• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2009

Airborne electromagnetics (AEM) is a useful tool for investigating volcanic structures because it can survey large and inaccessible areas. Disadvantages include lower accuracy and limited depth of investigation. The Grounded Electrical Source Airborne Transient Electromagnetic(GREATEM)survey system was developed to increase the depth of investigation possible using AEM. The method was tested in a survey at Mount Bandai in north-eastern Japan. Mount Bandai is an andesitic stratovolcano that rises 1819m above sea level. An eruption in July 1888 left a hoof-shaped collapsed wall in its northern crater and avalanche debris at its base. Previous surveys of Mount Bandai allow for comparisons of data on its structure and collapse mechanism as obtained by GREATEM and other geophysical methods. The results show resistive structures in recent volcanic cones and conductive structures in the collapsed-crater area. Conductive areas around the collapsed wall correspond to an alteration zone resulting from hydrothermal activity, supporting the contention that a major cause of the collapse associated with the 1888 eruption was hydrothermal alteration that structurally weakened the interior of the volcanic edifice.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.214-216
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• 2022

Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), an increasingly growing acquisition technique in the oil and gas exploration and seismology fields, has been used to record seismic signals using optical cables as receivers. With the development of imaging methods for DAS data, full waveform inversion (FWI) is been applied to DAS data to obtain high-resolution property models such as P- and S-velocity. However, because the DAS systems measure strain from the phase distortion between two points along optical cables, DAS data must be transformed from strain to particle velocity for FWI algorithms. In this study, a plane-wave FWI algorithm based on the relationship between strain and horizontal particle velocity in the plane-wave assumption is proposed to apply FWI to DAS data. Under the plane-wave assumption, strain equals the horizontal particle velocity, which is scaled by the velocity at the receiver position. This relationship was confirmed using a numerical experiment. Furthermore, 4-layer and modified Marmousi-2 velocity models were used to verify the applicability of the proposed FWI algorithm in various survey environments. The proposed FWI was implemented in land and marine survey environments and provided high-resolution P- and S-velocity models.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.162-172
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• 2016

Since the Northridge earthquake in 1994 and the Kobe earthquake in 1995 occurred, the concept of performance based design has been introduced for designing various kinds of important structures and buildings. Uniform hazard spectra (UHS), with annual exceedance probabilities, corresponding to the performance level of each structure, are required for performance-based design. The probabilistic seismic hazard analysis was performed using spectral ground motion prediction equations, which were developed from both Korean Peninsula and Central and Eastern US region, and several seismotectonic models suggested by 10 expert panel members in seismology and tectonics. The uniform hazard spectra for 5 highly populated cities in Korea, with recurrence period of 500, 1,000, and 2,500 years using the seismic hazard at the frequencies of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 5.0, 10.0 Hz and Peak ground acceleration (PGA) were analyzed using the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis. The sensitivity analysis suggests that spectral ground motion prediction equations impact much more on seismic hazard than what seismotectonic models do. The uniform hazard spectra commonly showed a maximum hazard at the frequency of 10 Hz and also showed the similar shape characteristics to the previous study and related technical guides to nuclear facilities.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.8-18
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• 1998

In exploration seismology, the Kirchhoff hyperbola has been successfully used to migrate reflection seismo-grams. The mathematical basis of Kirchhoff hyperbola has not been clearly defined and understood for the application of prestack or poststack migration. The travel time from the scatterer in the subsurface to the receivers (exploding reflector model) on the surface can be a kinematic approximation of Green's function when the source is excited at position of the scatterer. If we add the travel time from the source to the scatterer in the subsurface to the travel time of exploding reflector model, we can view this travel time as a kinematic approximation of the partial derivative wavefield with respect to the velocity or the density in the subsurface. The summation of reflection seismogram along the Kirchhoff hyperbola can be evaluated as an inner product between the partial derivative wavefield and the field reflection seismogram. In addition to this kinematic interpretation of Kirchhoff hyperbola, when we extend this concept to shallow refraction seismic data, the stacking of refraction data along the straight line can be interpreted as a measurement of an inner product between the first arrival waveform of the partial derivative wavefield and the field refraction data. We evaluated the Kirchhoff hyperbola and the straight line for stacking the refraction data in terms of the first arrival waveform of the partial derivative wavefield with respect to the velocity or the density in the subsurface. This evaluation provides a firm and solid basis for the conventional Kirchhoff migration and the straight line stacking of the refraction data.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.52-59
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• 2008

We have developed a new deep-towed marine DC resistivity survey system. It was designed to detect the top boundary of the methane hydrate zone, which is not imaged well by seismic reflection surveys. Our system, with a transmitter and a 160-m-long tail with eight source electrodes and a receiver dipole, is towed from a research vessel near the seafloor. Numerical calculations show that our marine DC resistivity survey system can effectively image the top surface of the methane hydrate layer. A survey was carried out off Joetsu, in the Japan Sea, where outcrops of methane hydrate are observed. We successfully obtained DC resistivity data along a profile ${\sim}3.5\;km$ long, and detected relatively high apparent resistivity values. Particularly in areas with methane hydrate exposure, anomalously high apparent resistivity was observed, and we interpret these high apparent resistivities to be due to the methane hydrate zone below the seafloor. Marine DC resistivity surveys will be a new tool to image sub-seafloor structures within methane hydrate zones.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.357-363
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• 2010

In this study, we investigated the geologic structure of the basement and overlying sediments of the construction site of the dinosaur egg fossil museum in Hwasung, Gyeonggi Province through refraction seismology, drilling, and downward seismic velocity measurements in the drill holes. The construction site ($350{\times}750\;m^2$) is located in the reclaimed area south of Sihwa Lake, Gojeong-ri. About 6,950 m of seismic refraction data consisting of 11 lines were acquired using a sledge hammer source. Drilling to the basement was performed at five sites. Sediment samples from drilling were analysed for grain-size distribution and age dating. At two drill holes, seismic velocity was measured with depth using a hammer as a seismic source. The geological structure of the study area consists of, from top to bottom, a tidal flat layer (5 ~ 12 m thick), a weathered soil layer (2 ~ 8 m thick), and the basement. The basement is interpreted as Cretaceous sedimentary rocks that tend to be shallow eastward. The volume of the tidal flat sediments and weathered soil in the study area is estimated as $1.4{\times}10^6\;m^3$, weighing $3.5{\times}10^6$ tons. The rate of sea level rise since 8,000 yrs BP is estimated to be 0.1 ~ 0.15 cm/yr.