• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.321-330
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• 2008

This study, geological survey was carried out in order to study on the geology, geological structure and volcanic activity of the Ulleung-do volcano body. Ulleung-do is the volcano body of about 3,000m heights from the East Sea seabed. The geology of Ulleung-do is divided into basaltic agglomerate, trachytic agglomerate, trachyte, trachytic pumice and trachyandesite in ascending orders. The faults in caldera of Nari Basin came to make the reverse triangle style in compliance with sinking. The faults in circumference of Nari Basin are ranging with northeast-southwest direction and northwest-southeast direction. The Quaternary volcanic activities in the Ulleung-do are divided into 5 activity period. The engineering geologists and the applied geologists were not easy to apply because complicated geology of Ulleung-do. Therefore, this study supplied simple geology of Ulleung-do for them.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.399-412
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• 2011

A DEM (digital elevation model) is produced using a digital topographic map and is now a commonly used tool in geologic surveys. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between knickpoints and faults in the Namdae stream by analyzing a DEM of the area. The Namdae drainage basin was divided into three subbasins (S1, S2 and S3) and their knickpoints developed for the middle to mid-upper regions were extracted from the DEM. The relative steepness Ks and concavity depending on the incision rate was higher in S1 than in S2 and S3 regions. We assumed that the incision rate caused by active erosion resulted from several faults crossing the basins rather than differences in rock types. There are 77 knickpoints in the Namdae drainage area, including the low-ranking branch, and 24 of thses are on the main river system (S1, S2, S3). Of these 77 knickpoints, 27 (38%) are matched by faults, and from the three basins, 13 (54%) correspond with faults, indicating that the knickpoints are connected closely with the faults. For example the average Ks (relative steepness), was 38.8, but in the overlapping area of the Samdang and Doocheon faults the Ks value was 42.99~43.39. We suggest that the faults resulted in geomorphic deformation such as the high-Ksn knickpoints. There was little evdence of relationship between the knickpoints and rock boundaries, with 54% of the knickpoints distributed on the S1, S2, and S3 subbasins. We concluded that the drainage basin knickpoints are the result of fault movement and are a type of geomorphologic deformation that could be useful for surveying Quaternary faults or fault extension.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.241-252
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• 2016

In this paper, in order to test the possibility of applying K feldspar $pIR-IRSL_{290}$ signal(read out at $290^{\circ}C$) to date old terrace sediments(up to ~ 200 ka, MIS 7) in Korea, we investigated luminescence properties of $pIR-IRSL_{290}$ signals in K feldspar extracts from 27 marine and fluvial terrace sediment samples, and these were compared with those of quartz OSL and conventional K feldspar $IRSL_{50}$ (readout at $50^{\circ}C$) signals. The averaged $2D_0$ value of K feldspar $pIR-IRSL_{290}$ growth curves was ~ 700 Gy, which is consistent with that of $IRSL_{50}$ signal, and this is 3 times higher than that for quartz OSL (~ 250 Gy) on average. Where possible, K feldspar $pIR-IRSL_{290}$ ages were compared with quartz OSL and conventional $IRSL_{50}$ ages. Our preliminary K feldspar $pIR-IRSL_{290}$ ages were older than quartz OSL ages by about 200%, while fading rate-corrected conventional $IRSL_{50}$ ages are in good agreement with those based on quartz OSL. This seems to indicate the possibility of K-feldspar $pIR-IRSL_{290}$ age overestimation due to the presence of unbleachable $pIR-IRSL_{290}$ signals, even with a prolonged exposure to sunlight. Both quartz OSL and K-feldspar $pIR-IRSL_{290}$ signals for the samples from Noeum fluvial terrace and Gusan fault site were all in dose saturation level, thus unable to estimate the formation ages of the sediments. However, $2D_0$ values derived from the dose response growth curves strongly indicate that the Noeum fluvial terrace sediments have formed before 109-140 ka, while the fluvial sediments from Gusan fault were desposited before 100-105 ka. Further, this seems to suggest that the previous quartz OSL ages of ~40-50 ka for Gusan fault sediments should be the underestimated ones due to dose saturation problem.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.585-596
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• 2020

The 2017 Pohang Earthquakes occurred near a drill site in the Pohang Enhanced Geothermal System. Water injected for well stimulation was believed to have reactivated the buried near-critically stressed Miocene faults by the accumulation of the Quaternary tectonic strain. However, surface expressions of the Quaternary tectonic activity had not been reported near the epicenter of the earthquakes before the site construction. Unusual, large-scale water-escaped structures were identified 4 km away from the epicenter during a post-seismic investigation. The water-escaped structures comprise Miocene mudstones injected into overlying Pleistocene coastal sediments that formed during Marine Isotope Stage 5. This indicates the vulnerable state of the mudstones long after deposition, resulted from the combined effects of rapid tectonic uplift (before significant diagenesis) and the development of an aquifer at their unconformable interface of the mudstone. Based on the detailed field analysis and consideration of all possible endogenic triggers, we interpreted the structures to have been formed by elevated pore pressures in the mudstones (thixotropy), triggered by cyclic ground motion during the earthquakes. This interpretation is strengthened by the presence of faults 400 m from the study area, which cut unconsolidated coastal sediment deposited after Marine Isotope Stage 5. Geological context, including high rates of tectonic uplift in SE Korea, paleo-seismological research on Quaternary faults near the study area, and historical records of paleoearthquakes in SE Korea, also support the interpretation. Thus, epicenter and surrounding areas of the 2017 Pohang Earthquake are considered as a paleoseismologically active area, and the causative fault of the 2017 Pohang Earthquakes was expected to be nearly critical state.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.97-104
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• 2016

Small to large earthquakes have been reported in Gyeongju and its vicinity in southeast Korea during historical period as well as instrumental observation period. We identified and located more than 300 earthquakes that occurred between January 2010 and December 2014 in a $20km{\times}30km$ area, but were unreported because of their small magnitudes. We used the Joint Hypocenter Determination (JHD) method to minimize the influence of the differences between the actual earth structure and 1-D velocity model for earthquake locations. The potential relationship between the previously reported Quaternary faults and the earthquake hypocenters was investigated. Many micro-earthquakes were found to be located in the southern segment of the Yeonil Tectonic Line, the Seokup fault, and the Waup basin boundary faults.

• The Korean Journal of Petroleum Geology
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• v.2 no.2 s.3
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• pp.59-70
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• 1994

The Cenozoic geological structures and the tectonic evolution of the southern Ulleung Basin were studied with seismic profiles and exploration well data. Basement structure of the Korea Strait is distinctly characterized by normal faults trending northeast to southwest. The normal faults of the basement are most likely related to the initial liking and extensional tectonics of Ulleung Basin. Tsushima fault along the west coast of Tsushima islands runs northeastward to the central Ulleung Basin. The Middle Miocene and older sequences in the Tsushima Strait show folds and faults mostly trending northeast to southwest. These folds and faults may be interpreted as a result of compressional tectonics. The Late Miocene to Qauternary sequences are not much deformed, but numerous faults mostly N-S trending are dominated in the Tsushima Strait. The Ulleung Basin was in intial rifting during Oligocene, and then active extension and subsidence from Early to early Middle Miocene. Therefore SW Japan separated from Korea Peninsula and drifted toward southeast, and Ulleung Basin was formed as a pull-apart basin under dextral transtensional tectonic regime. During rifting and extensional stage, Tsushima fault as a main tectonic line separating SW Japan block from the Korean Peninsula acted as a normal faulting with right-lateral strike-slip motion as SW Japan drifted southeastward. During middle Middle Miocene to early Late Miocene, the opening of Ulleung basin stopped and uplifted due to compressional tectonics. The southwest Japan block converging on the Korean Peninsula caused compressional stress to the southern margin of Ulleung Basin, resulting in strong deformation under sinistral transpressional tectonic regime. Tsushima fault acted as thrust fault with left-lateral strike-slip motion. From middle Late Miocene to Quaternary, the southern margin of Ulleung Basin has been controlled by compressional motion. Thus the Tsushima fault still appears to be an active thrust fault by compressional tectonic regime.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.485-505
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• 2022

On November 15, 2017, a Mw 5.4 Pohang Earthquake occurred at about 4 km hypocenter in the Heunghae area, and caused great damage to Pohang city, Korea. In the Heunghae area, which is the central part of the Pohang Basin, the Cretaceous Gyeongsang Supergroup and the Late Cretaceous to Early Paleogene Bulguksa igneous rocks as basement rocks and the Neogene Yeonil Group as the fillings of the Pohang Basin, are distributed. In this paper, structural and geological researches on the crustal deformations (folds, faults, joints) in the Pohang Basin and the coseismic ground deformations (sand volcanoes, ground cracks, pup-up structures) of Pohang Earthquake were carried out, and the deformation history of the Pohang Basin and characteristics of the coseismic ground deformations were considered. The crustal deformations were formed through at least five deformation stages before the Quaternary faulting: forming stages of the normal-slip (Gokgang fault) faults which strike (N)NE and dip at high angles, and the high-angle joints of E-W trend regionally recognized in Yeonil Group and the faults (sub)parallel to them, and the conjugate normal-slip faults (Heunghae fault and Hyeongsan fault) which strike E-W and dip at middle or low angles and the accompanying E-W folds, and the conjugate strike-slip faults dipped at high angles in which the (N)NW and E-W (NE) striking fault sets show the (reverse) sinistral and dextral strike-slips, respectively, and the conjugate reverse-slip faults in which the NNE and NNW striking fault sets dip at middle angles and the accompanying N-S folds. Sand volcanoes often exhibit linear arrangements (sub)parallel to ground cracks in the coseismic ground deformations. The N-S or (N)NE trending pop-up structures and ground cracks and E-W or (W)NW trending ground were formed by the reverse-slip movement of the earthquake source fault and the accompanying buckling folding of its hanging wall due to the maximum horizontal stress of the Pohang Earthquake source. These structural activities occurred extensively in the Heunghae area, which is at the hanging wall of the earthquake source fault, and caused enormous property damages here.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.217-224
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• 1999

Although faults can be found by geological surveys, the surface traces of faults are not easily discovered by traditional geological surveys due to alluvia. In and around faults and fracture zones, the electrical resistivity appears to be lower than that of the surroundings due to the content of groundwater and clay minerals. Therefore, electrical resistivity surveys are effective to search buried faults and fracture zones. The dipole-dipole array electrical resistivity surveys, which could show the two dimensional subsurface electrical resistivity structure, were carried out in two areas, Yongdang-ri, Woongsang-eup, Yangsan-si, Kyungsangnam-do and Malbang-ri, Woedong-eup, Kyungju-si, Kyungsangpook-do. The one was next to the Dongrae Fault and the other near the Ulsan Fault was close to the region in which debatable quaternary fault traces had been found recently. From each measured data set, the electrical resistivity cross-section was obtained using the inversion program the reliability of which was analyzed using analytic solutions. A low resistivity zone was found in the inverted cross-section from the Yongdang-ri area survey data, and two low resistivity zones were found in that from the Malbang-ri area survey data. They were almost vertical and were 15∼20 m wide. Accounting the shape and the very low resistivity values of those zones (<100 Ωm)in the inverted section, they were interpreted as fracture zones although they should be proven by trenching. The reliability of the interpretation might be improved by adding some more parallel resistivity survey lines and interpreting the results in 3 and/or adding other geophysical survey.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.56-69
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• 2004

We investigated the distribution and geomorphic development of alluvial fan in Gyeongju City including Cheonbuk area. According to a relative height to a river bed, alluvial fans of this area are divided into Higher surface, Middle surface, and Lower surface. As alluvial fans of Bulguk temple∼Ulsan bay area, the confluent fans in Cheonbuk and Gyeongju areas were formed by the Quaternary climatic change alternating glacial and interglacial stages, and the development of N-S and NW-SE fault lines. The Gyeongju alluvial fan, the largest in Korea, has been provided as the significant space for human activity since the prehistoric age. Bukcheon river formed the Gyeongju alluvial fan had not flowed over during the prehistoric and the ancient times. In contrast with general geomorphic characteristics, many springs in the Gyeongju alluvial fan are located in the middle part of the fan because ground water reaches to the surface. It is supposed that sedimental materials were not sufficiently piled up at lower reach of Bukcheon river due to the large deposits at upper and middle reach of the basin.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.39 no.6 s.105
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• pp.845-862
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• 2004

The aim of this study is to investigate distribution characteristics of incised meander cutoff in Gyeonggi and Gangwon Provinces of Central Korea. The density of meander cutoff is highest in the mountain rivers including Naerin and Dongdae flowing on Jeongseon-gun and Inje-gun of Gangwon Province. Most of meander cutoff process has been occurred repeatedly during the Quaternary period, especially concentrated in the period of climatic change between glacial and interglacial stages. In the aspect of the lithology, the density of cutoff is highest in sedimentary rock, but lowest in igneous rock. As for geological structure, its frequency is high at $11{\sim}20km$ westerly away from the Taebaek Mountains, at subsequent channel, lower part of resequent channel, and channels crossing the fault line. The relation between distance from the Taebaek Mountains and altitude is very obvious at the western side of the Taebaek Mountains. The values of altitude, height from riverbed, and stream order are highest at sedimentary rock and lowest at volcanic rock.