• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.65-88
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• 1982

In the last ten years, marine geological and geophysical survey and research were conducted by Japanese, Russian and American scientists in the East Sea of Korea (Japan Sea). Many research results were published. However, regional research of the geology of the continental margin of the Korean Peninsula was not conducted. This study has made on attempt to classify submarine strata and stratigraphic boundaries. The study has revealed characters of submarine geology and structure. Isopach maps of each identified stratigraphic unit have been constructed as the results of this study. The study was conducted on the basis of analyses of marine seismic surveys carried out in the continental margin of the East Sea between Kangneung and Pohang. Three depositional basins were identified in the study area and they were named as, Mukho Basin, Hupo Basin and Pohang Basin. The Mukho Basin is developed in continental slope and shelf in the area between Kangneung and Samcheog. Quaternary and Pliocene sediments attain a maximum thickness of 900 m. Basement rocks are interpreted as granite and gneiss. They are correlated with granite-gneiss of the Taebaecksan Series of Pre-cambrian age and the Daebo granite of Jurassic age. The Hupo Basin is developed in the continental shelf between Uljin and Youngdeok. Quaternary and Pliocene sediments attain a maximum thickness of 600 m. Basement rocks were interpreted as granite and gneiss and they are correlated with metamorphic rocks of Pre-cambrian age and the Daebo granites, comprising the Ryongnam Massif. The Pohang Basin is developed in the area between Pohang and Gangu. This basin contains Miocene and older sediments. Basement rocks are not shown. Many faults are developed within the continental shelf and slope. These faults strike parallel with the coast line. A north-south direction is predominant in the southern study area. However, in the northern study area the faults strike north, and north-west. The faults are parallel to each other and are step faults down-thrown to the east or west, forming horst and graben structures which develop into sedimentary basins. Such faults caused the development of submarine banks along the boundary between the continental shelf and slope. This bank has acted as a barrier for deposition in the Hupo Basin. Paleozoic sedimentary rocks distributed widely in the adjacent land area are absent in the Mukho Basin. This suggests that the area of the basin was situated above the sea level until the Pliocene time. The study area contains Pliocene sediments in general. These sediments overlie the basement complex composed of metamorphic rocks, granites, Cretaceous (Kyongsang System) sedimentary rocks and Miocene sedimentary rocks. These facts lead to a conclusion that the continental shelf and slope of the study area were developed as a result of displacements along faults oriented parallel to the present coast line in the post Miocene time.

• The Korean Journal of Petroleum Geology
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• v.9 no.1_2 s.10
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• pp.16-23
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• 2001

The study area in the East Sea is located on the northeastern margins of the Ulleung Basin near the Kita-Yamato Bank. The research area provides the important clue to the development of Miocene basins which are characterized by the normal faults and volcanic activities related to rifting in the continental crust. Kita-Yamato Bank is a small sediment-filled graben which was formed by failed rifting in the Early Miocene. The basins rapidly vary the bathymetry, depth of acoustic basement and thickness of sedimentary layer. The tension in the study area caused the extensional lithospheric deformation before/during the Early Miocene. In consequence, tectonic forces resulted in the depression or subsidence of basement from continental rifting in the Kita-Yamato Bank followed by the opening of the Ulleung Basin, and caused the onset of graben or half-graben structure bounded by large blocked syn-rift faults. Afterward no significant tectonic deformation exists, with the consequence that post-rift normal faults with small heave were formed and reactivated by the resultant forces such as tectonic subsidence, sediment loading and volcanic activity. The Cenozoic sediment layer has a maximum thickness of 1.0 s along the center of the graben or half-graben, which overlies the consolidated acoustic basement. Seismic units V and IV supposed to be syn-rift sedimentary rocks are deformed by both the volcanic activities and numerous basement-involved normal faults induced from extension. In the uppermost layer, slump scars resulted from the slope failure are recognized.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.45-56
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• 1999

Seismic refracrion and reflection surveys were conducted along an E-W trending track of 482 m long in Ilwall-dong, Pohang. End-on spread was employed as source-receiver configuration with 2 m for both geophone interval and offset. Seismic data were acquired using 24 channels at every shot fired every 2 m along the track. Refraction data were interpreted using equations for multi-horizontal layers. Reflection data were processed in the sequence of trace edit, gain control, CMP sorting, NMO correction, mute, common offset gathering, and filtering to produce a single fold seismic section. There are two layers in shallow subsurface of the study area. Upper layer has the P-wave velocities ranging from 267 to 566 m/s and is interpreted as a layer of unconsolidated sediments. Lower layer has P-wave velocities of 1096-3108 m/s and is interpreted as weathered rock to hard rock. Most of the lower layer classified as soft rock. Upper layer has lateral variations in both P-wave velocity and thickness. The upper layer in the eastern part of the seismic line is 3-5 m thick and has P-wave velocity of 400 m/s in average. The upper layer in the western part is 8-10 m thick and has P-wave velocity of 340 m/s in average. The eastern part is interpreted as unconsolidated beach sand, while the western part is interpreted as infilled soil to develop a construction site. Three fault systems of high angle are imaged in seismic reflection section. It is interpreted that the area between these fault systems are relatively safe. Large buildings should be located in the safe ground condition of no fault and footings should be designed to be in the basement rock of 3-10 m deep below the surface.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.343-349
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• 2011

Seabed topography and marine site survey should be performed first in the design and construction of marine structures. We could successfully acquire the seafloor topography information can be obtained by bathymetric survey and side scan sonar and the sediment layer thickness and 3D bedrock depth by seismic reflection. It is necessary to apply carry out the integrated interpretation to each other in the ocean civil Eng. In this paper, we have obtained information on the sea bottom topography and water depth at the same time using interferometer technique and on the basement depth by seismic reflection. We have performed to assess the proposed method on the seafloor topographic survey with bedrock.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.425-434
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• 2000

The 3.5 KHz seismic survey was carried out for studying the distribution pattern of the unconsolidated sediments of the Yeosu Sound on the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula. Field data originally recorded in analog are converted and processed digitally to recover the high-resolution acoustic profiles. Across the north-south trending channel with the depth of 20~30 m, different seismic facies types are observed in the top section of sediments. The western part is characterized by the continuous high-amplitude subparallel reflectors within which the acoustic turbidity as a token of the presence of gas is commonly observed, whereas the counterpart largely shows poor reflectors and has shallow acoustic basement toward the north. The dissimilarity of the seismic expression across the channel can be interpreted as the result of the change of depositional environment caused by relative sea-level fluctuations of the late-Quaternary. During the last glacial period, the Yeosu Sound was exposed and eroded by the paleo-Seomjin River. By the following rapid rise of sea level, it was covered by the transgressive sand sheet. When the sea level reached near the present position, the muddy sediment has accumulated only in the western part of the Yeosu Sound as its depositional front has moved toward the north. It is partly caused by the asymmetrical tidal current in the Yeosu Sound where the flood near the bottom has stronger current flow and contains more suspended sediments.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.481-496
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• 1996

The last Sea is a typical bark-arc basin consisting of basins, plateaus, ridges, and seamounts. The Ulleng Basin, located in the southwestern corner of the last Sea, contains thick Neogene sedimentary sequence. Analysis of over 2,500 km of single-channel seismic reflection data suggests that hemipelagic sedimentation prevailed over much of the basin during the late Miocene and pelagic sedimentation became more dominant during the Pliocene. During the Pleistocene terrigeneous sediments transported by turbidity currents and other gravity flows, together with continuous hemipelagic settling, resulted in well-stratified sedimentary layers. Influx of terrigenous sediments during the Pleistocene formed depocenters in the western and southern parts of the basins. In the Ulleung Interplain Gap, where the Ulleung Basin joins the deeper Japan Basin, sediment waves suggesting bottom current activities are seen.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.41-50
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• 2002

In order to delineate distribution of the basement in the vicinity of a Quaternary fault outcrop near the Gamsansa temple in Gyeongju, we conducted a seismic refraction survey along a 188 m profile with a 4 m receiver interval. Through tomographic inversion, we define four layers with refraction velocities of approximately 350 m/s, 600 m/s, 1,100 m/s and 2,400 m/s, respectively. We depict a reversed fault at a location of 40 m apart from the base station of the profile and interpret a fracture zone related to fault movements in the NNW of the profile.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.219-226
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• 2010

Current earthquake alert notification for immediate post-earthquake procedures for the critical facilities is exclusively dependent on the ground-motion intensity measures observed at the seismic station located within the site. This practice is prune to false notification due to a noise and problems of missing and poor quality records of the seismic station. The credibility of the earthquake alert notification can be enhanced by utilizing the multiple transformed records of the nearby seismic stations at other sites interconnected to the same earthquake monitoring system by a network. The time-domain transformation of the site-response between the seismic stations is implemented by convoluting the nearby records with a pair of forward and inverse FIR filters designed for the site response relative to a seismic basement. The transformed records from the nearby seismic stations can be used to estimate the ground-motion intensity measures missing at the site or to evaluate the data quality along with other various possible applications in the area of geoscience and earthquake engineering.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.19-34
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• 1992

Marine seismic refraction surveys have been carried out by Korea Institute of Geology, Mining and Materials(KIGAM) since 1984. The recording of refraction data was based on analog instrumentation. Therefore the resolution of refraction data was not good enough to distinguish many layers. The objective of the interpretation of seismic refraction data is the determination of intervals and critically refracted seismic wave propagation velocities through the layers beneath the sea floor. To determine intervals and velocities precisely, the resolution of refraction data should be enhanced. The intent of the study is to improve the quality of shallow marine refraction data by the digital technique using microcomputer- based acquisition and processing system. The system consists of an IBM AT microcomputer clone, an analog-digital(A/D) converter. A mass storage unit and a parallel processing board. The A/D converter has 12 bits of precision and 250 kHz of conversion rate. The magneto-optical disk drive is used for the mass storage of seismic refraction data. Shallow marine seismic refraction surveys have been carried out using the system at 6 locations off Ulsan and Pusan area. The refraction data were acquired by the radio sonobuoy. The refraction profiles have been produced by the laser printer with 300 dpi resolution after the basic computer processing. 5-9 layers were interpreted from digital refraction profiles, whereas 2-4 layers were interpreted from analog refraction profiles. the propagation velocities of sediments were interpreted as 1.6-2.1 km/sec. The propagation velocities of acoustic basement were interpreted as 2.4-2.7 km/sec off Ulsan area, 4.8 km/sec off Pusan area.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.75-88
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• 1999

A recent major subject of geophysical exploration is research into 3-D subsurface imaging with a composite information from the various geophysical data. In an attempt to interpret Schlumberger sounding data for the study area in 2-D and 3-D view, resistivity imaging was firstly performed and then pseudo-3-D resistivity volume was reconstructed by interpolating several 1-D resistivity plots. Electrical resistivity discontinuities such as fracture zone were successfully clarified in pseudo-3-D resistivity volume. The low resistivity zone mainly associated with fracture zone appears to develop down to granitic basement in the central part of the study area. Seismic velocity near the lineament is estimated to be approximately as small as 3,000 m/s, and weathering-layer for the southeastern part is interpreted to be deeper than for the northwestern part. Geophysical attributes such as electrical resistivity, seismic velocity, radioactivity for the Chojeong Area were analysed by utilizing a GIS software Arc/Info. The major fault boundaries and fracture zones were resolved through image enhancement of composite section (electrical resistivity and seismic refraction data) and were interpreted to develop in the southeastern part of the area, as characterized by low electrical resistivity and low seismic velocity. However, radioactivity attribute was found to be less sensitive to geological discontinuities, compared to resistivity and seismic velocity attributes.