• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.131-146
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• 2014

High-resolution seismic profiles coupled with sediment sampling were analyzed to investigate the acoustic characters and distribution patterns of the late Holocene sediments in Gamak Bay of the South Sea, Korea. The mean grain size of surficial sediment lies around $6.3{\sim}9.7{\Phi}$. Sediments in the bay consist of silt and clay with progressive decrease toward the inner bay. The seismic sedimentary sequence overlying the acoustic basement can be divided into two sedimentary units (GB I and II) by a prominent mid-reflector (Maximum Flooding Surface; MFS). The acoustic basement occurs at the depth between 20 m and 40 m below the sea-level and deepens gradually southward. The GB I, mostly occupying the channel-fill, is characterized by reflection-free seismic facies. It can be formed as late Transgressive System Tract (TST), interpreted tidal environment deposits. MFS appears at the depth of about 15~28 m below the sea-level and is well defined by even and continuous reflectors on the seismic profile. The GB II overlying MFS is composed of acoustically transparent to semitransparent and parallel internal reflectors. GB II is interpreted as the Highstand System Tract (HST) probably deposited during the last 6,000 yrs when the sea level was close to the present level. Especially, it is though that the GB II was subdivided into two layers (GB II-a and II-b) by a HST-reflector and this was classified by wind, sea water flux, and tidal current.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.131-146
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• 2014

Multi-beam echosounder data and grain size analysis data of surface sediment were acquired and analyzed in order to investigate the shelf-to-slope morphology, geological character, and their geological controlling factors in the southwestern margin of the Ulleung Basin. According to the morphological character, the continental shelf can be divided into two parts: (1) shallow (~100 m) and steep ($0.5^{\circ}$) inner shelf, (2) deep (100-300 m) and gentle ($0.2^{\circ}$) outer shelf. The continental slope is featured with eight distinct topographic depressions of various spatial dimension (~121 $km^2$ in area) and head wall gradient (${\sim}24.3^{\circ}$). They are developed adjacent to each other and presumably formed by submarine landslides which have recurred under the strong influences of earthquakes and eustatic sea-level change. The inner continental shelf and the continental slope are dominated by fine-grained sediment, whereas the outer continental shelf is dominated by coarse-grained sediment. The surface sediment distribution seems dominantly influenced by eustatic sea-level change. The outer continental shelf is mostly covered by coarse relict sediment deposited during lowstand sea-level, while the inner shelf is covered with recent sediment during highstand sea-level. The surface of the continental slope is covered with fine-grained sediments which were supplied by hemipelagic advection process.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.111-120
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• 2017

In this paper, we propose novel feature extraction algorithm for classification of seabed sediment. In previous researches, acoustic reflection coefficient has been used to classify seabed sediments, which is constant in terms of frequency. However, attenuation of seabed sediment is a function of frequency and is highly influenced by sediment types in general. Hence, we developed a feature vector by using attenuation variation with respect to frequency. The attenuation variation is obtained by using reflected signal from the second sediment layer, which is generated by broadband chirp. The proposed feature vector has advantage in number of dimensions to classify the seabed sediment over the classical scalar feature (reflection coefficient). To compare the proposed feature with the classical scalar feature, dimension of proposed feature vector is reduced by using linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Synthesised acoustic amplitudes reflected by seabed sediments are generated by using Biot model and the performance of proposed feature is evaluated by using Fisher scoring and classification accuracy computed by maximum likelihood decision (MLD). As a result, the proposed feature shows higher discrimination performance and more robustness against measurement errors than that of classical feature.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.200-210
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• 2016

Geoacoustic modeling is used to predict sound transmission through submarine bottom layers of sedimentary strata and acoustic basement. This study reconstructed four geoacoustic models for sediments of 50 m thick at the Jeongdongjin area in the western continental margin of the East Sea. Bottom models were based on the data of the highresolution air-gun seismic and subbottom profiles (SBP) with sediment cores. P-wave speed was measured by the pulse transmission technique, and the resonance frequency of piezoelectric transducers was maintained at 1MHz. Measurements of 42 P-wave speeds and 41 attenuations were fulfilled in three core sediments. For actual modeling, the P-wave speeds of the models were compensated to in situ depth below the sea floor using the Hamilton method. These geoacoustic models of coastal bottom strata will be used for geoacoustic and underwater acoustic experiments reflecting vertical and lateral variability of geoacoustic properties in the Jeongdongjin area of the East Sea.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.444-454
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• 2015

Measurements of bottom backscattering strengths in a frequency range of 6-14 kHz were made on the shallow water off the southern Gyeonggi Bay in Yellow Sea in May 2013, as part of the KIOST-HYU joint acoustics experiment. Geological surveys for the experimental area were performed using multi-beam echo sounder, sparker system, and grab sampling to investigate the bottom topography, sub-bottom profile and composition of surficial sediment, respectively. In this paper, the backscattering strengths as a function of grazing angle (in range of $28^{\circ}{\sim}69^{\circ}$) were estimated and compared to the predictions obtained by Lambert's law and APL-UW scattering model. Finally, the effects of geoacoustic parameters corresponding to the experimental area on the backscattering strengths are discussed.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.121-134
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• 2016

We characterize the spatial distribution of Cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts covering the summit and slopes of a seamount in the western Pacific, using acoustic backscatter from multibeam echo sounders (MBES) and seafloor video observation. Based on multibeam bathymetric data, we identify that ~70% of the summit area of this flattopped seamount has slope gradients less than $5^{\circ}$. The histogram of the backscatter intensity data shows a bi-modal distribution, indicating significant variations in seabed hardness. On the one hand, visual inspection of the seafloor using deep-sea camera data exhibits that the steep slope areas with high backscatter are mainly covered by manganese crusts. On the other hand, the visual analyses for the summit reveal that the summit areas with relatively low backscatter are covered by sediments. The other summit areas, however, exhibit high acoustic reflectivity due to coexistence of manganese crusts and sediments. Comparison between seafloor video images and acoustic backscatter intensity suggests that the central summit has relatively flat topography and low backscatter intensity resulting from unconsolidated sediments. In addition, the rim of the summit and the slopes are of high acoustic reflectivity because of manganese crusts and/or bedrock outcrops with little sediments. Therefore, we find a strong correlation between the acoustic backscatter data acquired from sea-surface multibeam survey and the spatial distribution of sediments and manganese crusts. We propose that analyzing acoustic backscatter can be one of practical methods to select optimal minable areas of the ferromanganese crusts from seamounts for future mining.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.143-152
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• 1987

The digital data were obtained using Kennedy 9000 magnetic tape deck which was connected to the SMS960 side scan sonar during the field operations. The data of three consecutive survey tracks near Seongsan-po, Cheju were used for the development of this study. The softwares were mainly written in Fortran-77 using VAX 11/780 MINI-COMPUTER (CPU Memory; 4MB). The established mapping system consists of the pretreatment and the digital processing of seafloor image data. The pretreatment was necessary because the raw digital data format of the field magnetic tapes was not compatible to the VAX system. Therefore the raw data were read by the personal computer using the Assembler language and the data format was converted to IBM compatible, and next data were communicated to the VAX system. The digital processing includes geometrical correction for slant range, statistical analysis and cartography of the seafloor image. The sound speed in the water column was assumed 1,500 m/sec for the slant range correction and the moving average method was used for the signal trace smoothing. Histograms and cumulative curves were established for the statistical analysis, that was purposed to classify the backscattering strength from the sea-bottom. The seafloor image was displayed on the color screen of the TEKTRONIX 4113B terminal. According to the brief interpretation of the result image map, rocky and sedimentary bottoms were very well discriminated. Also it was shown that the backscattered acoustic pressurecorrelateswith the grain size and sorting of surface sediments.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.1E
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• pp.1-7
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• 2006

This study examines the reflection characteristic of a thin transition layer of the ocean bottom showing variability with respect to depth. In order to model the surficial sediment simply, we reduce the Biot model to the depth dependent wave equation for the pseudo fluid using the fluid approximation (weak frame approximation). From the reduced equation, the difference between the inherent frequency dependency of the reflection and the frequency dependency resulting from a thin transition layer is investigated. Using Tang's depth porosity profile model of the surficial sediment [D. Tang et al., IEEE J. Oceanic Eng., vol.27(3), 546-560(2002)], we numerically simulated the reflection loss and investigated the contribution from both frequency dependencies. In addition, the effects of different sediment type and varying depth structure of the sediment are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.24-36
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• 2019

In the mid-eastern Yellow Sea, glacio-eustatic sea-level fluctuations and a regional tectonic subsidence have combined to represent an aggradational stacking pattern of sedimentary units during late Pleistocene-Holocene. The accumulated sediments are divisible into two-type units of Type-A and Type-B in high-resolution air-gun seismic profiles and the deep-drilled core of YSDP-105. Type-A unit largely comprises clast-rich coarse-grained sediments of non-marine to paralic origin, whereas Type-B unit consists mostly of tidal fine-grained sediments. Based on a bottom model of the sedimentary units, this study suggested a geoacoustic model of long-coring bottom layers at the YSDP-105 drilling site of the mid-eastern Yellow Sea. The geoacoustic model of 64-m depth below the seafloor with four-layer geoacoustic units was reconstructed in continental shelf strata at 45 m in water depth. For actual modeling, the geoacoustic property values of the models were compensated to in situ depth values below the seafloor using the Hamilton modeling method. We suggest that the geoacoustic model will be used for geoacoustic and underwater acoustic experiments of mid- and low-frequency reflecting on the deep bottom layers in the mid-eastern Yellow Sea.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.400-404
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• 1999

The conventional mercury delay method to measure compressional wave velocity of unconsolidated sediment is inconvenient because the signal must be analyzed on the oscilloscope and the mercury column has to be calibrated between measurements. We developed an automated compressional wave velocity measurement technique by connecting an oscilloscope and a PC with a GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus) card. The GPIB card buses signals from the oscilloscope to the PC where the signal from a sample is analyzed and compared to the input pulse thereby the compressional wave velocity of the sample is computed and recorded automatically. Differences between the mercury delay method and the automated measurement technique are negligible except the slightly greater velocity in the automated measurement technique. We concluded that the new technique can be used to measure the velocity for unconsolidated marine sediment. It also has an advantage to calculate sediment attenuation through the processing of waveform using the spectral ratio technique.