• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.871-885
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• 2023

In 2022, the total of 129 million m³ of aggregate was produced in Korea, a slightly decrease from the total production of 2021. Of these, about 44 million m³ of sand and about 84 million m³ of gravel were produced. About 41% of total quantity of aggregates were produced by permission and the rest were produced after declaration. It estimated that of the 129 million m³ of aggregates in Korea in 2022, about 54.9% was produced by screening crushed aggregate, by 32.8% by forest aggregate, 2.2% by land aggregate, 6.2% by marine aggregate and 3.1% by washing aggregate, and 0.3% by river aggregate. This indicates that screening crushed and forest aggregate are the main producers of domestic aggregate in 2022. Leading producing metropolitan governments were Gyeonggi-do, Gyeongsangnam-do, Chungcheongnam-do, Incheon, Jeollanam-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, Gangwon-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do in order decreasing volume. In 2022, aggregates were produced in 147 local governments, and the 10 leading producing local governments were, in descending order of volume, Hwaseong, Pocheon, Paju, Ongjin, Youngin, Gwangju, west EEZ, Incheon Seo-gu, Namyangju, Asan. The combined production of the 10 leading local governments accounted for 31% of the national total. And 44 local governments have produced aggregates of more than 1 million m³ each other. In 148 local governments that produced aggregate, a total of 800 active operations produced aggregate with 350 operations by river, land and forest aggregate, 450 operations by selective crushed and washing aggregate.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.250-293
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• 2021

Limestone areas are sedimentary rock outcrops consisting of calcium carbonate created several hundreds of millions of years ago by calcium-secreting marine organisms and subsequently lifted above sea level by tectonic movement. Limestone areas support very high levels of endemic species of plants and are recognized as biodiversity areas with much biological information. The purpose of this study is to devise a strategy for the comprehensive conservation of the vegetation of limestone areas through analyses of the floristics and plant species compositions in ten limestone areas on the Korean Peninsula. The results of 153 field surveys from April of 2010 to October of 2016 identified 1,202 taxa in total, representing 1,096 species, 18 subspecies, 84 varieties, 2 forms, and 2 hybrids in 530 genera and 133 families. Among them, 55 taxa were endemic plants to Korea, and 38 taxa were red data plants. The floristic target plants amounted to 102 taxa, specifically 27 taxa of grade V and 75 taxa of grade IV. In all, 121 alien plants were recorded in the investigated area. Calciphilous plants amounted to 102 taxa, specifically 14 taxa of calciphilous indicator plants, 30 taxa of superlative most calciphilous plants, and 58 taxa of comparative more calciphilous plants. A cluster analysis showed a high degree of similarity between sites that are geographically adjacent with similar habitat environments. Limestone areas also supported groups distinct from those in non-limestone areas, demonstrating the specificity of limestone flora. Plant geography approaches therefore appear to be crucial to gain a better understanding of the level of biodiversity in limestone areas, not only at the interspecific but also at the intraspecific level. These results highlight the importance of protecting limestone habitats to preserve not only their interspecific but also the intraspecific diversity, which is highly threatened.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2015

To evaluate accuracy and precision of determination of total alkalinity ($Alk_T$) and carbon dioxide ($TCO_2$) derived from present study, experiment was applied with $CO_2$ CRM (Batch 132, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; $Alk_T=2229.24{\pm}0.39{\mu}mol/kg$, $TCO_2=2032.65{\pm}0.45{\mu}mol/kg$). As the result, average concentration of $Alk_T$ and $TCO_2$ was $2354.09{\mu}mol/kg$ (~5.6% difference with $CO_2$ CRM) and $2089.60{\mu}mol/kg$ (~2.3% difference with $CO_2$ CRM), respectively. For previous method (Gran Titration) by addition $NaHCO_3$ to deionized water($Alk_T$ $2023.33{\mu}mol/kg$), average concentration was $2193.39{\mu}mol/kg$ (sd=57.15, n=7). Whereas, average concentration was $2017.02{\mu}mol/kg$ (sd=10.98, n=7) for the present study. Recovery yield experiments of total alkalinity in deionized water and seawater were implemented by addition of $NaHCO_3$. The recovery yield of deionized water in the range 0 to $4952.39{\mu}mol/kg$ was 100.8% ($R^2$=0.999), and seawater in the range 0 to $2041.32{\mu}mol/kg$ was 102.3% ($R^2$=0.999). Comparison of $pCO_2$ sensor (PSI $CO_2-Pro^{TM}$) with present method showed very meaningful correlation coefficient ($R^2$=0.977) in the range of 427 to $705{\mu}atm$ and 9.16 to $15.24{\mu}mol/kg$ throught elapsed time for two weeks. Field experiment of diurnal variation of total carbon dioxide was accomplished at Sachon harbor in the coastal waters of East Sea of Korea. Concentration of $Alk_T$ and $TCO_2$ was increased during night, and decreased during daylight hours. The results showed mirror type between $TCO_2$ and dissolved oxygen, which was attributable to photosynthesis and respiration of phytoplankton. Also, open ocean field study was performed to obtain vertical profile of $Alk_T$ and $TCO_2$ in C-C zone (Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone), Northeastern Pacific. Average concentrations of $Alk_T$ in the surface mixed layer (0~60 m) and deeper layer below 200 m were $2422.38{\mu}mol/kg$ (sd=78.73, n=20) and $2465.87{\mu}mol/kg$ (sd=57.68, n=103), respectively. And average concentrations of $TCO_2$ were $2134.47{\mu}mol/kg$ (sd=65.4, n=20) and $2431.87{\mu}mol/kg$ (sd=65.02, n=103) in the same depth ranges such as $Alk_T$. Vertical distributions of $Alk_T$ and $TCO_2$ concentrations tended to increase with depth, and analyzed concentrations showed slightly higher than those of previous studies in this area.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.513-523
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• 2012

The upper sedimentary layer of the Ulleung Basin in the East Sea shows stacked mass-flow deposits such as slide/slump deposits in the upper slope, debris-flow deposits in the middle and lower slope, and turbidites in the basin plain. Shallow gases or gas hydrates are also reported in many area of the Ulleung Basin, which are very important in terms of marine resources, environmental changes, and geohazard. This paper aims at studying acoustic characteristics and distribution pattern of gas-related structures such as acoustic column, enhanced reflector, dome structure, pockmark, and gas seepage in the upper sedimentary layer, by analysing high-resolution chirp profiles. Acoustic column shows a transparent pillar shape in the sedimentary layer and mainly occurs in the basin plain. Enhanced reflector is characterized by an increased amplitude and laterally extended to several tens up kilometers. Dome structure is characterized by an upward convex feature at the seabed, and mainly occurs in the lower slope. The pockmark shows a small crater-like feature and usually occurs in the middle and lower slope. Gas seepage is commonly found in the middle slope of the southern Ulleung Basin. These gas-related structures seem to be mainly caused by gas migration and escape in the sedimentary layer. The distribution pattern of the gas-related structures indicates that formation of these structures in the Ulleung Basin is controlled not only by sedimentary facies in upper sedimentary layer but also by gas-solubility changes depending on water depth. Especially, it is interpreted that the chaotic and discontinuous sedimentary structures of debris-flow deposits cause the facilitation of gas migration, whereas the continuous sedimentary layers of turbidites restrict the vertical migration of gases.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.107-120
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• 2021

The Komdok Pb-Zn deposit, which is the largest Pb-Zn deposit in Korea, is located at the Hyesan-Riwon metallogenic zone in Jiao Liao Ji belt included Paleoproterozoic Macheolryeong group. The geology of this deposit consists of Paleoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks, Jurassic Mantapsan intrusive rocks and Cenozoic basalt. The Komdok deposit which is a SEDEX type deposit occurs as layer ore and vein ore in the Paleoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks. Based on mineral petrography and paragenesis, dolomites from this deposit are classified four types (1. dolomite (D₀) as hostrock, 2. early dolomite (D₁) associated with tremolite, actinolite, diopside, sphalerite and galena from amphibolite facies, 3. late dolomite (D₂) associated with talc, calcite, quartz, sphalerite and galena from amphibolite facies, 4. dolomite (D₃) associated with white mica, chlorite, sphalerite and galena from quartz vein). The structural formulars of dolomites are determined to be Ca_1.00-1.20Mg_0.80-0.99Fe_0.00-0.01Zn_0.00-0.02(CO₃)₂(D₀), Ca_1.00-1.02M_0.97-0.99Fe_0.00-0.01Zn_0.00-0.02(CO₃)₂(D₁), Ca_0.99-1.03Mg_0.93-0.98Fe_0.01-0.05Mn_0.00-0.01As_0.00-0.01(CO₃)₂(D₂) and Ca_0.95-1.04Mg_0.59-0.68Fe_0.30-0.36Mn_0.00-0.01 (CO₃)₂(D₃), respectively. It means that dolomites from Komdok deposit have higher content of trace elements (FeO, MnO, HfO₂, ZnO, PbO, Sb₂O₅ and As₂O₅) compared to the theoretical composition of dolomite. These trace elements (FeO, MnO, ZnO, Sb₂O₅ and As₂O₅) show increase and decrease trend according to paragenetic sequence, but HfO₂ and PbO elements no show increase and decrease trend according to paragenetic sequence. Dolomites correspond to Ferroan dolomite (D₀, D₁ and D₂), and Ferroan dolomite and ankerite (D₃), respectively. Therefore, 1) dolomite (D₀) as hostrock was formed by subsequent diagenesis after sedimentation of Paleoproterozoic (2012~1700 Ma) silica-bearing dolomite in the marine evaporative environment. 2) Early dolomite (D₁) was formed by hydrothermal metasomatism origined metamorphism (amphibolite facies) associated with intrusion (1890~1680 Ma) of Paleoproterozoic Riwon complex. 3) Late dolomte (D₂) was formed from residual fluid by a decrease of temperature and pressure. and dolomite (D₃) in quartz vein was formed by intrusion (213~181 Ma) of Jurassic Mantapsan intrusive rocks.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.102-115
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• 2012

The purpose of this paper is to review several different methods calculating gas hydrate saturations. There are three methods using downhole log data, core data (including pressure core), and seismic velocity data. Archie's equation using electrical resistivity of downhole log data is widely used for saturation calculation. In this case, Archie's parameters should be defined accurately. And the occurrence types of gas hydrate significantly affect to saturation calculation. Thus saturation calculation should be carefully conducted. The methods using chlorinity and pressure core data are directly calculated from core sample. So far, the saturation calculated from pressure core gives accurate and quantitative values. But this method is needed much more time and cost. Thus acquisition of the continuous data with sediment depth is realistically hard. The recent several results show that the saturation calculated from resistivity data is the highest values, while the value calculated from pressure core is the lowest. But this trend is not always absolutely. Thus, to estimate accurate gas hydrate saturation, the values calculated from several methods should be compared.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.351-363
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• 2009

Two orthogonal joint sets develop well only in sandstone beds in the sandstone-mudstone sequences of Gumi and Dasa outcrops within Cretaceous Gyeongsang Basin. And various joint data are similar in the beds of the same thickness in both outcrops, meaning that the joint sets were homogeneously produced by extensional deformation in the same regional stress field. Most of joints in the sandstone beds are orthogonal to, and confined by bed boundaries, which are believed to be formed by hydrofracturing during consolidation after burial. Two orthogonal joint sets are considered to be almost coeval on the basis of mutual abutting relationship which makes up fracture grid-lock and a product of rapid switching of ${\sigma}_2$ and ${\sigma}_3$ axes with constant ${\sigma}_1$ direction oriented to vertical. The joint sets in the sandstone beds show planar surfaces, parallel orientations and regular spacing, with joint spacing linearly proportional to bed thickness. The spacing distributions of the joints seem to correspond to log-normal to almost normal distribution in most of the beds. But multilayer joints do not display regular spacing and dominant size. Either joint set in this study is characterized by a high level of joint density and a saturated spacing distribution as indicated by the mode/mean ratio values and the Cv(coefficient of variance) values. Joint aperture tends to increase with the vertical length of the joints controlled by bed thickness.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.149-166
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• 2018

Many large earthquakes have continuously been reported and resulted in significant human casualties and extensive damages to properties globally. The accident of Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan was caused by a mega-tsunami, which is a secondary effect associated with the Tohoku large earthquake (M=9.0, 2011. 3. 11.). Most earthquakes occur by reactivation of pre-existing active faults. Therefore, the importance of paleoseismological study have greatly been increased. The Korean peninsula has generally been considered to be a tectonically stable region compared with neighboring countries such as Japan and Taiwan, because it is located on the margin of the Eurasian intra-continental region. However, the recent earthquakes in Gyeongju and Pohang have brought considerable insecurity on earthquake hazard. In particular, this region should be secure against earthquake, because many nuclear facilties and large industrial facilities are located in this area. However, some large earthquakes have been reported in historic documents and also several active faults have been reported in southeast Korea. This study explains the evaluation methods of geological structures on active fault, fault damage zone, the relationship between earthquake and active fault, and respect distance. This study can contribute to selection of safe locations for nuclear facilities and to earthquake hazards and disaster prevention.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.129-143
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• 2017

The shallow sediments in the southwestern Ulleung Basin consist of mass flow deposits such as slide/slump and debris flow deposits (DFD), caused by slope failure. These sediments are proven to be important in studying geological disaster and stability of the seafloor. In this paper, we analysised the flow accumulation and slope failure susceptibility of the Ulleung Basin on the basis of multi-beam data, collected in this area. We also studied the distribution pattern and the seismic characteristics of the DFD in the uppermost layer of the Ulleung Basin on the basis of seismic data. The slope susceptibility was calculated as the frequency ratio of each factors including slope, aspect, curvature and stream power index (SPI), which causes the slope failure. These results indicate that the slope failure is frequently to occur in the southern and western continental slope of the Ulleung Basin. The sediment flow (mass flow) caused by the slope failure converges to the north and northwest of the Ulleung Basin. According to the seismic characteristics, the uppermost layer in study area can be divided into four sedimentary unit. These sedimentary units develop from the south and southwest to the north and northwest in association with slope susceptibility and flow accumulation.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2006

Analyses of sedimentological and geochemical parameters from two radiocarbon-dated sediment cores (JM98-845-PC and JM98-818-PC) retrieved from the central part of Isfjorden, Svalbard, in the Arctic Sea, reveal detailed paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic histories over the last 15,000 radiocarbon years. The overconsolidated diamicton at the base of core JM98-845-PC is supposed to be a basal till deposited beneath pounding glacier that had advanced during the LGM (Last Glacial Maximum). Deglaciation of the fjord commenced after the glacial maximum, marked by the deposition of interlaminated sand and mud in the ice-proximal zone by subglacial meltwater discharge, and prevailed between 13,700 and 10,800 yr B.P. with enriched-terrigenous organic materials. A return to colder conditions occurred at around 10,800 yr B.P. with a drop in TOC content, which is probably coincident with the Younger Dryas event in the North Atlantic region. At this time, an abrupt decrease of TOC content as well as an increase in C/N ratio suggests enhanced terrigenous input due to the glacial readvance. A climatic optimum is recognized between 8,395 and 2,442 yr B.P., coinciding with 'a mid-Holocene climatic optimum' in Northern Hemisphere sites (e.g., the Laurentide Ice sheet). During this time, as the sea ice receded from the fjord, enhanced primary productivity occurred in open marine conditions, resulting in the deposition of organic-enriched pebbly mud with evidence of TOC maxima and C/N ratio minima in sediments. Fast ice also disappeared from the coast, providing the maximum of IRD (ice-rafted debris) input. Around 2,442 yr B.p. (the onset of Neoglacial), pebbly mud, characterized by a decrease in TOC content, reflects the formation of more extensive sea ice and fast ice, which might cause decreased primary productivity in the surface water, as evidenced by a decrease in TOC content. Our results provide evidence of climatic change on the Svalbard fjords that helps to refine the existence and timing of late Pleistocene and Holocene millennial-scale climatic events in the Northern Hemisphere.