• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.317-327
• /
• 2024

When a non-persistent joint system is formed in a large-scale rock slope, slope failure may occur due to presence of a the stepped sliding surface. Such a surface can be divided into joint-to-joint sliding surfaces or joint-to-rock bridge sliding surfaces. In the latter case, the rock bridge provides shear resistance parallel to the joint and tensile resistance perpendicular to the joint. The load of the sliding rock can lead to failure of the rock bridge, thereby connecting the two joints at each ends of the bridge and resulting in step-path failure of the slope. If each rock bridge on a slope has the same length, the tensile strength is lower than the shear strength, resulting in the rock bridges oriented perpendicular to the joint being more prone to failure. In addition, the smaller the ratio of discontinuity spacing to length, the greater the likelihood of step-path failure. To assess the risk of stepped sliding on a rock slope with non-persistent joints, stability analysis can be performed using limit equilibrium analysis or numerical analysis. This involves constructing a step-path failure surface through a systematic discontinuity survey and analysis.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.52 no.3
• /
• pp.213-221
• /
• 2019

The Wugang banded iron formation (BIF) is located within the Taihua complex at the southern margin of the North China Craton (NCC). In this study, we analyzed major elements and rare-earth elements in iron ores from the Wugang BIF, to study the type of BIFs and their formation mechanism in combination with previously-published data from the literature. We found that the iron ores from the Wugang BIF display two types of banding textures, which can be described as weak banding or no banding. The samples are composed of coarse-grained magnetite, quartz, pyroxene, and amphibole. Based on our geochemical results, mixing of a hydrothermal fluid with sea water led to the precipitation of the Wugang BIF, and there is evidence of crustal contamination. These results, combined with previous literature data, almost all of the iron ores lack Ce anomalies, though some samples show negative Ce anomalies. Our results indicate that the Wugang BIF was formed in a dominantly reducing environment, although the surfaces were relatively oxidized. Geochemical evidence suggests that the Wugang BIF iron ores were formed in a near-shore continental-shelf environment or in a back-arc basin. The BIF is known as interbedded with migmatite, amphibole gneiss, minor quartz and marble, which indicating lack of volcanic materials input. This study, combined with previous results on geochemical interpretation of related wall rock of Wugang BIF, demonstrated that Wugang BIF belongs to Superior-type BIF.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.43-61
• /
• 2017

The inverted T-type abutments are generally used in highway bridges constructed in Korea. This type of abutment is used because it has greater stability, with more pile foundations embedded in the bedrock, while simultaneously providing support for lateral earth pressure and vertical loads of superstructures. However, the cross section of inverted T-type abutments is large compared with the piers, which makes them more expensive. In addition, a differential settlement between the abutment and embankment, as well as the expansion joints, causes driving discomfort. This study evaluated the driving comfort of several types of abutments to improve driving comfort on the abutment. To achieve this objective, a traditional T-type abutment and three types of candidate abutments, namely, mechanically stabilized earth wall (MSEW) abutment supported by a shallow foundation (called "true MSEW abutment"), MSEW abutment supported by piles (called "mixed MSEW abutment"), and pile bent and integral abutment with MSEW (called "MIP abutment"), were selected to consider their design and economic feasibility. Finite element analysis was performed using the design section of the candidate abutments. Subsequently, the settlements of each candidate abutment, approach slabs, and paved surfaces of the bridges were reviewed. Finally, the driving comfort on each candidate abutment was evaluated using a vehicle dynamic simulation. The true MSEW abutment demonstrated the most excellent driving comfort. However, this abutment can cause problems with respect to serviceability and maintenance due to excessive settlements. After our overall review, we determined that the mixed MSEW and the MIP abutments are the most appropriate abutment types to improve driving comfort by taking the highway conditions in Korea into consideration.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2006.06a
• /
• pp.271-276
• /
• 2006

In this paper a polarimetric airborne SAR measurement has been used to study the radar polarimetric characteristics in the intertidal area on the south coastof the Korea. The L-band NASA/JPL airborne SAR (AIRSAR) data, which were acquired on the intertidal zone during PACRIM-II Korea campaign on September 30, 2000, were used for this research. The most intertidal zones of Yeoja Bay are composed of muddy soils with high silt and clay percentage. Models of microwave scattering from rough surfaces, i.e., semi-empirical model, and Extended Bragg model, were applied to investigate the surface characteristics of intertidal zones.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
• /
• v.25 no.6_1
• /
• pp.507-516
• /
• 2007

Segmentation and organization of the LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data of the Earth's surface are difficult tasks because the captured LiDAR data are composed of irregularly distributed point clouds with lack of semantic information. The reason for this difficulty in processing LiDAR data is that the data provide huge amount of the spatial coordinates without topological and/or relational information among the points. This study introduces LiDAR data segmentation technique by utilizing histograms of the LiDAR height image data and analyzing roof shape for 3D reconstruction and visualization of the buildings. One of the advantages in utilizing LiDAR height image data is no registration required because the LiDAR data are geo-referenced and ortho-projected data. In consequence, measurements on the image provide absolute reference coordinates. The LiDAR image allows measurement of the initial building boundaries to estimate locations of the side walls and to form the planar surfaces which represent approximate building footprints. LiDAR points close to each side wall were grouped together then the least-square planar surface fitting with the segmented point clouds was performed to determine precise location of each wall of an building. Finally, roof shape analysis was performed by accumulated slopes along the profiles of the roof top. However, simulated LiDAR data were used for analyzing roof shape because buildings with various shapes of the roof do not exist in the test area. The proposed approach has been tested on the heavily built-up urban residential area. 3D digital vector map produced by digitizing complied aerial photographs was used to evaluate accuracy of the results. Experimental results show efficiency of the proposed methodology for 3D building reconstruction and large scale digital mapping especially for the urban area.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.534-543
• /
• 2012

The relationship between tectonic uplift and geophysical analysis of gravity anomalies and the in-situ stress fields in the Otway Ranges, SE Australia is addressed in this study to understand the nature and possible mechanism for the neotectonic movements. The uplift axis of the ranges is coincident with the regional Bouguer gravity highs whereas thick Tertiary sedimentary successions are highly correlated with the gravity lows along the basin rift geometry. This result suggests that the gravity highs are separated by the thick Tertiary sedimentary successions. Regional structural trends associated with faults and foldings of the deformed surfaces are consistent with the prevailing NW-SE $S_{Hmax}$ trend in this part of the continent. The anomalously positive correlation between topography and Bouguer gravity fields suggests possibly a lithospheric flexural deformation mode at a long wavelength (order of $10^2$ kms) in the region. It also suggests that the reactivation of pre-existing lithospheric structures driven by plate boundary forces plays a key role in this mode.

• Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.69-85
• /
• 2019

Humans have been important driver to reconfigure the terrestrial surface of the Earth by altering its morphology and processes. The effect of human activities on the physical landscape, however, shows substantially uneven geographical patterns. Most of anthrogemorphoogical studies regarding human-induced denudation have focused on areas with a long history of human modifications such as humid landscapes, so the hypothesis is naturally a great human impact on landscapes. The effect of human activities on dryland Earth surfaces are far less commonly studied, although erosion is one of major concerns in arid and semi-arid region regarding land and water quality degradation. The urban metropolis of Phoenix, Arizona, USA provides an opportunity to explore the impact of the Anthropocene. The Phoenix metropolitan area rests on classic desert landforms, such as extensive pediments, alluvial fans and sand sheets. Human activities including cattle crazing, wildfire resulting from introduced grass species by human, and recent urbanization processes have impacted these classic desert landforms and altered geomorphic processes. The purpose of this paper, therefore, rests in examining Anthropocene in the geomorphology of the north-central Sonoran Desert. The objectives of this paper are: i) to understand the impact of the Anthropocene on the geomorphological processes and forms through field observations; ii) to quantify the magnitude of human impacts on landscape using a published two-decade long record of erosion dataset and natural background erosion dataset in submitted manuscript at the sprawling edge of the Phoenix metropolitan region; iii) to examine how geomorphic outcome can affect the sustainability of cities through the estimation of sediment yield under the condition of urban sprawl.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.45 no.4
• /
• pp.318-326
• /
• 2024

Black ice, a thin and nearly invisible ice layer on roads and pavements, poses a significant danger to drivers and pedestrians during winter due to its transparency. We propose an efficient black ice detection system and technique utilizing Global Positioning System (GPS)-reflected signals. This system consists of a GPS antenna and receiver configured to measure the power of GPS L1 band signal strength. The GPS receiver system was designed to measure the signal power of the Right-Handed Circular Polarization (RHCP) and Left-Handed Circular Polarization (LHCP) from direct and reflected signals using two GPS antennas. Field experiments for GPS LHCP and RHCP reflection measurements were conducted at two distinct sites. We present a Normalized Polarized Reflection Index (NPRI) as a methodological approach for determining the presence of black ice on road surfaces. The field experiments at both sites successfully detected black ice on asphalt roads, indicated by NPRI values greater than -0.1 for elevation angles between 45° and 55°. Our findings demonstrate the potential of the proposed GPS-based system as a cost-effective and scalable solution for large-scale black ice detection, significantly enhancing road safety in cold climates. The scientific significance of this study lies in its novel application of GPS reflection signals for environmental monitoring, offering a new approach that can be integrated into existing GPS infrastructure to detect widespread black ice in real-time.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.44 no.2
• /
• pp.123-133
• /
• 2011

The lab scale experiments to investigate the geochemical reaction among supercritical $CO_2$-mineral-brine which occurs at $CO_2$ sequestration sites were performed. High pressurized cell system (l00 bar and $50^{\circ}C$) was designed to create supercritical $CO_2$ in the cell, simulating the sub-surface $CO_2$ storage site. From the high pressurized cell experiment, the surface changes of Ca-feldspar, amphibole (tremolite) and olivine, resulted from the supercritical $CO_2$-mineral-brine reaction, were observed and the dissolution of minerals into the brine was also investigated. The mineral slabs were polished and three locations on the surface were randomly selected for the image analysis of SPM and the surface roughness value (SRV) of those locations were calculated to quantify the change of mineral surface for 30 days. At a certain time interval, SPM images and SRVs of the same mineral surface were acquired. The secondary minerals precipitated on the mineral surfaces were also analyzed on SEM/EDS after the experiment. From the experiments, the average SRV of Ca-feldspar increased from 2.77 nm to 20.87 nm for 30 days, suggesting that the dissolution of Ca-feldspar occurs in active when the feldspars contact with supercritical $CO_2$ and brine. For the amphibole, the average SRV increased from 2.54 nm to 8.31 nm and for the olivine from 0.77 nm to 11.03 run. For the Ca-feldspar, $Ca^{2+}$, $Na^+$, $Fe^{2+}$, $Si^{4+}$, $K^+$ and $Mg^{2+}$ were dissolved in the highest order and $Si^{4+}$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Fe^{2+}$ and $Mg^{2+}$ for the amphibole. Fe (or Mg) - oxides were precipitated as the secondary minerals on the surfaces of amphibole and olivine after 30 days reaction. Results suggested that $Ca^{2+}$, $Fe^{2+}$ and $Mg^{2+}$ rich minerals would be significantly weathered when it contacts with the supercritical $CO_2$ and brine at $CO_2$ sequestration sites.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.19-30
• /
• 2009

The main fault of Yangsan Fault Zone (YFZ) and Quaternary fault were found in a trench section with NW-SE direction at an entrance of the Sinheung village in the northern Eonyang, Ulsan, Korea. We interpreted the movement history of the southern part of the YFZ from the geometric and kinematic characteristics of basement rock's fault of the YFZ (Sinheung Fault) and Quaternary fault (Quaternary Sinheung Fault) investigated at the trench section. The trench outcrop consists mainly of Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of Hayang Group and volcanic rocks of Yucheon Group which lie in fault contact and Quaternary deposits which unconformably overlie these basement rocks. This study suggests that the movement history of the southern part of the YFZ can be explained at least by two different strike-slip movements, named as D1 and D2 events, and then two different dip-slip movements, named as D3 and D4 events. (1) D1 event: a sinistral strike-slip movement which caused the bedding of sedimentary rocks to be high-angled toward the main fault of the YFZ. (2) D2 event: a dextral strike-slip movement slipped along the high-angled beddings as fault surfaces. The main characteristic structural elements are predominant sub-horizontal slickenlines and sub-vertical fault foliations which show a NNE trend. The event formed the main fault rocks of the YFZ. (3) D3 event: a conjugate reverse-slip movement slipped along fault surfaces which trend (E)NE and moderately dip (S)SE or (N)NW. The slickenlines, which plunge in the dip direction of fault surfaces, overprint the previous sub-horizontal slickenlines. The fault is characterized by S-C fabrics superimposed on the D2 fault gouges, fault surfaces showing ramp and flat geometry, asymmetric and drag folds and collapse structures accompanied with it. The event dispersed the orientation of the main fault surface of the YFZ. (4) D4 event: a Quaternary reverse-slip movement showing a displacement of several centimeters with S-C fabrics on the Quternary deposits. The D4 fault surfaces are developed along the extensions of the D3 fault surfaces of basement rocks, like the other Quaternary faults within the YFZ. This indicates that these faults were formed under the same compression of (N)NW-(S)SE direction.