• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.131-150
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• 1991

The Weolseong diatreme was temporally and spatially related to the intrusion of the Gadaeri granite, and was -mineralized by meteoric aqueous fluids. In the Nokdong As-Zn deposit, pyrite, aresenopyrite and sphalerite are the most abundant sulfide minerals. They are associated with minor amount of magnetite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and cassiterite, and trace amounts of Pb-Sb-Bi-Ag sulphosalts. The AsZn ore probably occurred at about $350^{\circ}C$ according to fluid inclusion and compositional data estimated from the arsenic content of arsenopyrite and iron content of sphalerite intergrown with pyrrhotite + chalcopyrite + cubanite. Heating studies of fluid inclusions in quartz indicate a temperature range between 180 and $360^{\circ}C$, and freezing data indicate a salinity range from 0.8 to 4.1 eq.wt % NaCl. The coexisting assemblage pyrite + pyrrhotite + arsenopyrite suggests that $H_2S$ was the dominate reduced sulfur species, and defines fluid parameter thus: $10^{-34.5}$ < ${\alpha}_{S_2}$ < $10^{-33}$, $10^{-11}$ < $f_{S_2}$ < $10^{-8}$, -2.4 < ${\alpha}_{S_2}$ < -1.6 atm and pH= 5.2 (sericte stable) at $300^{\circ}C$. The sulfur isotope values ranged from 1.8 to 5.5% and indicate that the sulfur in the sulfides is of magmatic in origin. The carbon isotope values range from -7.8 to -11.6%, and the oxygen isotope values from the carbonates in mineralized wall rock range from 2 to 11.4%. The oxygen isotope compositions of water coexisting with calcite require an input of meteoric water. The geochemical data indicate that the ore-forming fluid probably was generated by a variety of mechanisms, including deep circulation of meteoric water driven by magmatic heat, with possible input of magniatic water and ore component.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.289-300
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• 2009

The Geodo mine area, had been developed for Fe and Cu ores since 1963 and abandoned in recent decades, is located in the central part of the Taebaeksan mineralized district. This area comprises of the Jangsan, Myobong, Pungchon, Hwajeol, Dongjeom, and Dumugol Formations in ascending stratigraphic order. These Formations were intruded by the Cretaceous Eopyeong granitoids that appears to produce the Geodo skarn. Their compositions are relatively oxidized quartz monzodiorite to granodiorite (magnetite series, $Fe_2O_3/FeO=0.3{\sim}1.1$). Mineralizations related skarn deposit occur in the Myobong, Pungchon, and Hwajeol Formations. The proximal skarn is zoned from andraditic garnet ($Ad_{44-95}Gr_{1-53}$) predominant adjacent to the Eopyeong granitoids to diopsidic pyroxene ($Hd_{10-100}Di_{0-89}$) predominant away from the one. The differential proportion of garnet and pyroxene is generated by water/rock ratio and their source, such as magmatic and meteoric water. This is useful tool for assessment the overall oxidation state of the entire skarn system. Gold occurs in proximal red to brownish garnet skarn, and genetically associated with Bi- and Te-bearing minerals. Skarn deposit developed in the Geodo mine area is considered as oxidized Au skarn category, based on chemical composition of the Eopyeong granitoids, zonation of skarn, and gold occurrences. Garnet-rich skarn zone will be the main target for exploration of gold in the study area. However, it is needed to the detailed survey on vertical zonation of this area as well as lateral zonation. The result of this survey would provide an important basis for the exploration of the skarn Au deposit in the Geodo mine area.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.507-522
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• 2001

At the Tongyeong mine, quartz, rhodochrosite (kutnahorite), muscovite, illite, pyrite, galena, chalcopyrite. sphalerite, acanthite, and hessite are the principal vein minerals. They were deposited under epithermal conditions in two stages. Ore mineral assemblages and associated gangue phases in stage can be clearly divided into two general associations: an early cycle (band) that appeared with introduction of most of the sulfides and electrum, and a later cycle in which base metal and carbonate-bearing assemblages (mostly rhodochrosite) became dominant. Tellurides and some electrum occur as small rounded grains within subhedral-to euhedral pyrite or anhedral galena in stageII. Sulfide mineralization is zoned from pyrite to galena and sphalerite. We have used computer modeling to simulate formation of four stages of vein genesis. The reaction of a single fluid with andesite host rock at 28$0^{\circ}C$, isobaric cooling of a single fluid from 26$0^{\circ}C$ to 12$0^{\circ}C$, and boiling and mixing of a fluid with both decreasing pressure and temperature were studied using the CHILLER program. Calculations show that the precipitation of alteration minerals is due to fluid-andesite interaction as temperature drops. Speciation calculations confirm that the hydrothermal fluids with moderately high salinities and pH 5.7 (acid), were capable of transporting significant quantities of base metals. The abundance of gold in fluid depends critically on the ratio of total base metals and iron to sulfide in the aqueous phase because gold is transported as an Au(HS)$_2$- complex, which is sensitive to sulfide activity. Modeling results for Tongyeong mineralization show strong influence of shallow hydrogenic processes such as boiling and fluid mixing. The variable handing in stageII mineralization is best explained by maltiple boilings of hydrothermal fluid followed by lateral mixing of the fluid with overlying diluted, steam-heated ground water. The degree of similarity of calculated mineral assemblages and observed electrum composition and field relationships shows the utility of the numerical simulation method in identifying chemical processes that accompany boiling and mixing in Te-bearing Au-Ag system. This has been applied in models to narrow the search area for epithermal ores.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.395-407
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• 2019

The duplex system has been considered as an important slip-transfer mechanism to evaluate the evolution of orogenic belts. Duplexes are generally found in the hinterland portion of fold-thrust belts and accommodate large amounts of total shortening. Thus, understanding its geometric and kinematic evolution can give information to evaluate the evolution of the entire orogenic belt. Duplexes are recognized as closed-loop thrust traces on map view, indicating higher connectivity than imbricate fans. As originally defined, a duplex is an array of thrust horses which are surrounded by thrust faults including the floor and roof thrusts, and imbricate faults between them. Duplexes can accommodate regional layer-parallel shortening and transfer slip from a floor thrust to a roof thrust. However, an imbricate fault is not the only mean for layer-parallel shortening (LPS) and displacement transfer within duplexes. LPS cleavages and detachment folds can also play the same role. From this aspect, a duplex can be divided into three types; 1) fault duplex, 2) cleavage duplex and 3) fold duplex. Fault duplex can further be subdivided into the Boyer-type duplex, which was firstly designed duplex system in the 1980s that widely applied most of the major fold-thrust belts in the world, and connecting splay duplex, which has different time order in the emplacement of horses from those of the Boyer-type. On the contrary, the cleavage and fold duplexes are newly defined types based on some selected examples. In the Korean Peninsula, the Yeongwol area, the western part of the Taebaeksan Zone of the Okcheon Belt, gives an excellent natural laboratory to study the structural geometry and kinematics of the closed-loops by thrust fault traces in terms of a duplex system. In the previous study, the Yeongwol thrust system was interpreted by alternative duplex models; a Boyer-type hinterland-dipping duplex vs. a combination of major imbricate thrusts and their connecting splays. Although the high angled beds and thrusts as well as different stratigraphic packages within the horses of the Yeongwol duplex system may prefer the later complicate model, currently, we cannot choose one simple answer between the models because of the lack of direct field evidence and time information. Therefore, further researches on the structural field investigations and geochronological analyses in the Yeongwol and adjacent areas should be carried out to test the possibility of applying the fold and cleavage duplex models to the Yeongwol thrust system, and it will eventually provide clues to solve the enigma of formation and its evolution of the Okcheon Belt.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.100 no.1
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• pp.52-61
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• 2011

Whereas recent researches have elucidated the positive ecological roles of large wood (LW) in fishbearing channels, LW is also recognized as a negative factor of log-laden debris flows and floods in densely populated areas. However in Republic of Korea, no study has investigated longitudinal variations of LW distribution and dynamic along the stream corridor. Hence to elucidate 1) physical factors controlling longitudinal distribution of LW and 2) their effect on variation in LW load amount, we surveyed the amount of LW with respect to channel morphology in a mountain stream, originated from Mt. Ki-ryong in Inje, Gangwondo. Model selection in the Generalized Linear Model procedure revealed that number of boulder (greater than or equal to 1.0 m in diameter), bankfull channel width and their interaction were the best predictors explaining LW load volume per unit channel segment area (unit LW load). In general, boulders scattered within small mountain streams influence LW retention as flow obstructions. However, in this study, we found that the effect of the boulders vary with the channel width; that is, whereas the unit LW load in the segment with narrow channel width increased continuously with increasing boulder number, it in the segment with wide channel width did not depend on the boulder number. This should be because that, in two channels having different widths, the rates of channel widths reduced by boulders are different although boulder numbers are same. Our findings on LW load varying with physical factors (i.e., interaction of boulder number and channel width) along the stream corridor suggest understanding for longitudinal continuum of hydrogeomorphic and ecologic characteristics in stream environments, and these should be carefully applied into the erosion control works for systematic watershed management and subsequent disaster prevention.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.441-456
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• 2021

The Cretaceous Duwon Formation was studied on the basis of sedimentologic analysis in order to unravel geologic conditions for the development of the streamflow-dominated alluvial fan under arid to semi-arid climatic conditions. The Duwon Formation unconformably overlies the Paleoproterozoic gneiss (basement). Based on the sedimentologic analysis, the Duwon Formation is interpreted to have been deposited in gravelly braided stream (FA-1) near the basement, laterally transitional to sandy braided stream (FA-2) and floodplain environments (FA-3) with distance (< 7 km) from the basement. Lateral changes in sedimentary facies and the well development of calcrete nodules in FA-3, together with radial paleocurrent directions measured in FA-1, are suggestive of the deposition of the Duwon Formation in streamflow-dominated alluvial fan under arid to semi-arid climatic conditions. Recent analysis of detrital zircon chronology suggests that sediments of the Duwon Formation were derived from the southwestern part of the Korean peninsula, including the western part of Yeongnam Massif and the southwestern part of Okcheon Belt. This implies the alluvial fan where the Duwon Formation accumulated had the large drainage basin. Because the large drainage basin can supply the significant amounts of water and temporarily store the sediments within the basin, watery floodwater carried sediments to the alluvial fan rather than the debris flows. Furthermore, the drainage basin largely composed of coarse-grained metamorphic and igneous rocks produced sand-grade sediments, preventing evolution of floodwater into debris flows. We suggest that combined effects of the large drainage basin and its coarse-grained metamorphic and igneous rocks provided favorable conditions for the development of streamflow-dominated alluvial fan, despite arid to semi-arid climatic conditions during sedimentation.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.167-183
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• 2023

Gases originated from the final SNF (spent nuclear fuel) disposal site are very mobile in the barrier and they may also affect the migration of radioactive nuclides generated from the SNF. Mechanisms of gas-nuclide migration in the multi-barrier and their influences on the safety of the disposal site should be understood before the construction of the final SNF disposal site. However, researches related to gas-nuclide coupled movement in the multi-barrier medium have been very little both at home and abroad. In this study, properties of gas generation and migration in the SNF disposal environment were reviewed through previous researches and their main mechanisms were summarized on the hydrogeological evolution stage of the SNF disposal site. Gas generation in the SNF disposal site was categorized into five origins such as the continuous nuclear fission of the SNS, the Cu-canister corrosion, the oxidation-reduction reaction, the microbial activity, and the inflow from the natural barriers. Migration scenarios of gas in porous medium of the multi-barrier in the SNF repository site were investigated through reviews for previous studies and several gas migration types including ① the free gas phase flow including visco-capillary two-phase flow, ② the advection and diffusion of dissolved gas in pore water, ③ dilatant two-phase flow, and ④ tensile fracture flow, were presented. Reviewed results in this study can support information to design the further research for the gas-nuclide migration in the repository site and to evaluate the safety of the Korean SNF disposal site in view points of gas migration in the multi-barrier.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.23-53
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• 2023

In this review paper, previous studies on layered double hydroxides (LDHs) published in the Korean Citation Index (KCI) were examined to investigate a research trend for LDHs in Korea. Since the first publication in 2002, 160 papers on LDHs have been published until January 2023. Among the 31 academic fields, top 5 fields appeared in the order of chemical engineering, chemistry, materials engineering, environmental engineering, and physics. The chemical engineering shows the highest record of published paper (71 papers) while around 10 papers have been published in the other four fields. All papers were reclassified into 15 research fields based on the industrial and academic purposes of using LDHs. The top 5 in these fields are in order of environmental purification materials, polymer catalyst materials, battery materials, pharmaceutical/medicinal materials, and basic physicochemical properties. These findings suggest that researches on the applications of LDH materials in the academic fields of chemical engineering and chemistry for the improvement of their functions such as environmental purification materials, polymer catalysts, and batteries have been being most actively conducted. The application of LDHs for cosmetic and agricultural purposes and for developing environmental sensors is still at the beginning of research. Considering a market-potential and high-efficiency-eco-friendly trend, however, it will deserve our attention as emerging application fields in the future. All reclassified papers were summarized in our tables and a supplementary file, including information on applied materials, key results, characteristics and synthesis methods of LDHs used. We expect that our findings of overall trends in LDH research in Korea can help design future researches with LDHs and suggest policies for resources and energies as well as environments efficiently.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.279-294
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• 2024

Large-scale civil engineering structures such as dams require a systematic approach to jointed rock-mass grouting to prevent water leakage into the foundations and to ensure safe operation. In South Korea, rock grouting design often relies on the experience of field engineers that was gained in similar projects, highlighting the need for a more systematic and reliable approach. Rock-mass grouting is affected mainly by hydrogeology and the presence of discontinuities, involving factors such as the rock quality designation (RQD), joint spacing (Js), Lugeon value (Lu), and secondary permeability index (SPI). This study, based on data from field investigations of 14 domestic sites, analyzed the correlation between hydrogeological factors (Lu and SPI), discontinuity characteristics (RQD and Js), and grout take, and systematically established a design method for rock grouting. Analysis of correlation between the variables RQD, Js, Lu, and SPI yielded Pearson correlation (r) values as follows: Lu-SPI, 0.92; RQD-Lu, -0.75; RQD-Js, 0.69; RQD-SPI, -0.65; Js-Lu, -0.47; and SPI-Js, -0.41. The grout take increases with Lu and SPI values, but there is no significant correlation between RQD and Js. The proposed approach for grouting design based on SPI values was verified through analysis and comparison with actual curtain-grouting construction, and is expected to be useful in practical applications and future studies.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.203-213
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• 2024

This study aimed to investigate the seasonal patterns of multiple bar formation in summer and flattening in winter on the macrotidal Sinduri beach in Taean, and to understand the processes their formation and subsequent flattening. Beach profiling has been conducted regularly over the last four years using a VRS-GPS system. Surface sediment samples were collected seasonally along the transectline, and grain size analyses were performed. Tidal current data were acquired using a TIDOS current observation system during both winter and summer. The Sinduri macrotidal beach consists of two geomorphic units: an upper high-gradient beach face and a lower gentler sloped intertidal zone. High berms and beach cusps did not develop on this beach face. The approximately 400-m-wide intertidal zone comprises distinct 2-5 lines of multiple bars. Mean grain sizes of sand bars range from 2.0 to 2.75 phi, corresponding to fine sands. Mean sizes show shoreward coarsening trend. Regular beach-profiling survey revealed that the summer profile has a multi-barred morphology with a maximum of five bar lines, whereas, the winter profile has a non-barred, flat morphology. The non-barred winter profiles likely result from flattening by scour-and-fill processes during winter. The growth of multiple bars in summer is interpreted to be formed by a break-point mechanism associated with moderate waves and the translation of tide levels, rather than the standing wave hypothesis, which is stationary at high tide. The break-point hypothesis for multi-bars is supported by the presence of the largest bar at mean sea-level, shorter bar spacing toward the shore, irregular bar spacing, strong asymmetry of bars, and the 10-30 m shoreward migration of multi-bars.