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

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.44 no.6
• /
• pp.493-502
• /
• 2011

We study the deep structure of Korean Peninsula by estimating Moho depth and crustal thickness from using land and oceanic topography and free-air gravity anomaly data. Based on Airy-Heiskanen isostatic hypothesis, the correlated components between the terrain gravity effects and free-air gravity anomalies by wavenumber correlation analysis(WCA) are extracted to estimate the gravity effects that will be resulted from isostatic compensation for the area. With the resulting compensated gravity estimates, Moho depth that is a subsurface between the crust and mantle is estimated by the inversion in an iterative method with the constraints of 20 seismic depth estimates by the receiver function analysis, to minimize the uncertainty of non-uniqueness. Consequently, the average of the resulting crustal thickness estimate of Korean Peninsula is 32.15 km and the standard deviation is 3.12 km. Moho depth of South Korea estimated from this study is compared with the ones from the previous studies, showing they are approximately consistent. And the aspects of Moho undulation from the respective study are in common deep along Taebaek Mountains and Sobaek Mountains and low depth in Gyeongsang Basin relatively. Also, it is discussed that the terrain decorrelated free-air gravity anomalies inferring from the intracrustal characteristics of the crust are compared to the heat flow distributions of South Korea. The low-frequency components of terrain decorrelated Free-air gravity anomalies are highly correlated with the heat flow data, especially in the area of Gyeongsang basin where high heat flow causes to decrease the density of the rocks in the lower crust resulting in lowering the Moho depth by compensation. This result confirms that the high heat sources in this area coming from the upper mantle by Kim et al. (2008).

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.69-79
• /
• 2018

The Korean government attempts to reduce $CO_2$ emissions by 37% to 314.7 Mt $CO_2$, down from the estimated 850.6 Mt $CO_2$ until 2030 in order to confront green house effect. In this context, in 2014, Korean government launched $CO_2$ Storage Environmental Management Research (K-COSEM) Center for carrying out pilot-scale research on $CO_2$ leakage from underground $CO_2$ storage facilities. For the detection of $CO_2$ leakage, it is necessary to identify hydrologeological and geophysical characteristics of the subject area. In the study site of Naesan-ri, Daeso-myeon, Eumseong-gun, Chungbuk Province, two times injection tests (June 28-July 24, 2017 and August 07-September 11, 2017) of $CO_2$ and $SF_6$ dissolved waters, respectively, was conducted to understand the leakage behavior of $CO_2$ from underground. The injection well was drilled to a depth of 24 m with a 21-m casing and screen interval of 21~24 m depth. Two times resistivity surveys on August 18, 2017 and September 1, 2017, were conducted for revealing the flow of the injected water as well as the electrical properties of the study site. The study results have shown that the high-resistivity zone and the low-resistivity zone are clearly contrasted with each other and the flow direction of the injected water is similar to natural groundwater flow. Besides, the low resistivity zone is widely formed from the depth of injection to the shallow topsoil, indicating that the weathered zone of high permeability has high $CO_2$ leakage potential.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.277-290
• /
• 2016

Deep geological cross-sectional data is generally not common nor easy to construct, because it is expensive and requires a great deal of time. As a result, geological interpretations at depth are limited. Many scientists attempt to construct geological cross-sections at depth using geological surface data and geophysical data. In this paper, we suggest a method for constructing cross-sections from limited geological surface data in a target area. The reason for this study is to construct and interpret geological cros-sections at depth to evaluate heat flow anomaly along the Yangsan fault. The Yangsan Fault passes through the south-eastern part of the Korean Peninsula. The cross-section is constructed from Sangbukmyeon to Unchonmyeon passing perpendicularly through the Yangsan Fault System trending NW-SE direction. The geological cross-section is constructed using the following data: (1) Lithologic distributions and main structural elements. (2) Extensity of sedimentary rock and igneous rock, from field mapping. (3) Fault dimension calculated based on geometry of exposed surface rupture, and (4) Seismic and core logging data. The Yangsan Fault System is composed of the Jain fault, Milyang fault, Moryang fault, Yangsan fault, Dongnae fault, and Ingwang fault which strike NNE-SSW. According to field observation, the western section of the Yangsan fault bounded by igneous rocks and in the eastern section sedimentary rocks are dominant. Using surface fault length we infer that the Yangsan Fault System has developed to a depth of kilometers beneath the surface. According to seismic data, sedimentary rocks that are adjacent to the Yangsan fault are thin and getting thicker towards the east of the section. In this study we also suggest a new method to recognize faults using core loggings. This analysis could be used to estimate fault locations at different scales.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.477-487
• /
• 2012

Sea surface winds in the sea off the east coast of Korea were derived from L-band ALOS (Advanced Land Observing Satellite) PALSAR (Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar) data and their characteristics of errors were analyzed. We could retrieve high-resolution wind vectors off the east coast of Korea including the coastal region, which has been substantially unavailable from satellite scatterometers. Retrieved SAR-wind speeds showed a good agreement with in-situ buoy measurement by showing relatively small an root-mean-square (RMS) error of 0.67 m/s. Comparisons of the wind vectors from SAR and scatterometer presented RMS errors of 2.16 m/s and $19.24^{\circ}$, 3.62 m/s and $28.02^{\circ}$ for L-band GMF (Geophysical Model Function) algorithm 2009 and 2007, respectively, which tended to be somewhat higher than the expected limit of satellite scatterometer winds errors. L-band SAR-derived wind field exhibited the characteristic dependence on wind direction and incidence angle. The previous version (L-band GMF 2007) revealed large errors at small incidence angles of less than $21^{\circ}$. By contrast, the L-band GMF 2009, which improved the effect of incidence angle on the model function by considering a quadratic function instead of a linear relationship, greatly enhanced the quality of wind speed from 6.80 m/s to 1.14 m/s at small incident angles. This study addressed that the causes of wind retrieval errors should be intensively studied for diverse applications of L-band SAR-derived winds, especially in terms of the effects of wind direction and incidence angle, and other potential error sources.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.243-248
• /
• 2010

Two suspicious events, which were claimed as underground nuclear tests by North Korea, were detected in the northern Korean Peninsula on October 9, 2006 and May 25, 2009. The KIGAM and Korea-China Joint seismic stations are distributed uniformly along the boundaries between North Korea and adjacent countries. In this study, the data from broadband stations with the distance of 200 to 550 km from the test site are used to analyze and compare two nuclear tests of North Korea. By comparing the time differences of the Pn-wave arrival times of 1st and 2nd tests at multiple stations, the relative locations of two test sites could be calculated precisely. From the geometrical calculation with the velocity of Pn wave $V_{Pn}$ = 8 km/s, the 2nd test site is estimated to move in the WNW direction from 1st one with the distance of 2 km. Body wave magnitude, mb of the 2nd test, which was announced officially as the network average of 4.5, varies widely with the directional location of stations from 4.1 to 5.2. The magnitude obtained from Lg wave, $m_b$(Lg), shows less variation between 4.3 to 4.7 with the average of 4.6. The moving-window spectra of time traces of 1st and 2nd tests show very similar pattern with different scale level. In addition, the corner frequencies of P wave of 1st and 2nd tests at each station show no or negligible difference. This indicates the burial depths of two tests might be very similar. The relative yield amount of the 2nd test is estimated 8 times larger than that of the 1st from the weighted average of ground-velocity amplitude ratios.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.51 no.2
• /
• pp.167-176
• /
• 2018

It is necessary to consider various geological parameters such as lithology, geological structure, earthquake, hydraulic geology, geochemistry, geological engineering, and geothermal in order to select potential sites for HLW(high-level radioactive waste) geological disposal. In particular, the geological lineament reflects the characteristics of various geological parameters and can be used as an important criterion for site selecting such as nuclear power plants and HLW repositories. In this paper, the Finnish lineament classification method for HLW disposal site selection through the lineament analysis was applied to the lineament data in the Korean peninsula. For this purpose, we used previous lineament data from the KIGAM(Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources) and obtained new lineament data from the field geologists such as structural geologist, paleoseismologist, and geomorphologist. To ensure the reliability of the new lineament analysis data, we used high-resolution satellite images and hill-shade relief maps which were constructed by a digital elevation model. In the prevailing direction analysis from the acquired lineament data, the NNE-SSW direction was the most dominant, but the ENE-WSW and NNW-SSE directions also showed highly frequency depending on the experts. Applying the Finnish classification method, the geometrical development characteristics of the lineament corresponding to the Class 1 and 2 used for the wide-wide candidate site were compared. As a result of direction analysis for Class 1, the NNE-SSW direction was the most dominant and the WNW-ESE direction also showed a high frequency. In the case of Class 2, the NNE-SSW is the most prevalent and WNW-ESE or ENE-WSW direction also had highly frequency depending on the experts. Different lineament analysis results based on the same data are interpreted as a result of subjective experience and analytical criteria from the every experts. Therefore, it is necessary to establish integrated criteria and consider geophysical data for the publication of reliable nation-wide lineament map.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2014

To reveal and classify site characteristics in densely populated areas in Chuncheon, Korea, Rayleigh-waves were recorded at 50 sites including four sites in the forest area using four 1-Hz velocity sensors and 24 4.5-Hz vertical geophones during the period of January 2011 to May 2013. Dispersion curves of the Rayleigh waves obtained by the extended spatial autocorrelation method were inverted to derive shear-wave velocity ($v_s$) models comprising 40 horizontal layers of 1-m thickness. Depths to weathered rocks ($D_b$), shear wave velocities of these basement rocks ($v_s^b$), average velocities of the overburden layer ($\bar{v}_s^s$), and the average velocity to a depth of 30 m ($v_s30$), were then derived from those models. The estimated values of $D_b$, $v_s^b$, $\bar{v}_s^s$, and $v_s30$ for 46 sites at lower altitudes were in the ranges of 5 to 29 m, 404 to 561 m/s, 208 to 375 ms/s, and 226 to 583 m/s, respectively. According to the Korean building code for seismic design, the estimated $v_s30$ indicates that the lower altitude areas in Chuncheon are classified as $S_C$ (very dense soil and soft rock) or $S_D$ (stiff soil). To determine adequate proxies for $v_s30$, we compared the computed values with land cover, lithology, topographic slope, and surface elevation at each of the measurement sites. Due to a weak correlation (r = 0.41) between $v_s30$ and elevation, the best proxy of them, applications of this proxy to Chuncheon of a relatively small area seem to be limited.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.9 no.3
• /
• pp.207-224
• /
• 2006

It has been widely known that the seismic piezo-cone penetration test (SCPTu) is one of the most useful techniques for investigating the geotechnical characteristics such as static and dynamic soil properties. As practical applications in Korea, SCPTu was carried out at two sites in Busan and four sites in Incheon, which are mainly composed of alluvial or marine soil deposits. From the SCPTu waveform data obtained from the testing sites, the first arrival times of shear waves and the corresponding time differences with depth were determined using the cross-over method, and the shear wave velocity $(V_S)$ profiles with depth were derived based on the refracted ray path method based on Snell's law. Comparing the determined $V_S$ profile with the cone tip resistance $(q_t)$ profile, both trends of profiles with depth were similar. For the application of the conventional CPTu to earthquake engineering practices, the correlations between $V_S$ and CPTu data were deduced based on the SCPTu results. For the empirical evaluation of $V_S$ for all soils together with clays and sands which are classified unambiguously in this study by the soil behavior type classification index $(I_C)$, the authors suggested the $V_S-CPTu$ data correlations expressed as a function of four parameters, $q_t,\;f_s,\;\sigma'_{v0}$ and $B_q$, determined by multiple statistical regression modeling. Despite the incompatible strain levels of the downhole seismic test during SCPTu and the conventional CPTu, it is shown that the $V_S-CPTu$ data correlations for all soils, clays and sands suggested in this study is applicable to the preliminary estimation of $V_S$ for the soil deposits at a part in Korea and is more reliable than the previous correlations proposed by other researchers.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.191-202
• /
• 2007

To identify the detailed attenuation structure in the southern Korean Peninsula, a numerical test was conducted for the Q tomography inversion to be applied to the accumulated dataset until 2005. In particular, the stochastic pointsource ground-motion model (STGM model; Boore, 2003) was adopted for the 2D Q tomography inversion for direct application to simulating the strong ground-motion. Simultaneous inversion of the STGM model parameters with a regional single Q model was performed to evaluate the source and site effects which were necessary to generate an artificial dataset for the numerical test. The artificial dataset consists of simulated Fourier spectra that resemble the real data in the magnitude-distance-frequency-error distribution except replacement of the regional single Q model with a checkerboard type of high and low values of laterally varying Q models. The total number of Q blocks used for the checkerboard test was 75 (grid size of $35{\times}44km^2$ for Q blocks); Q functional form of $Q_0f^{\eta}$ ($Q_0$=100 or 500, 0.0 < ${\eta}$ < 1.0) was assigned to each Q block for the checkerboard test. The checkerboard test has been implemented in three steps. At the first step, the initial values of Q-values for 75 blocks were estimated. At the second step, the site amplification function was estimated by using the initial guess of A(f) which is the mean site amplification functions (Yun and Suh, 2007) for the site class. The last step is to invert the tomographic Q-values of 75 blocks based on the results of the first and second steps. As a result of the checkerboard test, it was demonstrated that Q-values could be robustly estimated by using the 2D Q tomography inversion method even in the presence of perturbed source and site effects from the true input model.