• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.21-32
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• 1992

The paleoclimate of the Chungbu Mountainous Region, Mts. Seorak and Sobaek, was estimated by means of dendroclimatic methodology, The annual growth value of tree-rings is deeply interrelated with the mean temperature of April-May and July-August. The mean temperature of April-May of the reconstruction period(1635-1911), observation period(1912-1989), and the whole period(1635-1989) is 13.58$^{\circ}C$, 13.69$^{\circ}C$, and 13.6$0^{\circ}C$, respectively. That of July-August is $24.50^{\circ}C$, $24.62^{\circ}C$, and $24.58^{\circ}C$ respectively. The reconstructed mean temperature data for April-May and for July-August reveal 13.2 and 12.9 year cycles.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.477-494
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• 2008

Stable isotope analyses on lake or wetland sediments are useful to reconstruct paleoclimate. Organic and inorganic carbonates obtained from lake sediment are isotopically analyzed to get oxygen and carbon isotopic ratios. Oxygen isotope ratios can be used to quantitatively and qualitatively reconstruct paleo-temperature or humidity while carbon isotope ratios be used to reveal environmental changes around the lake or human impacts on the area. Peat mosses in peat bogs are nice samples for the carbon isotope analysis, which derives paleo-temperature and paleo-atmospheric $CO_2$ changes. In coastal area, the reconstruction of past sea-level is possible because terrestrial originated organic matter is carbon isotopically different from marine originated organic matter. Also, scientists can do research on Asian Monsoon based on the fact that $\delta^{13}C$ of C3 plants and C4 plants are consistently different each other and that they are distributed differently with respect to salinity. In Korea, paleoenvironmental studies using stable isotopes are not popular yet because of low academic interests on the methodology and difficulties of obtaining proper sediment samples. Interesting results can be produced to answer paleoenvironmental questions of Korea if scientists isotopically analyze sediment cores from a paleo-lake such as Hanon in Jeju island, peat bogs such as Mujechi-Neup and Yong-Neup, and coastal wetlands.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.41-68
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• 1993

In the loess-paleosol sequences from central Great Plains, U.S.A., variation in magnetic susceptibility, FD, NRM have been proven to be excellent proxy for paleoclimate, and the standard interpretation is that climatic processes have enhanced the rock magnetic intensities. By using mineral magnetic properties, we show the magnetic signal is due to pedogenesis during the warm and possibly wet interglacials and interstadials. Other proxy records, such as stable carbon isotope and phytolith, are in good agreements with the magnetic records.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.727-736
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• 2022

Ice wedges are subsurface ice mass structures that formed mainly by freezing precipitation with airborne dust and surrounding soil particles flowed through the active layer into the cracks growing by repeating thermal contractions in the deeper permafrost layer over time. These ice masses characteristically contain high concentrations of solutes and solids. Because of their unique properties and distribution, the possibility of harnessing ice wedges as an alternative archive for reconstructing paleoclimate and paleoenvironment has been recently suggested despite limited studies. It is imperative to preserve the physicochemical properties of the ice wedge (e.g., solute concentration, mineral particles) without any potential alteration to use it as a proxy for reconstructing the paleo-information. Thawing the ice wedge samples is prerequisite for the assessment of their physicochemical properties, during which the paleo-information could be unintentionally altered by any methodological artifact. This study examined the effect of thawing conditions and procedures on the physicochemical properties of solutes and solid particles in ice wedge samples collected from Cyuie, East Siberia. Four different thawing conditions with varying temperatures (4 and 23℃) and oxygen exposures (oxic and anoxic) for the ice wedge sample treatment were examined. Ice wedge samples thawed at 4℃ under anoxic conditions, wherein biological activity and oxidation were kept to a minimum, were set as the standard thawing conditions to which the effects of temperature and oxygen were compared. The results indicate that temperature and oxygen exposure have negligible effects on the physicochemical characteristics of the solid particles. However, the chemical features of the solution (e.g., pH, electric conductivity, alkalinity, and concentration of major cations and trace elements) at 4℃ under oxic conditions were considerably altered, compared to those measured under the standard thawing conditions. This study shows that the thawing condition of ice wedge samples can affect their chemical features and thereby the geochemical information therein for the reconstruction of the paleoclimate and/or paleoenvironment.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.377-394
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• 1998

The magnetic record of loess deposits may be one of the most detailed and useful records of Quatermary climate change on the continents. Stratigraphic variations of magnetic parameters define alternating zones of high and low concentrations of magnetic minerals. All the concentration-sensitive magnetic parameters show an increase within the interstadial Gilman Canyon Formation and interglacial Brady soil and a systematic decrease within the Wisconsinan Peoria loess. The influence of climate change on magnetic records is confirmed by a high correlation between the magnetic parameters and biological proxies. Rock magnetic data appear to be better correlated with temperature-sensitive biological proxies than does a precipitation-sensitive index such as the aridity index derived from opal phytoliths. Simultaneous, higher resolution sampling of magnetic and biological proxies proved to be a better sampling tactic, and enhanced the feasibility of rock magnetic parameters as independent climate proxies.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.10-23
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• 1994

패류화석은 지구를 이루는 퇴적암 중 석회암을 이루고 있는 주요 구성원 중의 하나이다. 지난 20년간 지질학자 및 해양학자들은 주로 심해에 쌓여 있는 퇴적물 중의 미화석(microfossil)을 이용하여 과거의 기후 및 해양의조건을 규명하기 위하여 많은 노력을 하여왔다. 그 결과로서 지질학적 시대 중 중생대 이후로부터 신생대에 이르기까지 지구 전반에 영향을 주었던 고기후에 대한 많은 정보가 얻어졌다. 또한 일부 학자들에 의하여 천해에 서식하였던 여러 화석들의 생태와 지화학적 분석(geochemical analysis)을 통하여 지엽적인 고기후(paleoclimate) 및 고해양학적(paleoceanographic)이해도 증진되어 온 것이 사실이다. 천해에 서식하고 있는 석회질 골격(calcareous skeleton)을 만드는 생물종들은 주로 생화확적인 작용을 통하여 아라고나이트와 방해석이라는 탄산염 광물을 침전시킨다. 특히 이 중에서 아라고나이트라는 광물은 불안정하여 속성작용 (퇴적물이 쌓인 후 거치는 물리, 화학적 작용)동안에 방해석으로 변하게 된다. 따라서 특이한 속성환경의 조건에 의해 아라고나이트로 보존되어 있는 패류를 제외하고는 주로 방해석으로 이루어진 화석의 분석을 통하여 고환경 복원을 위한 여러 정보를 얻을 수 있다. 이를 근거로 하여 분석 대상이 주로 된 것은 완족류나 방해석으로 이루어진 이매패류(e.g., 굴등)이었다.우리나라에서는 최근에 이르러서야 패류 화석의 지화학적 분석을 통하여 고해양학적 연구가 수행되기 시작하였다. 신생대 제 3기 마이오세에 해당하는 포항 부근에서 발견되는 연체동물 화석들은 변질이 안된 상태로서 우리에게 매우 귀중한 고해양학적 정보를 제공한다. 과거에 생물이 자랐던 성장 온도는 산소 동위원소의 비를 측정하여 구할 수 있는데 그결과에 의하면 해수의 온도가 현재보다 약간 높았음을 지시한다. 제주도 내의 서귀포 부근에서는 현재 천연기념물로 지정되어 있는 서귀포층내에서 많은 화석들이 산출되고 있다. 이 시대는 빙하기와 간빙기가 교호하던 시대로서, 분석 결과에 의하면 서귀포층이 쌓일 당시에 우리 나라는 빙하기의 영향을 받았던 것으로 생각된다.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.89-97
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• 2019

Long chain plant waxes (n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids, and n-alcohols) and their carbon isotopic compositions (${\delta}^{13}C$) in geologic archives are valuable tools for paleovegetation reconstruction. However, the sensitivity of different plant wax constituents to vegetation shift is not well understood. This study explores controls on the variation in ${\delta}^{13}C$ values of long-chain n-alkanes ($C_{27}$ to $C_{33}$) and n-alkanoic acids ($C_{26}-C_{30}$) in the Gulf of Mexico core sediments (ODP 625B) near the Mississippi River delta. n-Alkanoic acids' ${\delta}^{13}C$ values were higher than those of n-alkanes by 1-2‰ on average and such a pattern is the opposite from their isotope fractionation observed in living plants: 1-2‰ smaller in n-alkanes than n-alkanoic acids. We attribute this offset to contributions from aquatic plants or microbes that produce high concentrations of $^{13}C-enriched$ long-chain n-alkanoic acids. The sensitivity of n-alkanes and n-alkanoic acids to vegetation and climate varied among chain lengths. The $n-C_{33}$ alkanes were most sensitive to $C_4$ grassland expansion among n-alkane homologues, while no specific trend was observed in n-alkanoic acids. This is due to the similarity in n-alkanoic acid concentrations between $C_3$ and $C_4$ plants by homologues and low terrestrial plant-derived n-alkanoic acid contributions to the sediments. The results of this study suggest that long chain n-alkanoic acids' ${\delta}^{13}C$ values in sediments may be influenced by contributions from different sources such as aquatic plants or microbial inputs and therefore interpretations regarding this matter should be cautiously formulated. We suggest that there is a need for further studies on characterizing long-chain n-alkanoic acids ($C_{26}-C_{34}$) in aquatic plants and microbes from various climates and environments in order to investigate their production and integration into sedimentary archives.