• Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.63-76
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• 2017

This research was classified mountain areas with high ecological, environmental and resource value among the macro scaled terrain that can be checked at the space scale of less than 1:1,000,000 and analyzed the topographical characteristics. It has been confirmed that the mountains of the Korean peninsula belong to the groups IV, V, VI(classification by Kapos et al.(2000)) as a result of applying the quantitative standards for designation of mountain areas to the global mountain system. The area of mountains calculated using high resolution DEM is equivalent to 48% of the area of the Korean peninsula, and the result is quite different from the general idea of which 70% is the mountain area of the Korean peninsula. The mountain areas show the distribution of geomorphons, that is different from the plains and the hills and also, it shows the differences between the mountains of the groups IV~ VI classified according to the altitude. As a result of analyzing the relations among type pattern, slope, and relief, specific geomorphons are concentrated at $10^{\circ}$ and $20^{\circ}$ and it shows the possibility to classify the mountainous areas into two groups based on the result that the distribution of landform patterns are bimodal in the relation to the amount of relief.