• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.105-113
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• 2009

The interpretation of observed waveform characteristics identified in refraction and wide-angle reflection data increases confidence in the crustal structure model obtained. When calculating traveltimes and raypaths, wavefront methods on a regular grid based on graph theory are robust even with complicated structures, but basically compute only first arrivals. In this paper, we develop new algorithms to compute traveltimes and raypaths not only for first arrivals, but also for fast and later reflection arrivals, later refraction arrivals, and converted waves between P and S, using the modified wavefront method based on slowness network nodes mapped on a multi-layer model. Using the new algorithm, we can interpret reflected arrivals, Pg-later arrivals, strong arrivals appearing behind Pn, triplicated Moho reflected arrivals (PmP) to obtain the shape of the Moho, and phases involving conversion between P and S. Using two models of an ocean-continent transition zone and an oceanic ridge or seamount, we show the usefulness of this algorithm, which is confirmed by synthetic seismograms using the 2D Finite Difference Method (2D-FDM). Characteristics of arrivals and raypaths of the two models differ from each other in that using only first-arrival traveltime data for crustal structure analysis involves risk of erroneous interpretation in the ocean-continent transition zone, or the region around a ridge or seamount.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.241-249
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• 2006

Due to the long tectonic history and the very complex geologic formations in Korea, the anisotropic characteristics of subsurface material may often change very greatly and locally. The algorithms commonly used, however, may not give sufficiently precise computational results of traveltime data particularly for the complex and strong anisotropic model, since they are based on the two-dimensional (2D) earth and/or weak anisotropy assumptions. This study is intended to develope a three-dimensional (3D) modeling algorithm to precisely calculate the first arrival time in the complex anisotropic media. Considering the complex geology of Korea, we assume 3D TTI (tilted transversely isotropy) medium having the arbitrary symmetry axis. The algorithm includes the 2D non-linear interpolation scheme to calculate the traveltimes inside the grid and the 3D traveltime mapping to fill the 3D model with first arrival times. The weak anisotropy assumption, moreover, can be overcome through devising a numerical approach of the steepest descent method in the calculation of minimum traveltime, instead of using approximate solution. The performance of the algorithm developed in this study is demonstrated by the comparison of the analytic and numerical solutions for the homogeneous anisotropic earth as well as through the numerical experiment for the two layer model whose anisotropic properties are greatly different each other. We expect that the developed modeling algorithm can be used in the development of processing and inversion schemes of seismic data acquired in strongly anisotropic environment, such as migration, velocity analysis, cross-well tomography and so on.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.163-172
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• 2007

A seafloor curvature measurement method was developed to extract redundant topographic features from the multi-beam bathymetry data, and then applied to the data of abyssal plain area in the Pacific. Any seafloor might be modeled to a quadratic surface determined in a linear least squares sense, and its curvature could be derived from the eigen values related with quadratic model parameters. The curvature's magnitude as well as polarity showed distinct relationship with geometric characteristics of the seafloor like as ridge and valley. From the investigation of curvature's variation with the number of data in the quadratic surface, the optimal size of data aperture could be applied to real bathymetry data. The application to real data also required the determination of the accompanying threshold values to cope with corresponding topographic features. The calculation method of previous studies were reported to be sensitive to the background noise. The improved curvature measurement method, incorporating the sum of eigen values has reduced unwanted artifacts and enhanced ability to extract lineament features along strike direction. The result of application shows that the curvature measurement method is effective tool for the estimation of a possible mining area in the seamount free abyssal hill area.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.136-144
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• 2016

Since seismic inversion is based on the wave equation, it is important to calculate the solution of wave equation exactly. In particular, full waveform inversion would produce reliable results only when the forward modeling is accurately performed because it uses full waveform. When we use finite-difference or finite-element method to solve the wave equation, the convergence of numerical scheme should be guaranteed. Although the general proof of convergence is provided theoretically, the consistency and stability of numerical schemes should be verified for practical applications. The implementation of source function is the most crucial factor for the consistency of modeling schemes. While we have to use the sinc function normalized by grid spacing to correctly describe the Dirac delta function in the finite-difference method, we can simply use the value of basis function, regardless of grid spacing, to implement the Dirac delta function in the finite-element method. If we use frequency-domain wave equation, we need to use a conservative criterion to determine both sampling interval and maximum frequency for the source wavelet generation. In addition, the source wavelet should be attenuated before applying it for modeling in order to make it obey damped wave equation in case of using complex angular frequency. With these conditions satisfied, we can develop reliable inversion algorithms.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.229-240
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• 2007

In this study, seismic anisotropic tomography algorithm was developed for imaging the seismic velocity anisotropy of the subsurface. This algorithm includes several inversion schemes in order to make the inversion process stable and robust. First of all, the set of the inversion parameters is limited to one slowness, two ratios of slowness and one direction of the anisotropy symmetric axis. The ranges of the inversion parameters are localized by the pseudobeta transform to obtain the reasonable inversion results and the inversion constraints are controlled efficiently by ACB(Active Constraint Balancing) method. Especially, the inversion using the Fresnel volume is applied to the anisotropic tomography and it can make the anisotropic tomography more stable than ray tomography as it widens the propagation angle coverage. The algorithm of anisotropic tomography is verified through the numerical experiments. And, it is applied to the real field data measured at limestone region and the results are discussed with the drill log and geological survey data. The anisotropic tomography algorithm will be able to provide the useful tool to evaluate and understand the geological structure of the subsurface more reasonably with the anisotropic characteristics.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.198-206
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• 2018

In this preliminary study, dehydration of the subducting slab and behavior of the expelled water are numerically modeled using 2-dimensional model scheme. The hydrated minerals in the oceanic crust of the subducting slab experience dehydration by increases in temperature and pressure and expel their water into the overlying mantle wedge. Behavior of the expelled water is governed by both the corner flow in the mantle wedge and porous flow of the expelled water through the pores of the mantle minerals. The effects of convergence rate and age of the subducting slab as well as grain size of the minerals on the dehydration of the subducting slab and behavior of the expelled water are evaluated. The water solubility of the oceanic crust measured from the laboratory experiments is considered for modeling dehydration of the oceanic crust. The model calculations show most of the hydrated minerals in the oceanic crust is dehydrated by a depth of 100 km and the effects of the convergence rate and age of the subducting slab on the dehydration of the subducting slab and behavior of the expelled water are not significant. The larger grain size allows faster porous flow of the expelled water through the oceanic crust, mantle wedge and overlying continental crust and reduces the volume fraction of the expelled water there. The developed technique will be used for future studies on arc volcanism and has a potential implication for the other fields such as seismic tomographic study.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 1998

Seismic tomography has been widely used as high resolution subsurface imaging techniques in engineering applications. Although most of the techniques have been using travel time inversion, waveform method is being driven forward owing to the progress of computational environments. Although full-waveform inversion method has been known as the best method in terms of model resolving power without high-frequency restriction and weak scattering approximation, it has practical disadvantage that it is apt to get stuck in local minimum if the initial guess is far from the actual model and it consumes so much time to calculate. In this study, 2-D full-waveform inversion algorithm in acoustic medium is developed, which uses result of traveltime tomography as initial model. From the application on synthetic data, it is proved that this approach can efficiently reduce the problem of conventional approaches: our algorithm shows much faster convergence rate and improvement of model resolution. Result of application on physical modeling data also shows much improvement. It is expected that this algorithm can be applicable to real data.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.349-356
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• 2015

Although geophysical methods are useful and generally provide valuable information about the subsurface, it is important to recognize their limitations. A common limitation is the lack of sufficient contrast in physical properties between different layers. Thus, multiple methods are commonly used to best constrain the physical properties of different layers and interpret each section individually. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) and shallow seismic reflection (SSR) methods, used for shallow and very shallow subsurface imaging, respond to dielectric and velocity contrasts between layers, respectively. In this study, we merged GPR and SSR data from a test site within the Cheongui granitic mass, where the water table is ~3 m deep all year. We interpreted the data in combination with field observations and existing data from drill cores and well logs. GPR and SSR reflections from the tops of the sand layer, water table, and weathered and soft rocks are successfully mapped in a single section, and they correlate well with electrical resistivity data and SPS (suspension PS) well-logging profiles. In addition, subsurface interfaces in the integrated section correlate well with S-wave velocity structures from multi-channel analysis shear wave (MASW) data, a method that was recently developed to enhance lateral resolution on the basis of CMP (common midpoint) cross-correlation (CMPCC) analysis.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.493-502
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• 2007

Measurements of hydraulic conductivity are point or interval values, and are highly limited in their number. Meanwhile, results of geophysical prospecting can provide the information of spatial variation of geology, and abundant in number. In this study, it was aimed to develop a data integration tool for constructing a hydraulic conductivity map by integrating geophysical data and hydraulic conductivity measurements. The developed code employed a geostatistical optimization method, simulated annealing (SA), and consists of 4 distinct computation modules by which from exploratory data analysis to postprocessing of the simulation were processed. All these modules are equipped with Graphical User Interface (GUI). Validation of the developed code was evaluated in-situ in characterizing hydraulic characteristics of highly permeable fractured zone.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.132-142
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• 2009

The Tamar rift valley runs through the City of Launceston, Tasmania. Damage has occurred to city buildings due to earthquake activity in Bass Strait. The presence of the ancient valley, the Tamar valley, in-filled with soft sediments that vary rapidly in thickness from 0 to 250mover a few hundreds metres, is thought to induce a 2D resonance pattern, amplifying the surface motions over the valley and in Launceston. Spatially averaged coherency (SPAC), frequency-wavenumber (FK) and horizontal to vertical spectrum ratio (HVSR) microtremor survey methods are combined to identify and characterise site effects over the Tamar valley. Passive seismic array measurements acquired at seven selected sites were analysed with SPAC to estimate shear wave velocity (slowness) depth profiles. SPAC was then combined with HVSR to improve the resolution of these profiles in the sediments to an approximate depth of 125 m. Results show that sediments thicknesses vary significantly throughout Launceston. The top layer is composed of as much as 20m of very soft Quaternary alluvial sediments with a velocity from 50 m/s to 125 m/s. Shear-wave velocities in the deeper Tertiary sediment fill of the Tamar valley, with thicknesses from 0 to 250m vary from 400 m/s to 750 m/s. Results obtained using SPAC are presented at two selected sites (GUN and KPK) that agree well with dispersion curves interpreted with FK analysis. FK interpretation is, however, limited to a narrower range of frequencies than SPAC and seems to overestimate the shear wave velocity at lower frequencies. Observed HVSR are also compared with the results obtained by SPAC, assuming a layered earth model, and provide additional constraints on the shear wave slowness profiles at these sites. The combined SPAC and HVSR analysis confirms the hypothesis of a layered geology at the GUN site and indicates the presence of a 2D resonance pattern across the Tamar valley at the KPK site.