• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.525-534
• /
• 2014

Environmental problems typically occurring in abandoned mine lands (AML) include: contaminated and acidic surface water and groundwater; stockpiled waste rock and mill tailings; and ground subsidences due to mining operations. This study examines the effectiveness of various geophysical techniques for mapping potential hazard and contaminated zones. Four AML sites with sedimentation contamination problems, acid mine drainage (AMD) channels, ground subsidence, manmade liner leakage, and buried mine tailings, were selected to examine the applicability of various geophysical methods to the identification of the different types of mine hazards. Geophysical results were correlated to borehole data (core samples, well logs, tomographic profiles, etc.) and water sample data (pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and heavy metal contents). Zones of low electrical resistivity (ER) corresponded to areas contaminated by heavy metals, especially contamination by Cu, Pb, and Zn. The main pathways of AMD leachate were successfully mapped using ER methods (low anomaly peaks), self-potential (SP) curves (negative peaks), and ground penetrating radar (GPR) at shallow penetration depths. Mine cavities were well located based on composite interpretations of ER, seismic tomography, and well-log records; mine cavity locations were also observed in drill core data and using borehole image processing systems (BIPS). Damaged zones in buried manmade liners (used to block descending leachate) were precisely detected by ER mapping, and buried rock waste and tailings piles were characterized by low-velocity zones in seismic refraction data and high-resistivity zones in the ER data.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.43 no.3
• /
• pp.259-267
• /
• 2010

Resistivity logging instruments were designed to measure electrical resistivity of formation, which can be directly interpreted to provide water-saturation profile. Short and long normal logging measurements are made under groundwater level. In some investigation sites, groundwater level reaches to a depth of a few meters. It has come to attention that the proximity of groundwater level might distort short and long normal logging readings, when the measurements are made near groundwater level, owing to the proximity of an insulating air. This study investigates the effects of the proximity of groundwater level (and also the proximity of earth surface) on the normal by simulating normal logging measurements near groundwater level. In the simulation, we consider all the details of real logging situation, i.e., the presence of wellbore, the tool mandrel with current and potential electrodes, and currentreturn and reference-potential electrodes. We also model the air to include the earth’'s surface in the simulation rather than the customary choice of imposing a boundary condition. To obtain apparent resistivity, we compute the voltage, i.e., potential difference between monitoring and reference electrodes. For the simulation, we use a twodimensional, goal-oriented and high-order self-adaptive hp finite element refinement strategy (h denotes the element size and p the polynomial order of approximation within each element) to obtain accurate simulation results. Numerical results indicate that distortion on the normal logging is greater when the reference potential electrode is closer to the borehole and distortions on long normal logging are larger than those on short normal logging.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.164-173
• /
• 2004

To delineate geothermal water movement at the Pohang geothermal development site, Self-Potential (SP) survey and monitoring were carried out during pumping tests. Before drilling, background SP data have been gathered to figure out overall potential distribution of the site. The pumping test was performed in two separate periods: 24 hours in December 2003 and 72 hours in March 2004. SP monitoring started several days before the pumping tests with a 128-channel automatic recording system. The background SP survey showed a clear positive anomaly at the northern part of the boreholes, which may be interpreted as an up-flow Bone of the deep geothermal water due to electrokinetic potential generated by hydrothermal circulation. The first and second SP monitoring during the pumping tests performed to figure out the fluid flow in the geothermal reservoir but it was not easy to see clear variations of SP due to pumping and pumping stop. Since the area is covered by some 360 m-thick tertiary sediments with very low electrical resistivity (less than 10 ohm-m), the electrokinetic potential due to deep groundwater flow resulted in being seriously attenuated on the surface. However, when we compared the variation of SP with that of groundwater level and temperature of pumping water, we could identify some areas responsible to the pumping. Dominant SP changes are observed in the south-west part of the boreholes during both the preliminary and long-term pumping periods, where 3-D magnetotelluric survey showed low-resistivity anomaly at the depth of $600m\~1,000m$. Overall analysis suggests that there exist hydraulic connection through the southwestern part to the pumping well.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.289-302
• /
• 2020

To determine the shallow subsurface structure and sliding surface of land creeping in 2016 at Hadong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, geophysical surveys (electric resistivity, and refraction seismic methods, borehole televiewer) and slope stability analysis were conducted. The subsurface structure delineated with borehole lithologies and seismic velocity structures provided the information that the sediment layer on the top of the slope was rather as thick as 20 m and the underlying weathered rock (anorthosite) was thinner than 1 m. Based on the tension cracks observed during the geological mapping, televiewer scanning was performed at the borehole BH-2 and detected the intensive fracture zones at the ground-water level, associated with the slip weak zones mapped in dipole-dipole electrical resistivity section. Downslope sliding and slightly upward pushing at the apex of high resistive bedrock explains the curved slip plane of the land creeping. Such a convex structure might play a role of natural toe abutment for preventing the downward development of slip weak zones. In slope stability analysis, the safety factors of the slip weak zone are calculated with varying the groundwater levels for dry and rainy seasons and the downslope is founded to be unstable with safety factor of 0.89 due to fully saturated material in rainy season.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.175-198
• /
• 2002

The techniques using geophysical methods were adopted to obtain quantitative criteria for assessment of grouting effectiveness. Various surface and borehole geophysical surveys including seismic, GPR(ground penetrating radar), resistivity and electromagnetic methods were conducted in fractured rock pilot site before and after grouting execution. However, it is not enough that geophysical data provide criteria for field engineers to confirm the grouting effectiveness in that site even though there is somewhat difference before and after grouting. This study will be continued for the detailed criteria and assessment of grouting effectiveness in other sites.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
• /
• 2023.05a
• /
• pp.401-401
• /
• 2023

터널이나 폐기물저장소와 같은 지하 구조물 또는 지표에서부터 상당한 깊이로 설계되거나 건설되는 구조물을 계획하거나 건축할 때 구조물의 안전성에 영향을 주는 수많은 요인 중에 간과할 수 없는 것이 바로 지하수이다. 뿐만 아니라 지상 혹은 지하에서 오염이 발생하여 오염물질이 지중환경으로 유입되는 경우, 지하수 거동은 오염물의 이송·확산에 지대한 요인으로 작용한다. 최근에는 지구온난화와 같은 유례없는 기후변화를 경험하고 있고, 따라서 수자원으로써 지하수의 역할이 더욱 중요해지고 있다. 지하수의 저류와 거동은 지하매질의 특성에 지배되고 있지만, 지표 아래 자리잡고 있는 매질의 특성을 정확히 파악하기란 매우 힘들고, 따라서 지하수 거동을 해석함에 항상 불확실성이 존재한다. 전통적으로 지하매질의 특성을 이해하기 위해 다양한 지구물리탐사를 수행하여 왔고, 더욱 직접적인 관찰을 위해 시추를 수행하여, 시료를 수집·관찰하고, 시추공에서의 다양한 현장수리실험을 통해 수리특성을 알고자 하였다. 하지만 그동안의 다양한 노력에도 불구하고, 지하매질 및 지하수 거동에 대한 불확실성은 여전히 줄어들지 않고, 오히려 증가하고 있다. 따라서, 본 연구에서는 지하수 거동을 결정짓는 지하매질의 수리특성에 대한 불확실성을 정량화하기 위한 도구로써, 매개변수 보정법의 하나인 Pilot Point Method(PPM)을 소개하고자 한다. 우물 또는 관측정을 통해 관측되는 지하수의 수위는 지하매질의 특성을 반영하고 있으며, 인간이 가장 쉽게 취득할 수 있는 지하 정보에 해당한다. 지하수 수위를 이용하여 수치모형의 매개변수를 보정하게 되며, 이 때 PPM이 적용된다. Pilot points의 공간적인 분포에 따라 다양한 보정 결과가 산출될 수 있으며, 다양한 결과들을 통해 변동계수를 산정한 후 수리특성의 불확실성이 높은 지역을 나타낼 수 있다. 본 연구를 통해 얻은 결과는 물리탐사 또는 시추 작업을 위한 위치 선정의 기초자료로 활용될 수 있다.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.234-241
• /
• 2011

Recently, exploration and development of oil sands are thriving due to high oil price. Because oil sands reservoir usually exists as a thin layer, multicomponent VSP, which has the advantage of the high-resolution around the borehole, is more effective than surface seismic survey in exploring oil sand reservoir. In addition, prestack phase-screen migration is effective for multicomponent seismic data because it is based on an one-way wave equation. In this study, we examined the applicability of the prestack phase-screen migration for multicomponent RVSP data to image the thin oil sand reservoir. As a preprocessing tool, we presented a method for separating P-wave and PS-wave from multicomponent RVSP data by using incidence angle and rotation matrix. To verify it, we have applied the developed wavefield separation method to synthetic data obtained from the velocity model including a horizontal layer and dipping layers. Also, we compared the migrated image by using P-wave with that by using PS-wave. As a result, the PS-wave migrated image has higher resolution and wide coverage than P-wave migrated image. Finally, we have applied the prestack phase-screen migration to the synthetic data from the velocity model simulating oil sand reservoir in Canada. The results show that the PS-wave migrated image describe the top and bottom boundaries of the thin oil sand reservoir more clearly than the P-wave migrated image.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.357-363
• /
• 2010

In this study, we investigated the geologic structure of the basement and overlying sediments of the construction site of the dinosaur egg fossil museum in Hwasung, Gyeonggi Province through refraction seismology, drilling, and downward seismic velocity measurements in the drill holes. The construction site ($350{\times}750\;m^2$) is located in the reclaimed area south of Sihwa Lake, Gojeong-ri. About 6,950 m of seismic refraction data consisting of 11 lines were acquired using a sledge hammer source. Drilling to the basement was performed at five sites. Sediment samples from drilling were analysed for grain-size distribution and age dating. At two drill holes, seismic velocity was measured with depth using a hammer as a seismic source. The geological structure of the study area consists of, from top to bottom, a tidal flat layer (5 ~ 12 m thick), a weathered soil layer (2 ~ 8 m thick), and the basement. The basement is interpreted as Cretaceous sedimentary rocks that tend to be shallow eastward. The volume of the tidal flat sediments and weathered soil in the study area is estimated as $1.4{\times}10^6\;m^3$, weighing $3.5{\times}10^6$ tons. The rate of sea level rise since 8,000 yrs BP is estimated to be 0.1 ~ 0.15 cm/yr.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.85-90
• /
• 2015

Orientation corrections for Korean seismic stations were calculated by using ambient noise cross-correlation. This method uses Rayleigh waves extracted from ambient noise cross-correlation instead of teleseismic waveforms from earthquakes, which have been generally used for previous studies. The theoretical background of the method is that the phase of radial-vertical cross-correlation function should be the same as that of $90^{\circ}$ phase-shifted vertical-vertical cross-correlation function. The results calculated from stacked cross-correlograms from Jan. 2007 to Sep. 2008 are comparable to the previous results obtained from teleseismic waveforms. In addition, overall the standard deviations of orientation corrections are less than $5^{\circ}$. The temporal variation in orientation corrections calculated for every 30 days shows no significant change and also standard deviations of them are mostly less than $5^{\circ}$. This means that the orientations of stations used in this study have been kept constant during the period. The sensitivity test for stacking period of the ambient noise cross-correlation method shows that continuous ambient noise record of at least about 30 days is required for estimating reliable orientation corrections.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.457-465
• /
• 2013

We integrated and correlated datasets from surface and subsurface geophysics, drilling cores, and engineering geology to identify geological interfaces and characterize the joints and fracture zones within the rock mass. The regional geometry of a geologically weak zone was investigated via a fence projection of electrical resistivity data and a borehole image-processing system. Subsurface discontinuities and intensive fracture zones within the rock mass are delineated by cross-hole seismic tomography and analyses of dip directions in rose diagrams. The dynamic elastic modulus is studied in terms of the P-wave velocity and Poisson's ratio. Subsurface discontinuities, which are conventionally identified using the N value and from core samples, can now be identified from anomalous reflection coefficients (i.e., acoustic impedance contrast) calculated using a pair of well logs, comprising seismic velocity from suspension-PS logging and density from logging. Intensive fracture zones identified in the synthetic seismogram are matched to core loss zones in the drilling core data and to a high concentration of joints in the borehole imaging system. The upper boundaries of fracture zones are correlated to strongly negative amplitude in the synthetic trace, which is constructed by convolution of the optimal Ricker wavelet with a reflection coefficient. The standard deviations of dynamic elastic moduli are higher for fracture zones than for acompact rock mass, due to the wide range of velocities resulting from the large numbers of joints and fractures within the zone.