• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.21-33
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• 2001

Simultaneous inversion of first-arrivals of local earthquakes recorded by the Korea Meteorological Administration(KMA) seismograph network from 1991 to 1998 is made to derive 1D crustal velocity structure of the Korean peninsula. Twenty-nine events with 178 observations are used in the inversion. Average crustal P-wave velocity turns out to be about 6.3 km/sec, and crustal thickness and upper mantle P-wave velocity are estimated as 33 km and 7.9 km/sec, respectively. Results of inversion indicate the possibility of the low velocity layer in the lower crust. Joint inversion is applied to estimate hypocenters, station delays, and velocities simultaneously. Relative station corrections for 11 stations range from zero to about 1.2 sec. Analysis of the synthetic data shows that estimates of hypocenter locations and station corrections as well as averaged crustal structure are reliable for the given data set..

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.61-70
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• 2006

3-D S-wave velocity model in the southern Korean Peninsula is investigated by using the joint inversion of receiver functions and surface-wave dispersion. A peninsula average Rayleigh-wave phase velocity in the 10-150 seconds range and tomographic estimates of the Rayleigh and Love wave group velocities in the 0.5-20 seconds period range determined using a $12.5{\times}12.5\;km$ grid for the southern part of the peninsula are used for the inversion. Receiver functions were determined from broadband (STS-2), short-period (SS-1) and acceleration (Episensor) channels of 95 stations. The dense distribution of the stations in the Peninsula permits us to examine the 3-D crustal structure in detail. The inversion result shows the variation and characteristics of S-wave velocity in the crust and upper mantle of the southern Korean Peninsula very well.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.231-240
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• 2006

The crustal structure of the Korean Peninsula was investigated by analyzing phase velocity dispersion data of Rayleigh waves. Earthquakes recorded by three component broad-band velocity seismographs during 1999-2004 in South Korea were used in this study. The fundamental mode Rayleigh waves were extracted from vertical components of seismograms by multiple filter technique and phase match filter method. Phase velocity dispersion curves of the fundamental mode signal pairs for 14 surface wave propagation paths on the great circle in the range 10 to 80 sec were computed by two-station method. Treating the shear velocity of each layer as an independent parameter, phase velocity data of Rayleigh wave were inverted. All the result models can be explained by a rather homogeneous crust of shear-wave velocity increasing from 2.8 to 3.25 km/sec from top to about 33 km depth without any distinctive crustal discontinuities and an uppermost mantle of shear-wave velocity between 4.55 and 4.67 km/sec. Our results turn out to agree well with recent study of Cho et al. (2006 b) based on the analysis of seismic background noises to recover short-period (0.5-20 sec) Rayleigh- and Love-wave group velocity dispersion characteristics.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.40-52
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• 2003

Despite the various opening models of the southwestern part of the East Sea (Japan Sea) between the Korean Peninsula and the Japan Arc, the continental margin of the Korean Peninsula remains unknown in crustal structure. As a result, continental rifting and subsequent seafloor spreading processes to explain the opening of the East Sea have not been adequately addressed. We investigated crustal and sedimentary velocity structures across the Korean margin into the adjacent Ulleung Basin from multichannel seismic reflection and ocean bottom seismometer data. The Ulleung Basin shows crustal velocity structure typical of oceanic although its crustal thickness of about 10 km is greater than normal. The continental margin documents rapid transition from continental to oceanic crust, exhibiting a remarkable decrease in crustal thickness accompanied by shallowing of Moho over a distance of about 50 km. The crustal model of the margin is characterized by a high-velocity (up to 7.4 km/s) lower crustal (HVLC) layer that is thicker than 10 km under the slope base and pinches out seawards. The HVLC layer is interpreted as magmatic underplating emplaced during continental rifting In response to high upper mantle temperature. The acoustic basement of the slope base shows an igneous stratigraphy developed by massive volcanic eruption. These features suggest that the evolution of the Korean margin can be explained by the processes occurring at volcanic rifted margins. Global earthquake tomography supports our interpretation by defining the abnormally hot upper mantle across the Korean margin and in the Ulleung Basin.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.625-635
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• 1997

A back projection algorithm is applied to 216 Pn travel time measurements to image lateral variations of compressional velocity in the uppermost mantle in the Korean Peninsula. We obtained an average P-velocity value for the uppermost mantle of $7.90{\pm}0.18km/sec$, and an average mantle P-velocity gradient of $5.3{\times}10^{-3}s^{-1}$ for the Korean Peninsula. The final 3-D velocity image in the uppermost mantle is characterized by a low-velocity (about $7.77{\pm}0.12km/sec$) region in the southeast area of the Korean peninsula, which is called 'Kyongsang Basin' and by high-velocity(${\geq}8.08km/sec$) region in the northern area of the Korean Peninsula(Hamkyong and Pyongan provinces). The crustal thicknesses are calculated for the 10 subregions. The crustal thickness of the northern part(${\geq}39^{\circ}N$) of the Korean Peninsula is 33.0-36.0 km, on the contrary, that of the southern part(< $39^{\circ}N$) is 30.7~33.7 km. The velocity image obtained in this study is somewhat consistent with previous S-P travel time studies and gravity studies.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 1999

Using the microearthquake data acquired from 1995 to 1996 through the seismic network operated by the Korea Institute of Geology, Mining & Materials (KIGAM), the three P-wave velocity models proposed by Lee (1979), Kim·Kim (1983) and Kim·Jung (1985) concerning the structure of the southeastern part of the Korean peninsula were examined in terms of the least square errors of the P-wave arrival times. The three models do not differ significantly in arrival time residuals except that the Lee's model gives slightly deeper focuses than the others. The layering of the crust of the peninsula is not clear as yet and to be studied by more earthquake and explosion data in the future.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.256-267
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• 2010

Earthquakes in the Korean Peninsula occur along the faults formed and boundaries between major geological units ruptured due to violent tectonic activities during the Mesozoic. E-W and/or ENE-SSW compressive stress regime resulting from collisions between the Eurasian plate and neighbouring the Indian plate, the Pacific plate and the Philippine plate trigger Korean earthquakes of thrust faulting with predominant strike-slip components along the mostly NNE-SSW trending active faults. Seismicity of the Korean peninsula has been moderate to low during the past 20 centuries except for the period from the 15th to the 18th centuries of exceptionally high seismicity, showing the typical irregularity of intraplate seismicity. The structure of the Korean peninsula is rather homogeneous without the Conrad discontinuity sharply dividing the upper and lower crust. Lateral heterogeneities exist in the crust. The crust with an average thickness of about 33 km is thicker in the mountainous region than the plain due to the Airy-type isostatic equilibrium maintained in the peninsula. Crustal P-wave velocity with average of about 6.3 km/sec increases gradually from the near surface to the Moho. The upper mantle P-wave (Pn) velocity is about 7.8 km/sec.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.12a
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• pp.43-51
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• 2007

In order to investigate the velocity structure of the southern part of the Korean peninsula, exploded seismic signals were recorded for 120 s along a 294-km WNW-ESE line and 150 s along a 335-km NNW-SSE line in 2002 and 2004, respectively. Velocity tomograms were derived from inverting P-wave and S-wave first arrival times. The raypaths indicate several midcrust interfaces. The shallowest one is at the approximate depth of $2{\sim}3\;km$ with refraction velocities of approximately Vp=6.0 and Vs=3.5 km/s, respectively. The second one of $15{\sim}17\;km$ depth has refraction velocities of approximately Vp=7.1 and Vs=3.7 km/s, respectively. The deepest significant interface varies in depth from 30.8 km to 36.1 km. The critically refracting Vp of $7.8{\sim}8.1\;km/s$ and Vs of $4.2{\sim}4.6\;km/s$ along this interface which may correspond to the Moho discontinuity. The velocity tomograms show (1) existence of a low-velocity zone centered at $6{\sim}7\;km$ depth under the Okchon fold belt and the Yeongnam massif, (2) extension of the Yeongdon fault down to greater than 10 km, and (3) existence of high-velocity materials under the Gyeongsan basin less than 4.2 km thick.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.455-463
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• 2002

There have been few geophysical studies on the crustal structure of the continent-ocean zone around the middle eastern part of Korean peninsula, because of the lack of database in both land and ocean. The area for the study on the internal crustal structure using gravity data is bounded by the latitude of 37$^{\circ}$-38"N and longitude of 128$^{\circ}$-132$^{\circ}$E. WCA correction is applied to shipborne gravity data to integrate with gravity anomalies obtained on land. The high frequency components of the shipborne gravity data which are considered as the noise on survey track are effectively removed by means of correlating with satellite gravity data. The corrected shipborne free-air gravity anomaly is integrated with the Bouguer gravity anomaly on land under the same condition. The integrated gravity anomaly is divided into four areas for power spectrum analysis. The depths of Moho discontinuity increases gradually from inland to Ulleung basin. As the result of modeling based on power spectrum analysis, Moho discontinuity depth is about 33-35 km in the continental zone of Korea and 18-28 km at the continental margin. Such structural character is well elucidated in changing gravity data around Ulleung basin. The depths of Moho discontinuity in the southern ocean of Ulleung-island is 16--17 km, which is much lower than in the land. The result of crustal structure modeling in this study is similar to that computed by prior seismic exploration around this area.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.309-320
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• 1985

The crustal structure of the southern part of the Korean peninsula has been investigated based on the results of processing and anlaysis of gravity data. The processing techniques involve i) seperation of regional and residual anomalies by polynomial fittings, ii) power spectral analyses to determine the mean depth to the crustal base, iii) a filtering operation called "high-cut filtering and resampling," and iv) downward continuation to determine the undulation of the crustal base. The Bouguer anomalies show a lineation in the NE-SW direction which is the same as that of most mountains and tectonic lines of this area. The mean crustal depth is found to be 34km. The depth of the crustal base is varying in the estimated range of 26km to 36km with a thinner crust below the east coast than that of the west coast. The relief of the crustal base is appeared to be correlated with the regional surface topography. The linear regression relations computed between elevations and gravity anomalies indicate that the crust of this area seems to be not in perfect isostatic equilibrium but a little undercompensated state.