• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.146-162
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• 2017

Multibeam and seismic data in the northwestern part of the Ulleung Basin were analyzed to study stratigraphy and evolutionary history of submarine canyon. A detailed analysis reveals that the sedimentary sequences in this area consist of four stratigraphic units separated by erosional unconformities. On the continental slope, these units are dominated by well-stratified facies with some slope failures, whereas these units show well-stratified and chaotic facies toward the basin floor. Generally, the sediment thickness is relatively thin on the slope, whereas thick sediment accumulation occurs on the base of slope and basin floor. Based on seismic characteristics and distribution, the deposition of each units are well correlated with the evolutionary history of the submarine canyon. Unit 1 directly overlying the acoustic basement has thin sediment layer on the slope, whereas its thickness gradually increase toward the basin floor. Compared to other units, Unit 2 is relatively thick accumulations on the slope and contains some slope failures related to faults systems. The mass transport sediments due to slope failures, mainly deposited on the base of slope as a submarine fan. The width and depth of submarine canyon increase due to dominant of the erosional process rather than the sediment deposition. Unit 3 is thin accumulation on the slope around the submarine canyon. Toward the basin floor, its thickness gradually increases. Unit 4 is characterized by thin layers including slides and slumps on the slope, whereas it formed thick accumulations at the base of slope as a submarine fan. The increase in the width and depth of submarine canyon results from the dominant of the erosional process and slope failures around the submarine canyon. Consequently, the formation of sedimentary units combined with the development of submarine canyon in this area is largely controlled by the amounts of sediment supply originated from slope failures, regional tectonic effects and sea-level fluctuations.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.381-388
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to integrate and visualize using mapping techniques based on precise seabed geomorphology, seafloor backscattering images and high-resolution underwater images of the nearshore area around the Dokdo, in the East Sea. We have been obtained the precise topography map using multibeam echosounder system around the nearshore area(~50 m) of the southern part of the Seodo. Side scan sonar survey for analysis seafloor backscattering images was carried out in the same area of topography data. High-resolution underwater images(zone(a), zone(b), zone(c)) were taken in significant habitat scope of the nearshore area of the southern part of the Seodo. Using the results of bathymetry, seafloor backscattering images, high-resolution underwater images, we performed an integrated visualization about the nearshore area of the Dokdo. The integrated visualizing techniques are possible to make the seabed characteristic mapping results of the nearshore area of the Dokdo. The integrated visualization results present more complex and reliable information than separate geological products for seabed environmental mapping study and it is useful to understand the relation between seafloor characteristics and topographic environments of the study area. The integrated visualizing techniques and mapping analysis need to study sustainably and periodically, for effective monitoring of the nearshore ecosystem of the Dokdo.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.101-109
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• 1998

Using airborne magnetic data, magnetic characteristics were studied at the Samryangjin caldera area developed in the volcanics of the Yuchon sub-basin, the south eastern part of the Gyeongsang basin. Residual magnetics, reduction to the pole, horizontal derivative, and vertical derivative maps are prepared. Using these maps, the magnetic lithofaces are zoned and the geological structures such as caldera and faults were qualitatively interpreted. In addition, the two quantitative interpretations were performed. Firstly, the forward modelling were done to the 14.5 line km crossing the caldera area to the northeast-southwest direction. Applying the 3-D Euler deconvolution method to the whole study area, the depth extent and the characteristics of the magnetic anomalous bodies were studied. According to the results, the magnetic lithofaces of the area are zoned by 4 units. In general, these are well matched with the geological distributions. But the biotite granites intruded in the northern boundary of the Samryangjin caldera show the high magnetic intensity, while the biotite granites of the other areas show the low magnetic intensity and the different magnetic lithofaces. Thus, we interpreted that the biotite granites are closely related with the volcanic activity of the Samryngjin caldera, and are intruded in the fracture zones developed along the caldera rim. The Samryangjin caldera and fault structures of the area can be easily recognized by the distinct magnetic structures from the various magnetic anomaly maps. Also the topographic characteristics well reflect these structures. The results of the forward modelling show that the magnetic basement depth of the Gyeongsang sedimentary basin is on the average about 6 km and in maximum 10 km. And the depth becomes shallower toward the caldera boundary due to the shallow intrusion of the volcanics. The results of the 3-D Euler method also show the caldera and fault structures. And the relatively shallow magnetic anomalous bodies which are related with the volcanics are generally developed to the east-west and northeast directions, while the deep magnetic anomalous bodies to the northwest direction.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.463-471
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• 2006

Electrical resistivity surveys were conducted at areas of abandoned landfills in Cheonan and Wonju. Geology and extent of leachate migration around the landfills were evaluated with collected resistivity data by 2-D and 3-D resistivity inverse modeling. The Cheonan landfill is located above the paddy fields and the resistivity survey lines were crossed to examine possible pollution at the paddy fields by leakage of the landfill leachate. In Wonju, the landfill and the downgradient paddy fields are divided by a concrete barrier wall. At the bottom of the landfill, there is a leachate settlement system, which has not been in operation. To evaluate leachate leakage into the paddy fields, a total of 4 survey lines were used. According to the resistivity survey results, the landfill leachate in Cheonan appeared to be restricted only within the interior of the landfill, not to migrate into the subsurface of the paddy fields. These results are well consistent with electrical conductivity values of groundwaters obtained from a periodic analysis of water qualities. In Wonju, however, it was inferred that the leachate emanating from the landfill migrated beneath the abandoned leachate settlement system and the leachate would reach the downgradient paddy fields. Low resistivity area was observed in the old reservoir area and it appeared to be derived from convergence of groundwater flows from the surrounding valley and the moist wet land. In addition, groundwater flow into the paddy fields occurs beneath the old reservoir embankment at depths of $7{\sim}8m$. This paper reports details of the resistivity surveys for the uncontrolled landfills.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.191-202
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• 2007

To identify the detailed attenuation structure in the southern Korean Peninsula, a numerical test was conducted for the Q tomography inversion to be applied to the accumulated dataset until 2005. In particular, the stochastic pointsource ground-motion model (STGM model; Boore, 2003) was adopted for the 2D Q tomography inversion for direct application to simulating the strong ground-motion. Simultaneous inversion of the STGM model parameters with a regional single Q model was performed to evaluate the source and site effects which were necessary to generate an artificial dataset for the numerical test. The artificial dataset consists of simulated Fourier spectra that resemble the real data in the magnitude-distance-frequency-error distribution except replacement of the regional single Q model with a checkerboard type of high and low values of laterally varying Q models. The total number of Q blocks used for the checkerboard test was 75 (grid size of $35{\times}44km^2$ for Q blocks); Q functional form of $Q_0f^{\eta}$ ($Q_0$=100 or 500, 0.0 < ${\eta}$ < 1.0) was assigned to each Q block for the checkerboard test. The checkerboard test has been implemented in three steps. At the first step, the initial values of Q-values for 75 blocks were estimated. At the second step, the site amplification function was estimated by using the initial guess of A(f) which is the mean site amplification functions (Yun and Suh, 2007) for the site class. The last step is to invert the tomographic Q-values of 75 blocks based on the results of the first and second steps. As a result of the checkerboard test, it was demonstrated that Q-values could be robustly estimated by using the 2D Q tomography inversion method even in the presence of perturbed source and site effects from the true input model.

• 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.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 2012

Recently, stratigraphic reservoirs are getting more attention than structural reservoirs which have mostly developed. However, recognizing stratigraphic thin gas reservoirs in a stacked section is usually difficult because of tuning effects. Moreover, if the reflections from the brine-saturated region of a thin layer have the same polarity with those from the gas-saturated region, we could not easily identify the gas reservoir with conventional data processing technique. In this study, we introduced a way to delineate the gas-saturated region in a thin layer reservoir using a spectral decomposition method. First of all, amplitude spectrum with the variation of the frequency and the incident angle was investigated for the medium which represents property of Class 3, Class 1 or Class 4 AVO response. The results show that the maximum difference in the amplitude spectra between brine and gas-saturated thin layers occurs around the peak frequency independent of the incident angle and the type of AVO responses. In addition, the amplitude spectra of the gas-saturated zone are greater than those of brine-saturated one in Class 3 and Class 4 at the peak frequency while those of phenomenon occur oppositely in Class 1. Based on the results, we applied spectral decomposition method to the stacked section in order to distinguish the gas-saturated zone from the brine-saturated zone in a thin layer reservoir. To verify our new method, we constructed a thin-layer velocity model which contains both gas and brine-saturated zones which have the same reflection polarities. As a result, in the spectral decomposed sections near the peak frequency obtained by Wigner-Ville Distribution (WVD), we could identify the difference between reflections from gas- and brinesaturated region in the thin layer reservoir, which was hardly distinguishable in the stacked section.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.267-285
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• 2002

Dok Island, a Pliocene volcano, lies in the southwestern part of the East Sea. Most the work to date have focused primarily on the petrolography of the island, and as a result, the morphological characteristics and internal structure of the volcanic edifices of the Dok Island remain poorly understood. To provide better constraints on these features, bathymetric data with multibeam echo sounder, 32-channel seismic and 3D gravity modeling were used in this study. Three positive topographic highs are present in the study area, and these highs satisfy the seamount criteria. They are named as Dokdo, Tamhae, and Donghae seamounts. 32-channel seismic survey was conducted to investigate the sediment thickness of the area, which shows that there are no sediments near the summit of seamounts. Away from the seamounts, however, sediment becomes thick(>2000 m) toward the western part of the study area, and sediments in the northern and southern parts are about 1000 m thick. Free-Air gravity anomalies in this study generally follow the bathymetric feature with less than -20 mGal at the western part, but increase towards the seamounts. In the summit of the Dokdo Seamount, anomalies reach over 120 mGal, and in Tamhae and Donghae seamounts, the peak anomaly shows 90 and 70 mGals, respectively. All seamounts have an isolated volcanic conduit in their centre and show regional compensation root with 0.5～1.5 km thickness. The flat-topped summit of the seamounts is probably caused by wave truncation, indicating the sea level at the time of formation of the flat-topped geometry. Comparison between the present-day sea level and subsidence level during the opening of the East Sea suggests that the seamounts in the study area have subsided by 200～300 m after the formation. Furthermore, it implies that the seamounts formed over 12～10 Ma.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.50-58
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• 2005

Recently, the imaging of geological structures beneath water-covered areas has been in great demand because of numerous tunnel and bridge construction projects on river or lake sites. An electrical resistivity survey can be effective in such a situation because it provides a subsurface image of faults or weak zones beneath the water layer. Even though conventional resistivity surveys in water-covered areas, in which electrodes are installed on the water bottom, do give high-resolution subsurface images, much time and effort is required to install electrodes. Therefore, an easier and more convenient method is sought to find the strike direction of the main zones of weakness, especially for reconnaissance surveys. In this paper, we investigate the applicability of the streamer resistivity survey method, which uses electrodes in a streamer cable towed by ship or boat, for delineating a fault zone. We do this through numerical experiments with models of water-covered areas. We demonstrate that the fault zone can be imaged, not only by installing electrodes on the water bottom, but also by using floating electrodes, when the depth of water is less than twice the electrode spacing. In addition, we compare the signal-to-noise ratio and resolving power of four kinds of electrode arrays that can be adapted to the streamer resistivity method. Following this numerical study, we carried out both conventional and streamer resistivity surveys for the planned tunnel construction site located at the Han River in Seoul, Korea. To obtain high-resolution resistivity images we used the conventional method, and installed electrodes on the water bottom along the planned route of the tunnel beneath the river. Applying a two-dimensional inversion scheme to the measured data, we found three distinctive low-resistivity anomalies, which we interpreted as associated with fault zones. To determine the strike direction of these three fault zones, we used the quick and convenient streamer resistivity.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.7-17
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• 2005

The determination of seismic velocities in refractors for near-surface seismic refraction investigations is an ill-posed problem. Small variations in the computed time parameters can result in quite large lateral variations in the derived velocities, which are often artefacts of the inversion algorithms. Such artefacts are usually not recognized or corrected with forward modelling. Therefore, if detailed refractor models are sought with model based inversion, then detailed starting models are required. The usual source of artefacts in seismic velocities is irregular refractors. Under most circumstances, the variable migration of the generalized reciprocal method (GRM) is able to accommodate irregular interfaces and generate detailed starting models of the refractor. However, where the very-near-surface environment of the Earth is also irregular, the efficacy of the GRM is reduced, and weathering corrections can be necessary. Standard methods for correcting for surface irregularities are usually not practical where the very-near-surface irregularities are of limited lateral extent. In such circumstances, the GRM smoothing statics method (SSM) is a simple and robust approach, which can facilitate more-accurate estimates of refractor velocities. The GRM SSM generates a smoothing 'statics' correction by subtracting an average of the time-depths computed with a range of XY values from the time-depths computed with a zero XY value (where the XY value is the separation between the receivers used to compute the time-depth). The time-depths to the deeper target refractors do not vary greatly with varying XY values, and therefore an average is much the same as the optimum value. However, the time-depths for the very-near-surface irregularities migrate laterally with increasing XY values and they are substantially reduced with the averaging process. As a result, the time-depth profile averaged over a range of XY values is effectively corrected for the near-surface irregularities. In addition, the time-depths computed with a Bero XY value are the sum of both the near-surface effects and the time-depths to the target refractor. Therefore, their subtraction generates an approximate 'statics' correction, which in turn, is subtracted from the traveltimes The GRM SSM is essentially a smoothing procedure, rather than a deterministic weathering correction approach, and it is most effective with near-surface irregularities of quite limited lateral extent. Model and case studies demonstrate that the GRM SSM substantially improves the reliability in determining detailed seismic velocities in irregular refractors.