• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.15-26
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• 1990

Narrow (10-20 km wide) and steep (0.3-$2.4^{\circ}$) continental shelf off the eastern coast of Korea is covered with terrigenous clastic sediments reflecting the Holocene fluctuation of sea level. Surface sediments on the inner shelf consist of muddy sand and sandy mud with some gravels near the coast. However, sand or muddy sand, shell fragments and well rounded gravels occur near the edge of continental shelf at the depth of about 130-l50m. The coarse sediments near the shelf edge seem to be the relict or palimpsest sediments deposited under the nearshore environment during the low-stand or sea level due to so-called the Wisconsinan glaciation. Distribution of recent sediments near the coast and the inner shelf may reflect the affect of waves and currents precluding the deposition of fine sediment near the coast and on the shallow portion of shelf. Eastern Korean Warm Current also nay have played an important role to the transport and distribution of fine sediments from the south.

• Proceedings of the KSEEG Conference
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.247-248
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• 2007

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.271-281
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• 2002

Interpretation of high-resolution seismic profiles collected from the inner shetf of the Korea Strait reveals that the shelf sequence in this area consists of three sedimentary units (I, II, and III in a descending order) formed after the last glacial maximum. Lower two units (II and III) represent the transgressive systems tract formed during the Holocene transgression, Unit III above the sequence boundary is interpreted to be the transgressive estuarine deposit, whereas Unit ll above the ravinement surface forms a thin transgressive sand which consists of the sediment produced through shoreface erosion and winnowing during the transgression. Unit I above the maximum flooding surface is the highstand systems tract consisting mainly of recent muds derived from the Nakdong River.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.23-28
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• 1995

그레자이트가 한국에서는 최초로 남동 황해 대륙붕의 준표층 니질퇴적물에서 발견되었다. 이 지역의 수심은 70~80m이며, 표층 퇴적물은 수십cm 두께의 사질과 니질퇴적물이 교호하는 것으로 보아 조류의 영향을 받은 홀로세의 해침에 의하여 형성된 것으로 보인다. 그레자이트 입자는 0.1~2mm의 크기에 구상의 형태로 산출되며 니질퇴적물 내에 산점상으로 산포되어 있거나 0.5cm 정도의 엽리를 형성하고 있다. 이 광물은 강한 자성을 가지고 있으며 육안으로는 검은색을 띄나, 반사현미경하에서는 황백색을 띠며 등방성을 보인다. 그레자이트의 화학조성은 Fe=54.36, S=42.37, As=0.14, Si=2.25 wt.%로서 S=4일 때의 화학식은 Fe2.95S4이다. X-선 회절분석에 의한 단위포의 크기는=9.8635$\AA$, V=959.6$\AA$3이며 밀도는 4.094 gm/cc이다. 이 광물은 산출상태, 조직적 특징 및 수반광물의 종류로 보아 생물의 활동에 의한 환원조건의 니질퇴적물 내에서 자생한 것으로 추정된다.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.338-348
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• 1999

Physical properties of mudbelt sediments in the southeastern inner shelf of Korea are studied from 14 cores. Physical properties, compressional wave velocity, and sediment texture for core sediments are analyzed. The major source of sediment in the study area is the Nakdong River. Fine-grained sediments from the river are transported northeastward by coastal circulation and the Tsushima Current, resulting in a gradual northeastward increase in porosity and a decrease in wet bulk density and velocity. The trend matches well with the bathymetry. The mean grain size appears to be the most important variable to determine the physical properties and velocity. The variations of physical properties with burial depth are dependent more strongly on sediment texture than compaction and/or consolidation. Correlations between the physical properties and the sediment texture show slight deviations from those of the continental terrace sediment in the North Pacific and inner shelf sediment in the South Sea of Korea. The velocity is higher than that of the North Pacific and the South Sea sediments between these areas. This is probably due to differences in sedimentary, environment and mineral compositions. The higher sediment velocity in the study area may also be attributed to the escape of gas from pore space which decreases void ratio.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.123-136
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• 1992

As a result of faunal analysis on 50 bottom samples bearing a total of 183 species of the Recent benthonic foraminifers from the West and South Sea of korea, five bioassociations (groups of species) and five biotopes (groups of samples) were discriminated. From the areal distribution of biotopes in combination with bioassociations and the available ecological data of foraminiferal species, five biofacies are recognized: (1) Southern Inner Shelf Biofacies; (2) Southern Coast Biofacies; (3) Northern Middle Shelf Biofacies; (4) Central Middle Shelf Biofacies; and (5) Southern Outer Shelf and Upper Slope Biofacies. The biofacies are defined by a group of sampling stations containing a diagnostic species association and can be related to the major current pasterns and water masses in the West and South Sea of Korea: Southern Inner Shelf Biofacies is related to the Coastal Waters and drainage from China; Southern Coast Biofacies is related to the Coastal Waters and drainage from Korea; Northern Middle Shelf Biofacies is related to the Coastal Waters and Yellow Sea Cold Water, Central Middle Shelf Biofacies is related to the Yellow Sea Warm Current; and Southern Outer Shelf and Upper Slope Biofacies is related to the Tsushima Warm Current.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.239-247
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• 1994

Bedform morphology of the giant ripples have been studied on the continental shelf of the Yellow Sea, East China sea and Korea-Tsushima Strait on the basis of side-scan sonar image, sub-bottom profile, sedimentary facies, geomorphology evidence and hydrology. There are well developed giant ripples ranging from 100 to 500 m in wavelengths and from 2 to 10 m in wave height at nine sites in the study area, which are covered by medium to fine sand. Most of them have been formed under the present hydrologic regime where the tidal currents and local currents or turbulence flows are superimposed. In the study area, giant ripples are produced on two different environments. One is at the geomorphic narrow zone such as the Korea Strait where currents are accelerated by the topographic effects, while the other is the sandy flat plain where tidal currents and local currents are harmonized.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.99-106
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• 1999

The surfacial bottom sediments on the nearshore to infer continental shelf off the Taean Peninsular, west coast of Korea are dominantly medium-grained clastic sands. About 60% and 20% of these clastic sands are partly iron-stained quartz and completely iron-stained quartz, respectively. Characteristically glauconite grains are abundantly found in these clastic sands. The mineral compositions of clastic sandy sediments in the study area are very similar to those of East China continental shelf sediments. Accordingly, such iron-stained quartz grains, glauconite grains and associated textural characteristics seem to indicate that those sandy sediments are relict sediments related to past condition, i.e. Quaternary low stands of sea level.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.349-356
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• 2010

Analysis of high-resolution seismic profiles acquired from the southeastern continental shelf of Korea reveals that the late Quaternary transgressive deposits consist of six seismic units created in response to sea-level rise. These units with different seismic facies and geometry can be grouped into two distinct depositional wedges (paralic and marine) bounded by a ravinement surface. The paralic component underlying the ravinement surface consists of the sediment preserved from shoreface erosion and contains incised-channel fill, ancient beach-shoreface deposit and estuarine deposit. The top of paralic unit is truncated by a ravinement surface and overlain by marine component. The marine component consists of the sediment produced through shoreface erosion during landward transgression and contains mid-shelf sand sheet, mid-shelf sand ridge and inner shelf sand sheet. Such transgressive stratigraphic architecture of six sedimentary units is controlled by a function of lateral changes in the balance among rates of relative sea-level rise, sediment input and marine processes at any given time.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2004

Sedimentary facies and high-resolution echo facies were analyzed to elucidate sedimentation pattern of the late Quaternary glacial-marine deposits in the northern continental margin of the South Shetland Islands. Six sedimentary facies are classified, based on grain texture and sedimentary structures in gravity cores. The high-resolution (3.5 ㎑) echo characters are classified into 6 echo facies on the basis of clarity, continuity, and shape of bottom and subbottom echoes together with seafloor topography. Distribution of the echo and sedimentary facies suggest that there was a significant change in sedimentation pattern between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and subsequent glacier-retreating period. When the grounded glaciers extended to the present shelfbreak during LGM, coarse-grained subglacial tills were widespread in the shelf area, and deep troughs in the shelf were carved beneath the fast-flowing ice steam. As the glacial margin retreated landward after LGM, dense meltwater plumes released from the retreating ice-front were funneled along the glacier-carved troughs, and accumulated channel- or cannyon-fill deposits in the shelf and the upper to mid slope. At that time, slope sediments seem to have been reworked by slope failures and unsteady contour currents, and further transported by fine-grained turbidity currents along the South Shetland Trench. After the glacial retreat, sediments in the shelf and slope areas have been mainly introduced by persistent (hemi) pelagic settling, and fine-grained turbidity currents frequently occur along the axis of the South Shetland Trench.