• Title/Summary/Keyword: Glacier

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Different Climate Regimes Over the Coastal Regions of the Eastern Antarctic Ice Sheet

  • Cunde, Xiao;Dahe, Qin;Zhongqin, Li;Jiawen, Ren;Allison, Ian
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.24 no.3
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    • pp.227-236
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    • 2002
  • For ten firn cores, from both the eastern and the western side of Lambert Glacier basin (LGB), snow accumulation rate and isotopic temperature were measured far the recent 50 years. Results show that snow accumulation for five cores over the eastern side of LGB (GC30, GD03, GD15, DT001, and DT085) at Wilks Land and Princess Elizabeth Land increases, whereas it decreases at the western side (Core E, DML05, W200, LGB 16, and MGA) at Dronning Maud Land, Mizuho Plateau and Kamp Land. For the past decades, the increasing rate was $0.34-2.36kg\;m^{-2}a^{-1}$ at the eastern side and the decreasing rate was $-0.01\;-\;-2.36kg\;m^{-2}\;a^{-1}$ at the western side. Temperatures at the eastern LGB were also increased with the rate of $0.02%o\;a^{-l}$. At the western LGB it was difficult to see clear trends, which were confirmed by Instrumental temperature records at coastal stations. Although statistic analysis and modeling results display that both surface temperature and accumulation rate has increased trends in Antarctic ice sheet during 1950-2000, the regional distributions were much more different for different geographic areas. We believe that ice-core records at Wilks Land and Princess Elizabeth Land reflect the real variations of SST and moisture change in the southern India Ocean. For the Kamp Land and Dronning Maud Land, however circulation pattern was different, by which the climate was more complicated. The International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE) aimed to reveal an overall spatial pattern of climate change over Antarctic ice sheet for the past 200 years. This study points the importance of continental to regional circulation to annual-decadal scale climate change in Antarctica.

Oxygen Isotope Data of Winter Water in the Western Weddell Sea: Preliminary Results

  • Khim, Boo-Keun;Park, Byong-Kwon;Kang, Sung-Ho
    • Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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    • v.33 no.1-2
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    • pp.1-7
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    • 1998
  • In the western Weddell Sea, winter mixed layer is characterized by near-freezing temperature and higher salinity due to brine injection through sea-ice formation. This layer becomes Winter Water being capped by warmer and less saline Antarctic Surface Water during the sea-ice melt-ing season. In this study, Winter Water was preliminarily identified by the oxygen isotopic com-positions. The ${\delta}^{18}$O values of Winter Water show the progressively increasing trend from south to north in the study area. It presumably reflects the enhanced mixing with Antarctic Surface Water due to the extent of influence by low S'"0 value of sea-ice/glacier meltwater. Correlations between salinity and 6'"0 values of seawater can be used to more generally characterize Winter Water with a view to identification. However, the prediction on the degree of mixing from these relationships needs more detailed isotope data, although this study allows the oxygen isotopic composition of seawater as a tracer to identify the water mass.

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The impact of climate change on the European Alps : Artificial snow and environmental problems (긴급제언 - 유럽알프스지역의 기후변화 영향 : 인공설(雪)과 환경문제)

  • Lee, Yeong-Heui
    • Journal of the Korean Professional Engineers Association
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    • v.45 no.2
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    • pp.28-32
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    • 2012
  • The European Alps face a number of major threats - from habitat loss to pollution, from mass tourism to the impacts of climate change. The European alpine climate has changed significantly during the past century, with temperatures increasing more than twice the global average. This makes alpine mountains especially vulnerable to changes in the hydrological cycle and decreases in snow and glacier cover, which are already occurring. In winter, artificial snow-making is currently the most widespread strategy to extend and supplement natural snow cover and secure winter tourism. Artificial snow-making is not only very costly, but also has knock-on effects such as increased water consumption and energy demand or ecological damage, which may lead to negative externalities. The European Alps facing the challenge of changing climate and anthropogenic pressures.

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Late Quaternary Sedimentary Processes in the Northern Continental Margin of the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica (남극 남쉐틀랜드 군도 북부 대륙주변부의 후기 제 4기 퇴적작용)

  • 윤석훈;윤호일;강천윤
    • The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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    • v.9 no.1
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    • pp.1-12
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    • 2004
  • Sedimentary facies and high-resolution echo facies were analyzed to elucidate sedimentation pattern of the late Quaternary glacial-marine deposits in the northern continental margin of the South Shetland Islands. Six sedimentary facies are classified, based on grain texture and sedimentary structures in gravity cores. The high-resolution (3.5 ㎑) echo characters are classified into 6 echo facies on the basis of clarity, continuity, and shape of bottom and subbottom echoes together with seafloor topography. Distribution of the echo and sedimentary facies suggest that there was a significant change in sedimentation pattern between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and subsequent glacier-retreating period. When the grounded glaciers extended to the present shelfbreak during LGM, coarse-grained subglacial tills were widespread in the shelf area, and deep troughs in the shelf were carved beneath the fast-flowing ice steam. As the glacial margin retreated landward after LGM, dense meltwater plumes released from the retreating ice-front were funneled along the glacier-carved troughs, and accumulated channel- or cannyon-fill deposits in the shelf and the upper to mid slope. At that time, slope sediments seem to have been reworked by slope failures and unsteady contour currents, and further transported by fine-grained turbidity currents along the South Shetland Trench. After the glacial retreat, sediments in the shelf and slope areas have been mainly introduced by persistent (hemi) pelagic settling, and fine-grained turbidity currents frequently occur along the axis of the South Shetland Trench.

Helicopter-borne and ground-towed radar surveys of the Fourcade Glacier on King George Island, Antarctica (남극 킹조지섬 포케이드 빙하의 헬리콥터 및 지상 레이다 탐사)

  • Kim, K.Y.;Lee, J.;Hong, M.H.;Hong, J.K.;Shon, H.
    • Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.51-60
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    • 2010
  • To determine subglacial topography and internal features of the Fourcade Glacier on King George Island in Antarctica, helicopter-borne and ground-towed ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data were recorded along four profiles in November 2006. Signature deconvolution, f-k migration velocity analysis, and finite-difference depth migration applied to the mixed-phase, single-channel, ground-towed data, were effective in increasing vertical resolution, obtaining the velocity function, and yielding clear depth images, respectively. For the helicopter-borne GPR, migration velocities were obtained as root-mean-squared velocities in a two-layer model of air and ice. The radar sections show rugged subglacial topography, englacial sliding surfaces, and localised scattering noise. The maximum depth to the basement is over 79m in the subglacial valley adjacent to the south-eastern slope of the divide ridge between Fourcade and Moczydlowski Glaciers. In the ground-towed profile, we interpret a complicated conduit above possible basal water and other isolated cavities, which are a few metres wide. Near the terminus, the GPR profiles image sliding surfaces, fractures, and faults that will contribute to the tidewater calving mechanism forming icebergs in Potter Cove.

Water Column Structure and Dispersal Pattern of Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) in a floating ice-dominated fjord, Marian Cove, Antarctica during Austral Summer (유빙이 점유한 남극 마리안 소만의 하계기간 수층 구조와 부유물질 분산)

  • Yoo, Kyu-Cheul;Yoon, Hoo-Il;Kang, Cheon-Yun;Kim, Boo-Keun;Oh, Jae-Kyung
    • The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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    • v.5 no.4
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    • pp.295-304
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    • 2000
  • Vertical measurement of CTDT at about 30 min intervals and spatial surface temperature, salinity, and concentration of suspended particulate matters were conducted to elucidate the character of water column and the dispersal pattern in a floating ice-dominated fjord, Marian Cove, West Antarctica. Marian Cove showed two distinct water layers in terms of turbidity; 1) cold, fresh, and turbid surface plume in the upper 2 m,2) warm, saline, and relatively clean Maxwell Bay inflow between 15-45 m in water depth. Thermal melting of Maxwell Bay inflow and tidewater glacier/floating ices developed the surface mixed layer and the activity of floating ices cause Maxwell Bay inflow to be unstable. Due to the unstable water column, the development of Maxwell Bay inflow and subsequent surface plume are not influenced by tidal frequency. Coastal current generated by strong northwesterly wind may extend warm, saline, and turbid surface plume into the central part of the cove along the northern coast via the western coast of Weaver Peninsula. Terrigenous sediments of meltwaters from the glaciated ice cliffs near the corner of tidewater glacier and some coasts enter into the cove and their dispersion depends upon the hydrographic regimes (tide, wind, wave etc.). At the period of spring tide, the strong wind stress with the northwesterly wind direction reserve suspended sediment-fed surface plume and so allow the possibility of deposition of terrigenous sediments within the basin of cove.

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Natural Environment of Silk Road (실크로드의 자연환경)

  • Son, Myoung-Won
    • Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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    • v.11 no.1
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    • pp.29-39
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    • 2005
  • Silk Road is the term involving all traffic roads connecting the East to the West, and ancient Korean culture has became globalized through Silk Road. In this paper, natural environment of Silk Road is considered as fundamental data in order to understand the Western culture introduced through Silk Road. Silk Road region is classified into Loess Plateau district; arid basin district; and high mountains district; Hesi Corridor(河西回廊) is the transition zone that the southeastern part of $W{\breve{u}}w{\bar{e}}i$(武威) is Loess Plateau district; other northwestern part is arid basin district Loess Plateau district, composed of homogeneous fines, has experienced dramatic soil loss by bringing under cultivation. At recent times, reforestation and construction of check-dam have been in operation to cope with this problems, Arid basin district; although at midlatitude, is desert climate because it is far from the ocean and is surrounded by high mountains. Oasis of Hesi Corridor is continuous linearly, but that of arid basin district is sporadic. In $H{\bar{a}}mi$ and $T{\breve{u}}l{\breve{u}}f{\bar{a}}n$(吐魯番) fruit-growing using karez flourishes, And glacier of $Ti{\bar{a}}nshian$(天山) Mts. and $Q{\bar{i}}lian$(祁連) Mts. is very important to arid basin district because of supplying water resource. In the tundra zone surrounding alpine glacier, are distributed widely solifluction lobes and earth hummocks.

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A Preliminary Geomorphic Overview of Late Quaternary Glacier Fluctuations in the South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica (서남극 남쉐틀랜드 군도의 제4기 후기 빙하 활동의 지형학적 고찰)

  • Lim, Hyoun-Soo;Yoon, Ho-Il;Lee, Yong-Il;Kim, Yea-Dong;Owen Lewis A.;Seong, Yeong-Bae
    • Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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    • v.41 no.5 s.116
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    • pp.513-526
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    • 2006
  • The timing and extent of glaciations during the Late Quaternary in the South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica were defined using field mapping, geomorphic analysis and radiocarbon dating. Landforms of glacial erosion and deposition, in particular subglacial meltwater channel erosion, suggest that at least three glaciations occurred during the late Quaternary within the study region. During the global LGM, glacial troughs (such as Maxwell Bay and Admiralty Bay) were overdeepened by an ice stream moving south from $an\sim1000m-thick$ ice cap centered on the present-day continental shelf to the north. This ice was responsible for the subglacial meltwater channel erosion, and glacial polished and striated bedrock on the Fildes Peninsula. The recent local glaciations occurred about 2,000 years ago and during Little Ice Age (LIA). During these glaciations, glaciers were less extensive than the previous one and less erosive as a cold-based ice

A Study on High-Resolution Seasonal Variations of Major Ionic Species in Recent Snow Near the Antarctic Jang Bogo Station (남극 장보고과학기지 인근에서 채취한 눈시료 내의 주요 이온성분들의 고해상도 계절변동성 연구)

  • Kwak, Hoje;Kang, Jung-Ho;Hong, Sang-Bum;Lee, Jeonghoon;Chang, Chaewon;Hur, Soon Do;Hong, Sungmin
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.37 no.2
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    • pp.127-140
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    • 2015
  • A continuous series of 60 snow samples was collected at a 2.5-cm interval from a 1.5-m snow pit at a site on the Styx Glacier Plateau in Victoria Land, Antarctica, during the 2011/2012 austral summer season. Various chemical components (${\delta}D$, ${\delta}^{18}O$, $Na^+$, $K^+$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Cl^-$, $SO_4{^2-}$, $NO_3{^-}$, $F^-$, $CH_3SO_3{^-}$, $CH_3CO_2{^-}$ and $HCO_2{^-}$) were determined to understand the highly resolved seasonal variations of these species in the coastal atmosphere near the Antarctic Jang Bogo station. Based on vertical profiles of ${\delta}^{18}O$, $NO_3{^-}$and MSA, which showed prominent seasonal changes in concentrations, the snow samples were dated to cover the time period from 2009 austral winter to 2012 austral summer with a mean accumulation rate of $226kgH_2Om^{-2}yr^{-1}$. Our snow profiles show pronounced seasonal variations for all the measured chemical species with a different pattern between different species. The distinctive feature of the occurrence patterns of the seasonal variations is clearly linked to changes in the relative strength of contributions from various natural sources (sea salt spray, volcanoes, crust-derived dust, and marine biogenic activities) during different short-term periods. The results allow us to understand the transport pathways and input mechanisms for each species and provide valuable information that will be useful for investigating long-term (decades to century scale periods) climate and environmental changes that can be deduced from an ice core to be retrieved from the Styx Glacier Plateau in the near future.

Genetic Variation of Two Isolated Relict Populations of Vaccinium uliginosum L. in Korea (들쭉나무 격리잔존 2개 집단의 유전변이)

  • Han, Sang-Don;Hong, Yong-Pyo;Kwon, Hae-Yun;Yang, Byeung-Hoon;Kim, Chan-Soo
    • Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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    • v.94 no.4 s.161
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    • pp.209-213
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    • 2005
  • In order to provide the molecular genetic information necessary for conservation of bog whortleberry (Vaccinium uliginosum L), one of the rare species in Korea, I-SSR analysis was performed on two populations on Mt. Halla and Mt. Seorak. A total of 68 I-SSR products were observed, and higher level of genetic diversity was observed in Mt. Halla population (S.I.=0.539) than in the Mt. Seorak population (S.I,=0.401). Level of genetic diversity in this species was relatively higher than those in other rare species analysed with I-SSR marker. From the results of AMOVA, exceptionally large proportion of genetic diversity (33.5%) was resulted from genetic difference between two populations, and only 66.5% of the genetic variation was allocated in common among individuals within each population, compared with the results in other long-lived woody species. This remarkably high degree of genetic heterogeneity existed between Mt. Halla and Mt. Seorak populations might suggest that they might be originated from the independent progenitors before the post glacier ages, respectively, and/or that they undergone random genetic drift respectively due to geographical isolation resulted from dramatic changes in environmental conditions after the post glacier ages.