• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.6 s.175
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• pp.643-656
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• 2005

The East Sea, a marginal sea or back-arc basin, consists of Japan Basin, Yamato Basin, and Ulleung Basin and is surrounded by the Pacific Plate and Philippine Sea Plate. Ulleung Basin locates in the southwestern part of the East Sea and shows the depth of 1,500 m in average and 2,500 m in maximum, connecting to the Japan Basin along 2,000 m contour. The slope of the seafloor is greater in the western side of the basin than in the southern and the eastern side. The crustal thickness of the Ulleung Basin from the OBS tends to get thicker toward the north and the west side and the sediment thickness of the Ulleung Basin is getting thicker toward the southeast side and reaches up to 12 km. The crustal type of the Ulleung Basin was variously suggested as like as a rifted continental crust, an extended continental crust, and an incipient oceanic trust. The origin of the crustal formation and the Ulleung Basin, however, is still controversial. Based on the bathymetry and gravtiy anomaly data for this study, the axis of the Ulleung Basin shows that the basin develops along the axis trending NW-SE direction and reveals a general symmetry of the bathymetry. And also the free-air gravity anomalies show a very similar pattern to the bathymetry of the basin. The sediment thickness is relatively thicker in the southeastern side of the basin than in the northwestern side. Although the crustal age of the Ulleung Basin is supposed to be younger than them of the Japan Basin and the Yamato Basin, the free-air gravity anomalies of the Ulleung Basin ranging -40 to 50 mGals are lower than the other basins, which suggests that the densities of crust and sediment of the Ulleng Basin are lower than the Japan Basin and the Yamato Basin.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.17-24
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• 2011

We investigated the variation of $CaCO_3$ contents in cores PC1 and PC2 recovered from the continental slope area of the Ulleung Basin in the East Sea. $CaCO_3$ contents of cores PC1 and PC2 varied between 0.6 and 17.2% and between 0.3 and 43.0%, respectively. $CaCO_3$ contents in the upper part of core PC1 corresponding to MIS 1 are less than 5%, whereas those in the lower part of MIS 2 are more than 10%. Such variation of $CaCO_3$ contents in core PC1 confirms the previous results of $CaCO_3$ studies in the East Sea. In core PC2, $CaCO_3$ contents of the upper part are similar to those of core PC1. However, $CaCO_3$ contents in the lower part of core PC2 are more than 40%. According to XRD operation and SEM examination, the high $CaCO_3$ contents in the lower part of core PC2 are more attributable to the authigenic carbonate minerals rather than the biogenic carbonate composition. Such abundant authigenic carbonate minerals are closely related to the dissociation of methan hydrates which were observed in the Ulleung Basin.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.111-119
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• 2014

This study examined the spatial and temporal variation of dissolved inorganic radiocarbon in the East Sea. Five vertical profiles of radiocarbon values were obtained from samples collected in 1999 in three basins (Japan Basin, Ulleung Basin, Yamato Basin) of the East Sea. Radiocarbon values decreased from 63- 85‰ at the surface to about -50‰ with increasing depth (up to 2,000 m) and were nearly constant in the layer deeper than 2,000 m in all basins. Radiocarbon values did not show significant basin-to-basin differences in the surface and the bottom layers. In the intermediate layer (200-2,000 m), however, they decreased in the order of Japan Basin > Ulleung Basin > Yamato Basin, which is consistent with the suggested circulation pattern in the intermediate layer of the East Sea. Radiocarbon was found to have decreased at ~2%/year in the surface water of the East Sea. In contrast, in the interior of the East Sea, radiocarbon values have increased with time in all three basins. In the Central Water, the annual increase rate was about 3.3‰, which is faster than the rates in the Deep and Bottom Waters. The radiocarbon in the Deep and Bottom Waters had increased until mid-1990s, after which time it has been almost constant.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.27-38
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• 1999

The errors between track segments or at the cross-over points of shipborne gravity were successfully reduced by applying a cross-over error adjustment technique using satellite gravity. The integration of shipborne and satellite altimeter-implied free-air gravity anomalies after the cross-over error adjustment resulted in a high resolution gravity map which contains both short and long wavelength components. The successful adjustment of the cross-over errors in the shipborne gravity using the satellite gravity suggests that the shipborne gravity can be combined with the satellite anomalies characterized by a stable and long wavelength component. The resulting free-air anomaly map is evenly harmonized with both short and long wavelength anomalies. Thus the corrected anomaly map can be better used for the geological interpretation. Free-air anomalies with more than 140 mGal in total variations generally correspond to the seafloor topographic changes in their regional patterns. A series of gravity highs are aligned from the Korea Plateau to the Oki Island, which are interpreted to be caused by seamounts or volcanic topographies. The gravity minima along the western and southern shelf edge are associated not only with the local basement morphology and thick sediment fill at the continental margin, but also possibly with the crustal edge effect known for passive continental margins. Series of NE-trending linear anomalies are possibly caused by a swarm of volcanic intrusions followed the initial opening of the Ulleung Basin. The linear high anomalies in the Ulleung Plateau are terminated by the straightly NNW-trending anomalies with a sharp gradient in its western boundary which indicates a fault-line scarp. The opposite side adjoined with the fault-line scarp shows no correlation with the fault-line scarp in geometry indicating that the block might be horizontally slided from the north. A gravity high in contrast to the deepening in seafloor toward the northeastern central Ulleung Basin is probably responsible for the thin crust and shallow seated mantle. The gravity minima along the western and southern shelf edge are associated not only with the local basement morphology and thick sediment fill at the continental margin, but also possibly with the crustal edge effect known for passive continental margins. Series of NE-trending linear anomalies are possibly caused by a swarm of volcanic intrusions followed the initial opening of the Ulleung Basin. The linear high anomalies in the Ulleung Plateau are terminated by the straightly NNW-trending anomalies with a sharp gradient in its western boundary which indicates a fault-line scarp. The opposite side adjoined with the fault-line scarp shows no correlation with the fault-line scarp in geometry indicating that the block might be horizontally slided from the north. A gravity high in contrast to the deepening in seafloor toward the northeastern central Ulleung Basin is probably suggestive of a thin crust and shallow seated mantle.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.351-373
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• 2019

The cold eddies around the Ulleung Basin in the East Sea were identified from satellite altimeter sea level data using the Winding-Angle method from 1993 to 2015. Among the cold eddies, the Dokdo Cold Eddies (DCEs), which were formed at the first meandering trough of the East Korea Warm Current (EKWC) and were pinched off to the southwest from the eastward flow, were classified and their migration patterns were analyzed. The vertical structures of water temperature, salinity, and flow velocity near the DCE center were also examined using numerical simulation and observation data provided by the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model and the National Institute of Fisheries Science, respectively. A total of 112 DCEs were generated for 23 years. Of these, 39 DCEs migrated westward and arrived off the east coast of Korea. The average travel distance was 250.9 km, the average lifespan was 93 days, and the average travel speed was 3.5 cm/s. The other 73 DCEs had moved to the east or had hovered around the generated location until they disappeared. At 50-100 m depth under the DCE, water temperature and salinity (T < $5^{\circ}C$, S < 34.1) were lower than those of ambient water and isotherms made a dome shape. Current faster than 10 cm/s circulates counterclockwise from the surface to 300 m depth at 38 km away from the center of DCE. After the EKWC separates from the coast, it flows eastward and starts to meander near Ulleungdo. The first trough of the meander in the east of Ulleungdo is pushed deep into the southwest and forms a cold eddy (DCE), which is shed from the meander in the south of Ulleungdo. While a DCE moves westward, it circumvents the Ulleung Warm Eddy (UWE) clockwise and follows U shape path toward the east coast of Korea. When the DCE arrives near the coast, the EKWC separates from the coast at the south of DCE and circumvents the DCE. As the DCE near the coast weakens and extinguishes about 30 days later after the arrival, the EKWC flows northward along the coast recovering its original path. The DCE steadily transports heat and salt from the north to the south, which helps to form a cold water region in the southwest of the Ulleung Basin and brings positive vorticity to change the separation latitude and path of the EKWC. Some of the DCEs moving to the west were merged into a coastal cold eddy to form a wide cold water region in the west of Ulleung Basin and to create a elongated anticlockwise circulation, which separated the UWE in the north from the EKWC in the south.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.133-143
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• 2015

Gas hydrate is a solid substance composed of natural gas constrained in water molecules under low temperature and high pressure conditions. The existence of hydrates has been reported to be world-widely distributed, mainly at permafrost and deep ocean floor. Test productions of small amount of natural gas from the on-shore permafrost have been accomplished in U.S.A and Canada, but, world-first and the only production case from off-shore hydrate bearing sediments was in Nankai trough, Japan. In this study, we introduce key technologies in gas production from hydrates by analyzing the Japanese off-shore gas production project in Nankai trough in terms of depressurization- induced dissociation so as to utilize planned domestic gas production test in Ulleung basin.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.298-317
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• 2019

The physical characteristics of the Ulleung Warm Eddy (UWE) and its relationship with the East Korea Warm Current (EKWC) were analyzed using the CMEMS (Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service) satellite altimetry data and the CTD data of the National Institute of Fisheries Science (NIFS) near the Ulleung Basin from 1993 to 2017. The distribution of the UWEs coupled with EKWC accounts for 81% of the total number of the UWEs. Only 7% of the total eddies are completely separated from the EKWC. The UWE has the characteristics of high temperature and high salinity water inside of it when it is formed from the EKWC. However, when the UWE is wintering, its internal structure changes greatly. In the winter, surface homogeneous layer of $10^{\circ}C$ and 34.2 psu inside of the UWE is produced by vertical convection from sea-surface cooling, and deepened to a maximum depth of approximately 250 m in early spring. In summer, the UWE changes into a structure with a stratified structure in the upper layer within a depth of 100 m and a homogeneous layer made in winter in the lower layer. 62 UWEs were produced for 25 years from 1993 to 2017. on average, 2.5 UWEs were formed annually, and the average life span was 259 days (approximately 8.6 months). The average size of the UWEs is 98 km in the east-west direction and 109 km in the north-south direction. The average size of UWE using satellite altimetric data is estimated to be 1~25 km smaller than that using water temperature cross-sectional data.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.318-331
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• 2019

In this study, comparative analysis is performed on the long-term persisted warm eddies that were generated in 2003 (WE03) and in 2014 (WE14) over the East Sea using the HYCOM reanalysis data. The overshooting of the East Korea Warm Current (EKWC) was appeared during the formation period of those warm eddies. The warm eddies were produced in the shallow Korea Plateau region through the interaction of the EKWC and the sub-polar front. In the interior of the both warm eddies, a homogeneous water mass of about $13^{\circ}C$ and 34.1 psu were generated over the upper 150 m depth by the winter mixing. In 2004, the next year of the generation of the WE03, the amount of the inflow through the western channel of the Korea Strait was larger, while the inflow was lesser than its climatology during 2015 corresponding to the development period of the WE14. The above results suggest that the heat and salt are supplied in the warm eddies through the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC), however the amount of the inflow through the Korea Strait has negligible impact on the long-term persistency of the warm eddies. Both of the warm eddies were maintained more than 18 months near Ulleung island, while they have no common feature on the pathways. In the vicinity of the Ulleung basin, large and small eddies are continuously created due to the meandering of the EKWC. The long-term persisted warm eddies in the Ulleung Island seem to be the results of the interaction between the pre-existed eddies located south of the sub-polar front and fresh eddies induced by the meanderings of the EKWC. The conclusion is also in line with the fact that the long-term persisted warm eddies were not always created when the overshooting of the EKWC was appeared.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.620-642
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• 2006

The Moho structure and its deformation in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula were estimated using gravity and topography data. Gravity signals from the upper and lower crust were separated using a filter that was computed from isostacy and elastic thickness. The result of this study shows three characteristic features of the Moho deformation. First, the Moho folding structure is parallel to SKTL (the South Korean Tectonic Line), which indicates positive association with the collision of the Yeongnam and Gyeonggi Massifs and repeated compression afterwards. In contrast, noticeable deformation of the Moho was not observed along the Imjingang Belt, which is interpreted as another continental collisional belt in the Korean Peninsula. Second, the Moho beneath the Gyeongsang Basin has remarkably risen; this seems to be the result from both the collisional compression and buoyancy caused by magmatic underplating. Third, the Moho deformation is shallowest in the east of the Taebaek Mountains and deepens toward the west, consistent with the topographic characteristic of the Korean Peninsula of "high east and low west". It can be interpreted as the results of the opening of the East Sea and Ulleung Basin. A tectonic explanation for this could be the ascent of the mantle induced by continental rifting and horizontal extension at the early stage of the opening of the East Sea. The Moho deformation model computed in this study correlates well with the earthquake distribution and crustal movement measured by GPS. We suggest that the compression along the SKTL is still exerted, consequently, the Moho deformation is active, although it may be weak.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.666-671
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• 2012

Gas hydrates are inclusion compounds formed when small-sized guest molecules are incorporated into the well defined cages made up of hydrogen bonded water molecules. Since large masses of natural gas hydrates exist in permafrost regions or beneath deep oceans, these naturally occurring gas hydrates in the earth containing mostly $CH_4$ are regarded as future energy resources. The heat of dissociation is one of the most important thermal properties in exploiting natural gas hydrates. The accurate and direct method to measure the dissociation enthalpies of gas hydrates is to use a calorimeter. In this study, the high pressure micro DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimeter) was used to measure the dissociation enthalpies of methane, ethane, and propane hydrates. The accuracy and repeatability of the data obtained from the DSC was confirmed by measuring the dissociation enthalpy of ice. The dissociation enthalpies of methane, ethane, and propane hydrates were found to be 54.2, 73.8, and 127.7 kJ/mol-gas, respectively. For each gas hydrate, at given pressures the dissociation temperatures which were obtained in the process of enthalpy measurement were compared with three-phase (hydrate (H) - liquid water (Lw) - vapor (V)) equilibrium data in the literature and found to be in good agreement with literature values.