Numerical calculations show that our marine DC resistivity survey system can effectively image the top surface of the methane hydrate layer. A survey was carried out off Joetsu, in the Japan Sea, where outcrops of methane hydrate are observed. We successfully obtained DC resistivity data along a profile ${\sim}3.5\;km$ long, and detected relatively high apparent resistivity values. Particularly in areas with methane hydrate exposure, anomalously high apparent resistivity was observed, and we interpret these high apparent resistivities to be due to the methane hydrate zone below the seafloor. Marine DC resistivity surveys will be a new tool to image sub-seafloor structures within methane hydrate zones.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Biology Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.41-45
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• 2002

광양만의 지형변화 및 퇴적환경발달양상에 대해 표층퇴적물과 지층탐사자료를 이용하여 연구하였다. 광양만 해역은 1970년대이후 광양만 개발에 따라 해안선 및 해저지형이 급격한 변화를 겪어왔다. 광양만의 면적은 개발이전보다 25%정도 감소하였다. 해안선 변형은 공단건설을 위한 해안매립공사로 인해 그리고 해저지형변화는 대형선박들의 안전항로개발을 위한 해저퇴적물의 준설 등에 의해 발생하고 있다. 표층퇴적물는 점토질 퇴적물 묘도서측 및 여수해만의 외해지역에 주로 분포하고, 사질 퇴적물은 섬진강하구와 수로에 분포하고 있다. 표층퇴적물의 유기물 함량은 퇴적물의 특성을 반영하며, 특히 점토질퇴적물에 다량으로 포함하고 있다. 탄성파 단면도상에서 기반암위에 Unit II와 Unit I가 분포하며, 하부 Unit II는 홀로세 이전의 하천환경 퇴적층으로 판단되며, 홀로세 Unit I 퇴적층은 섬진강하구에서 외해를 향해 전진퇴적양상의 쐐기형태를 보인다. 이 층은 섬진강에서 유출된 퇴적물이 델타환경을 이루면서 형성된 퇴적층서로 해석된다. Unit I 퇴적층내에 천부가스층이 광범위하게 분포한다. 천부가스는 광양만의 생태환경에 영향을 미칠 것으로 판단된다. 광양만 주변의 재발에 따른 해안 및 해저지형의 급격한 변형은 퇴적환경 및 해양환경에 변화를 야기할 것으로 예상된다. 특히 섬진강 하구지역의 광양제철소 건설은 섬진강에서 장양만으로 유입되는 퇴적물의 퇴적작용의 커다란 영향을 미칠 것으로 판단된다.

• The Korean Journal of Petroleum Geology
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• v.7 no.1_2 s.8
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• pp.19-27
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• 1999

Korea, an energy-resources-poor country, imports $100{\%}$ of its, oil and, natural gas supply, which accounts for the greater part of its total primary requirements. One of the important task of the government is diversification of available energy resources such as oil and natural gas. Natural gas hydrate, which is non-conventional types of natural gas, distributes worldwide, especially in marine and permafrost. It would become a target of natural gas resources in the near future. Especially sigrificant amount of hydrates are expected to be located in the East Sea around Korea Peninsular. This paper describes about a multi-year overall project framework of basic research and technological development of natural gas hydrate in Korea focused on the interpretation of the seismic survey, the characteristics and physical properties of the natural gas hydrate, and the utilizable technology of natural gas hydrates from the status of research and development of the world.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.77-88
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• 2007

Following a successful bathymetric mapping demonstration in a previous study, the potential of airborne EM for seafloor characterisation has been investigated. The sediment thickness inferred from 1D inversion of helicopter-borne time-domain electromagnetic (TEM) data has been compared with estimates based on marine seismic studies. Generally, the two estimates of sediment thickness, and hence depth to resistive bedrock, were in reasonable agreement when the seawater was ${\sim}20\;m$ deep and the sediment was less than ${\sim}40\;m$ thick. Inversion of noisy synthetic data showed that recovered models closely resemble the true models, even when the starting model is dissimilar to the true model, in keeping with the uniqueness theorem for EM soundings. The standard deviations associated with shallow seawater depths inferred from noisy synthetic data are about ${\pm}5\;%$ of depth, comparable with the errors of approximately ${\pm}1\;m$ arising during inversion of real data. The corresponding uncertainty in depth-to-bedrock estimates, based on synthetic data inversion, is of order of ${\pm}10\;%$. The mean inverted depths of both seawater and sediment inferred from noisy synthetic data are accurate to ${\sim}1\;m$, illustrating the improvement in accuracy resulting from stacking. It is concluded that a carefully calibrated airborne TEM system has potential for surveying sediment thickness and bedrock topography, and for characterising seafloor resistivity in shallow coastal waters.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.267-285
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• 2002

Dok Island, a Pliocene volcano, lies in the southwestern part of the East Sea. Most the work to date have focused primarily on the petrolography of the island, and as a result, the morphological characteristics and internal structure of the volcanic edifices of the Dok Island remain poorly understood. To provide better constraints on these features, bathymetric data with multibeam echo sounder, 32-channel seismic and 3D gravity modeling were used in this study. Three positive topographic highs are present in the study area, and these highs satisfy the seamount criteria. They are named as Dokdo, Tamhae, and Donghae seamounts. 32-channel seismic survey was conducted to investigate the sediment thickness of the area, which shows that there are no sediments near the summit of seamounts. Away from the seamounts, however, sediment becomes thick(>2000 m) toward the western part of the study area, and sediments in the northern and southern parts are about 1000 m thick. Free-Air gravity anomalies in this study generally follow the bathymetric feature with less than -20 mGal at the western part, but increase towards the seamounts. In the summit of the Dokdo Seamount, anomalies reach over 120 mGal, and in Tamhae and Donghae seamounts, the peak anomaly shows 90 and 70 mGals, respectively. All seamounts have an isolated volcanic conduit in their centre and show regional compensation root with 0.5～1.5 km thickness. The flat-topped summit of the seamounts is probably caused by wave truncation, indicating the sea level at the time of formation of the flat-topped geometry. Comparison between the present-day sea level and subsidence level during the opening of the East Sea suggests that the seamounts in the study area have subsided by 200～300 m after the formation. Furthermore, it implies that the seamounts formed over 12～10 Ma.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.41-51
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• 2008

To construct in situ velocity-porosity relationships for oceanic basalt, considering crack features, P- and S-wave velocity measurements on basaltic samples obtained from the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge were carried out under confining pressures up to 40 MPa. Assuming that the changes in velocities with confining pressures are originated by micro-crack closure, we estimated micro-crack aspect ratio spectra using the Kuster-$Toks{\ddot{o}}z$ theory. The result demonstrates that the normalised aspect ratio spectra of the different samples have similar characteristics. From the normalised aspect ratio spectrum, we then constructed theoretical velocity-porosity relationships by calculating an aspect ratio spectrum for each porosity. In addition, by considering micro-crack closure due to confining pressure, a velocity-porosity relationship as a function of confining pressure could be obtained. The theoretical relationships that take into account the aspect ratio spectra are consistent with the observed relationships for over 100 discrete samples measured at atmospheric pressure, and the commonly observed pressure dependent relationships for a wide porosity range. The agreement between the laboratory-derived data and theoretically estimated values demonstrates that the velocity-porosity relationships of the basaltic samples obtained from the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, and their pressure dependence, can be described by the crack features (i.e. normalised aspect ratio spectra) and crack closure.