• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.12 no.1 s.15
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• pp.26-30
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• 2003

We examined the species of charcoals excavated at the late paleotithic site of Suyanggae. Suyanggae is located on the riverbed of Han river near Banyans, central Korea. The charcoals belong to the post-glacial period (radiocarbon dates: $18,630\~16,400\;BP$). Only two species were identified. Most of samples (139 among 142) examined were Pinus spp. (diploxylon). The other 3 samples were Picea spp. The results suggest the upper layer at $235\~245\;cm$ below the ground level was formed during dry and warm post glacial period, predominated by two needle pines and lower layer at 270 cm below the ground layer during the last glacial maximum period, predominated by spruces.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.169-174
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• 1998

This is the review of vegetational history of the post-glacial period in Korea. most of studies for vegetational changes are located in the lowland alluvial plain, especially below the hilly zone of western and eastern coastal regions of Korea. A couple of methods, pollen analysis and radiocarbon dating, have been employed in these studies. These results lead us to establish the pollen zonation in Korea as the followings. Yasuda et al.(1980) classified six period in Yongrang lake of sokcho. These are as follow I. 17,000-15,000yr B.P.: Picea, Abies, Pinus(Haploxylon), Larix stage, II.15,000-10,000yr B.P:Herb, Pteridophyta stage, III.10.000-6,700yr BP.:Quercus stage, IV.6,700-4,500yr B.P.:Pinus, Quercus, Carpinus stage, V.4,500-1,400yr B.P.:Quercus. Pinus stage, VI.1,400yr B.P.-present: Pinus, Herbs stage. Jo(1979) also divided the period into two stages from the outcomes of analysis done in Jumoonjin and other sites I.10,000-6,000yr B.P.:Quercus stage, II.6,000-present: Pinus-Quercus stage, and three substages: IIa.6,000-3,400 yr B.P.:lower Pinus stage, IIb.3,400-2,000yr B.P.:Pinus-Quercus stage, IIc.2,000-present: Pinus stage. Choi(1993, 1996) divided the period into three stages: I.6,000-5,000yr B.P.:Alnus, Quercus stage, II.5,000-4,000yr B.P.: Alnus, Quercus, Pinus stage, III.4,500-2,600yr B.P.: Alnus, Pinus stage. In the period around 6,000yr B.P. distinct dominant species clearly occupied the lowland of the eastern and western coasts. Thus, this strongly supports the fact that even if Korea experienced its warm and wet climate after the lateglacial, it underwent a different environmental change, dry climate, compared to the regions of Japan.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 1991

The distribution of cryophilous arctic-alpine and alpine plants in Korea is reviewed in connection with palaeoenvironment, along with a discussion to their origins, patterns of migration, and their refugia. At present, the estimated number of Korean arctic-alpine and alpine species is 419, and this includes 75 arctic-alpine species, 239 alpine species and 105 Korean endemic alpine species. The disjunctive distribution of cryophilous arctic-alpine and alpine plants is likely to be due to first, the downslope and southward expansion of those species towards the Korean peninsula as a primary refugia from the arctic region as the Pleistocene glacial phases approached, and then their subsequent isolation upslope in mountain areas toward a secondary refugia as the interglacial and post-glacial climatic ameliorations followed; secondly, the expansion of forest tree communities on lowland and montane areas subsequent to the end of the Pleistocene has had the effect of dividing formerly high mountains as a result of the increased competition; and thirdly, the general disapperance or restriction of available habitats for arctic-alpine and alpine species because of post-glacial climatic amelioration. The existence of 139 alpine species exclusively in the north of Korea may be due to the following reasons; first, frequent exchanges of alpine floras with other neighbouring East Asian regions would have been facilitated; secondly, there are numerous high mountains available for the alpine plants to survive and prosper during the post-glacial period; thirdly, the existence of easy accesses between mountains within the north, which has enabled alpine floras to migrate when necessary; and finally, the availability of diverse environments and habitats for the alpine flora of the north. However, the continued survival of those species in Korea at the world's or East Asia's southernmost limits of their distribution for many species is in danger if global warming associated with the greenhouse effect takes place.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.165-165
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• 2003

A borehole core ECSDP-102 (about 68.5 m long) has been investigated to get information on paleoenvironmental changes in response to the sea-level fluctuations during the period of late Quaternary. Several AMS $\^$14/C ages show that the core ECSDP-102 recorded the depositional environments of the northern East China Sea for approximately 60 ka. The Yangtze River discharged huge amounts of sediment into the northern East China Sea during the marine isotope stage (MIS) 3. In particular, $\delta$$\^$13/Corg values reveal that the sedimentary environments of the northern East China Sea, which is similar to the Holocene conditions, have taken place three times during the MIS 3. It is supported by the relatively enriched $\delta$$\^$13/Corg values of -23 to -21$\textperthousand$ during the marine settings of MIS 3 that are characterized by the predominance of marine organic matter akin to the Holocene. Furthermore, we investigated the three Holocene sediment cores, ECSDP-101, ECSDP-101 and YMGR-102, taken from the northern East China Sea off the mouth of the Yangtze River and from the southern Yellow Sea, respectively. Our study was focused primarily on the onset of the post-glacial marine transgression and the reconstructing of paleoenvironmental changes in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea during the Holocene. AMS $\^$14/C ages indicate that the northern East China Sea and the southern Yellow Sea began to have been flooded at about 13.2 ka BP which is in agreement with the initial marine transgression of the central Yellow Sea (core CC-02). $\delta$$\^$18/O and $\delta$$\^$13/C records of benthic foraminifera Ammonia ketienziensis and $\delta$$\^$13/Corg values provide information on paleoenvironmental changes from brackish (estuarine) to modem marine conditions caused by globally rapid sea-level rise since the last deglaciation. Termination 1 (T1) ended at about 9.0-8.7 ka BP in the southern and central Yellow Sea, whereas T1 lasted until about 6.8 ka BP in the northern East China Sea. This time lag between the two seas indicates that the timing of the post-glacial marine transgression seems to have been primarily influenced by the bathymetry. The present marine regimes in the northern East China Sea and the whole Yellow Sea have been contemporaneously established at about 6.0 ka BP. This is strongly supported by remarkably changes in occurrence of benthic foraminiferal assemblages, $\delta$$\^$18/O and $\delta$$\^$13/C compositions of A. ketienziensis, TOC content and $\delta$$\^$13/Corg values. The $\delta$$\^$18/O values of A. ketienziensis show a distinct shift to heavier values of about 1$\textperthousand$ from the northern East China Sea through the southern to central Yellow Sea. The northward shift of $\^$18/O enrichment may reflect gradually decrease of the bottom water temperature in the northern East China Sea and the Yellow Sea.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.363-369
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• 1999

Reconstruction of the past vegetational changes of Korea in connection with climate changes enables to understand the impacts of past and future global warming on alpine vegetation. Despite the early appearance of the cold-tolerant vegetation since the Mesozoic Era. the occurrence of warmth-tolerant vegetation during the Oligocene and Miocene implies that most of alpine and subalpine vegetations have been confined to the alpine and subalpine belts of northern Korean Peninsula. The presence of cold-episodes during the Pleistocene. however. might have caused a general southward and downslope expansions of cold-tolerant alpine and subalpine vegetation. But the climatic warming trend during the Holocene or post-glacial period eventually has isolated cold-tolerant alpine and subalpine vegetation mainly in the northern Korea. but also on scattered high mountains in the southern Korea. The presence of numerous arctic-alpine and alpine plants on the alpine and subalpine belts is mainly due to their relative degree of sensitivity to high summer temperatures. Global warming would cause important changes in species composition and altitudinal distributional pattern. The altitudinal migration of temperate vegetation upward caused by climatic warming would eventually devastate alpine plants.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.66-76
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• 2003

Wetland is the ecotone between aquatic ecosystem and land ecosystem, and is much valuable in terms of ecology and economic. The stream wetland among inland fresh wetlands occupies the largest area but has been recognized as only a channel not a habitat. The purposes of this paper are to consider the characteristics of natural wetlands formed in the tributary flowing into the downstream reach of Nakdong River and to find its optimal management policy. Natural wetlands in the middle-size streams (2nd${\sim}$3rd order) are large marshlands, and were formed at the places from the mainstream away, because natural wetlands were formed in the reach of longitudinal profiles during the last glacial and the post-glacial period meet in disharmony. In order to conserve these natural wetlands effectively, we should compile the inventories of wetlands and make precise distribution maps. And we should do 'reverse-reclamation' which means the alteration of some farmlands reclaimed from natural wetland into natural wetland ecosystem, and develop the place or the space for wildlife education and ecotourism.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.11 no.11
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• pp.1141-1147
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• 2002

Based on the tide gauge data from the Permanent Service for Meau Sea Level (PSMSL) collected at 23 locations in the Korean coast, the long-term sea-level trend was computed using a simple linear regression fit over the recorded length of the monthly mean sea-level data. The computed sea-level trend was also corrected for the vertical land movement due to post glacial rebound(PGR) using the ICE-4G(VM2) model output. It was found that the PGR-corrected sea-level trend near Korea was 2.310 $\pm$ 2.220 mm/yr, which is higher than the global average at 1.0∼2.0mm/yr, as assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC). The regional distribution of the long-term sea-level trend near Korea revealed that the South Sea had the largest sea-level rise followed by the West Sea and East Sea, respectively, supporting the results of the previous study by Seo et al. However, due to the relatively short record period and large spatial variability, the sea-level trend from the tide gauge data for the Korean coast could be biased with a steric sea-level rise by the global warming during the 20th century.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.208-221
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• 2014

The Holocene Hypsithermal Interval(or climatic optimum) was the warmest post-glacial period: temperatures rose to as much as $1-4^{\circ}C$ above present temperatures. We hypothesize that southern plants expanded northward and upward during the Hypsithermal Interval. The Hypsithermal relict populations are defined as populations which distribute mainly in Is. Cheju and Southern subregions and have populations of short-distance dispersion separated by more than 100 km from the nearest distribution. The Hypsithermal relict species were identified and their distributions were mapped based on botanical floras and checklist, herbaria specimens, ecological studies, and field surveys of selected species. Evaluation of the hypothesis was based on reviews of published pollen stratigraphic and paleoecological studies. The results showed that the Holocene Hypsithermal relicts such as Corylopsis coreana Uyeki, Carpinus turczaninowii Hance, Stewartia koreana Nakai ex Rehder were expanded northward during the Holocene Hypsithermal Interval.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.216-226
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• 1995

Stable isotopic and elemental compositions were analyzed for well- preserved calcareous skeletons (gastropods, pectenids, brachiopods, a scaphopod, and other bivalves) of the Pleistocene Seoguipo Formation from Cheju Island, Korea. Mineralogically and texturally, aragonitic and calcitic fossils still retain their original mineralogy and microstructure. High $\delta$$\^$18/O and $\delta$$\^$13/C contents indicate that the shells have not been altered by the post-burial diagenesis. Also, this is supported by high Na and Sr contents as well as low Mn and Fe compositions of the shells. Oxygen isotopic compositions of the well preserved fossils show that the organisms had lived under the lower paleotemperature or within the isotopically enriched paleo-seawater during the deposition of the Seoguipo Formation. This result strongly implies that the Seoguipo Formation was deposited during a glacial period. The paleotemperature variation throughout the sequence during the deposition of the Sewguipo Formation was negligible.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 1971

The geotectonics and geomorphic structure of Korea resulted from the Song-rim Disturbance and the Daebo orogenic movements. Afterward this mountainous peninsula underwent several geological changes on a small scale, and it was also claimed that the steady rising of the elevated peneplain of the eastern coast and the submerging of the southwestern coastal area are largely due to the tilted block movement. These views have been generally accepted good in several ways, but they are limited in range or lacking in theoretical integration. The present writer investigated the geology of the Mt. Chi-ri-san and the Honam coal mining area for a geological map in 1965, respectively. The results of these studies convinced the present writer that the conventional views, which were based upon a theory of lateral pressure should be reconsidered in many respects, and more recent studies made it clear that the morphological development in the southwestern area can be better explained by the orogenic movement and rock control. The measurement of submerging speed of the western coastal area (Pak. Y. A., 1969) and a new account on the geology and tectonics of the Mid-central region of South Korea (Kim O.J., 1970) act as an encouragement to a new explanation. The present writer's researches on the extreme southwestern portion of the peninsula show that the steady submerging of this area cannot be attributed to a simple downthrown block phenomenon caused by block movement. It is no more than the result of the differential movement of uplifting in the eastern and western coastal areas and the rising of sea-level in the post-glacial period. This phenomenon could be easily explained by the comparison of the rate of rise in sea-level and amount of heat flow between Korea and other areas in the world. The existance of the erosional planes in the Sobaik-San ranges also provide an evidence of an upheaval in the western coast area. Though the Sobaik-San ranges largely follow the direction of the Sinian system. They consist of the numerous branches, whose trends run more or less differently from their main trend because of the disharmonic folding, are converged into Mt. Sobaik-San and Chupungryung. The undulation of the land is not wholely caused by orogenic movements, where as the present writer confirmed that the diversity of morphological development is the direct reflection of geological conditions such as rocks and processes which constitute the basic elements of geomorphic structure. An east-west directed mountain range which could be named as Hansan mountain range, was claimed to be oriented by the joint control. The geological conditions such as a special erosion and weathering of agglomerate and breccia tuff usually produce pot-hole like submarine features which cause the whirling phenomenon at the southwestern coast channel.