• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2006

Analyses of sedimentological and geochemical parameters from two radiocarbon-dated sediment cores (JM98-845-PC and JM98-818-PC) retrieved from the central part of Isfjorden, Svalbard, in the Arctic Sea, reveal detailed paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic histories over the last 15,000 radiocarbon years. The overconsolidated diamicton at the base of core JM98-845-PC is supposed to be a basal till deposited beneath pounding glacier that had advanced during the LGM (Last Glacial Maximum). Deglaciation of the fjord commenced after the glacial maximum, marked by the deposition of interlaminated sand and mud in the ice-proximal zone by subglacial meltwater discharge, and prevailed between 13,700 and 10,800 yr B.P. with enriched-terrigenous organic materials. A return to colder conditions occurred at around 10,800 yr B.P. with a drop in TOC content, which is probably coincident with the Younger Dryas event in the North Atlantic region. At this time, an abrupt decrease of TOC content as well as an increase in C/N ratio suggests enhanced terrigenous input due to the glacial readvance. A climatic optimum is recognized between 8,395 and 2,442 yr B.P., coinciding with 'a mid-Holocene climatic optimum' in Northern Hemisphere sites (e.g., the Laurentide Ice sheet). During this time, as the sea ice receded from the fjord, enhanced primary productivity occurred in open marine conditions, resulting in the deposition of organic-enriched pebbly mud with evidence of TOC maxima and C/N ratio minima in sediments. Fast ice also disappeared from the coast, providing the maximum of IRD (ice-rafted debris) input. Around 2,442 yr B.p. (the onset of Neoglacial), pebbly mud, characterized by a decrease in TOC content, reflects the formation of more extensive sea ice and fast ice, which might cause decreased primary productivity in the surface water, as evidenced by a decrease in TOC content. Our results provide evidence of climatic change on the Svalbard fjords that helps to refine the existence and timing of late Pleistocene and Holocene millennial-scale climatic events in the Northern Hemisphere.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.213-226
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• 2003

Kongsfjorden near Korean Arctic Station, Dasan, is a glacial fjord in the Svalbard archipelago, Arctic that is influenced by both Atlantic and Arctic water masses. During the Arctic field season August 2002, surface temperature, salinity, density, and phytoplankton biomass (chi a) was measured in Kongsfjorden. A total of 15 surface samples were collected for the phytoplankton related measurements. Chl a values ranged from 0.08 to 1.4mg chi a $m^{-3}$ (mean of 0.53mg chl a $m^{-3}$) in the overall surface stations. The highest values of the chi a concentrations (> 1.0mg chi a $m^{-3}$) were found near glacier in the northeastern part of Kongsfjorden. Nanoplanktonic (< $20{\mu}m$) phytoflagellates were important contributors for the increase of the chi a. The nano-sized phytoflagellates accounted for more than 90% of the total chi a biomass in the study area. Surface temperatures and salinities ranged from 2.5 to $7.18^{\circ}C$ (mean of $4.65^{\circ}C$) and from 22.55 to 32.97 psu (mean of 30.16 psu), respectively. The physical factors were not highly correlated with phytoplankton distribution. The character of surface water due to down-fjord wind was highly similar to phytoplankton distribution. Drifting ice, freshwater, and semdiment inputs from large tidal glaciers located in the inner part of Konsfjorden create steep physico- and biogeochemical environmental gradients along the length of this ford. The glacial inputs cause reduced biodiversity biomass and productivity in the pelagic community in the inner fjord. Primary production of benthic and pelagic microalgae is reduced due to the limited light levels in the turbid and mixed inner waters. The magnitude of glacial effects diminishes towards the outer fjord. Kongsfjorden is an important feeding ground fer marine mammals and seabirds. Especially, seabirds play the largest energy intake and also export nutrients for primary production of the marine microalgae. Kongsfjorden has received a lot of research attention as a site for exploring the impacts of climate changes. Dasan Station in Kongsfjorden will be an important Arctic site for monitoring and detecting future environmental changes.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.42 no.2 s.119
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• pp.165-176
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• 2007

Absolute age of the deposition of 1.3 km-thick Bunthang sequence within the Skardu intermontane basin of the Central Karakoram was determined using radioactive decay of cosmogonic $^{10}Be$ and $^{26}Al$ burial dating. The Bunthang sequence deposited around 2.65 Ma, which is the oldest glaciation in the region. The timing of deposition of the Bunthang sequence is consistent with the previous suggestion that the basin filling took place between Brunhess and Matuyama chrons. Four major sedimentary facies interfinger within the Bunthang sequence: glacial diamict, lacustrine, fluvial and lacustrine facies upward. This sedimentary distinctiveness and the lack of evidence on the faults for alternative pull-apart basin model around the Bunthang sequence, suggest that the depressional basin was formed by deep subglacial erosion during the exrtensive Bunthang Glacial Stage and subsequently the sediments underlain by basal diamict, was quickly deposited by preglacial and paraglacial processes. Temporary ponding of the Indus River due to tectonic uplift in the downstream or blockage by mass movements might make the basin filing more possible. The hypothesis that the single ice sheet developed on the Tibetan Plateau during the global last glacial cycle should be refuted by the existence of the older extensive Bunthang glacier Furthermore, the extensive glaciation during the early Quaternary (and thus progressive decrease in extent with time) suggests that there may have been significant uplift of the Pamir to the west and Himalaya to the south, which would have reduced the penetration of westerlies and Indian summer monsoon and hence moisture supply to the region.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.717-733
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• 2021

This study is aimed to provide basic data to set the direction of polar literacy education and to raise awareness of the importance of polar research. Elementary, middle, and high school students' perception of the polar region was examined in terms of current status of polar information, impression regarding polar regions, and awareness of related issues. The study included 975 students from nine elementary, middle, and high schools, who responded to 16 questions, including close-ended and open-ended items. The results suggest that students had more experiences regarding the polar region on audiovisual media, but relatively limited learning experiences in school education. The impression they had of the polar region was confined to the monotonous image of a polar bear in crisis, following the melting of the glacier due to global warming. The students formed powerful images by combining scenes they saw in audiovisual media with emotions. In terms of recognizing problems in the polar region, the students were generally interested in creatures, natural environment, and climate change, but their interests varied depending on their school level and their own career path. The students highly valued the scientist's status as agents to address the problems facing the region, and gave priority to global citizenship values rather than practical standards. Based on the results, we suggest the following: introducing and systematizing content focusing on the polar region in the school curriculum, providing a differentiated learning experience through cooperation between scientists and educators, establishing polar literacy based on concepts that are relevant to various subjects, earth system-centered learning approach, setting the direction for follow-up studies and the need for science education that incorporates diverse values.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.171-182
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• 2022

InSAR (Interferometry SAR) technique is a technique that uses complex data to obtain phase difference information from two or more SAR image data, and enables high-resolution image extraction, surface change detection, elevation measurement, and glacial change observation. In many countries, research on the InSAR technique is being conducted in various fields of study such as volcanic activity detection, glacier observation in Antarctica, and ground subsidence analysis. In this study, a case of large ground settlement due to groundwater level drawdown during tunnelling was introduced, and ground settlement analyses using InSAR technique and numerical analysis method were compared. The maximum settlement and influence radius estimated by the InSAR technique and numerical method were found to be quite similar, which confirms the reliability of the InSAR technique. Through this case study, it was found that the InSAR technique reliable to use for estimating ground settlement and can be used as a key technology to identify the long-term ground settlement history in the absence of measurement data.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.5B
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• pp.497-507
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• 2010

Climate changes affect greatly natural ecosystem, human social and economic system acting on constituting the climate system such as air, ocean, life, glacier and land, etc. and estimating the current impact of climate change would be the most important thing to adapt to the climate changes. This study set the target area to Nakdong river watershed and investigated the impact of climate changes through analyzing precipitation tendency, and to understand the impact of climate changes on hydrological elements, analyzed elasticity of precipitation-streamflow. For the analysis of precipitation trend, collecting the precipitation data of the National Weather Service from major points of Nakdong river watershed, resampling them at the units of year, season and month, used as the data of precipitation trend analysis. To analyze precipitation-streamflow elasticity, collecting area average precipitation and long-term streamflow data provided by WAMIS, annual and seasonal time-series were analyzed. In addition, The results of this study and elasticity, and other abroad study compared with the elasticity analysis and the validity of this study was verified. Results of this study will be able to be utilized for study on a plan to increase of flood control ability of flooding constructs caused by the increase of streamflow around Nakdong river watershed due to climate changes and on a plan of adapting to water environment according to climate changes.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.91-107
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• 2024

Single-channel seismic exploration has proven effective in delineating subsurface geological structures using small-scale survey systems. The seismic data acquired through zero- or near-offset methods directly capture subsurface features along the vertical axis, facilitating the construction of corresponding seismic sections. However, substantial noise in single-channel seismic data hampers precise interpretation because of the low signal-to-noise ratio. This study introduces a novel approach that integrate noise reduction and signal enhancement via matrix rank optimization to address this issue. Unlike conventional rank-reduction methods, which retain selected singular values to mitigate random noise, our method optimizes the entire singular value spectrum, thus effectively tackling both random and erratic noises commonly found in environments with low signal-to-noise ratio. Additionally, to enhance the horizontal continuity of seismic events and mitigate signal loss during noise reduction, we introduced an adaptive weighting factor computed from the eigenimage of the seismic section. To access the robustness of the proposed method, we conducted numerical experiments using single-channel Sparker seismic data from the Chukchi Plateau in the Arctic Ocean. The results demonstrated that the seismic sections had significantly improved signal-to-noise ratios and minimal signal loss. These advancements hold promise for enhancing single-channel and high-resolution seismic surveys and aiding in the identification of marine development and submarine geological hazards in domestic coastal areas.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.13-24
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• 2014

We established the first complete ice core processing method and analytical procedures for fundamental proxies, using a 40.2 m long ice core drilled on the Mt. Tsambagarav glacier in the Mongolian Altai mountains in July 2008. The whole core was first divided into two sub ice core sections and the measurements of the visual stratigraphy and electrical conductivity were performed on the surface of these sub core sections. A continuous sequence of samples was then prepared for chemical analyses (stable isotope ratios of oxygen ($^{18}O/^{16}O$) and hydrogen ($^2H/^1H$), soluble ions and trace elements). A total of 29 insoluble dust layers were identified from the measurement of visual stratigraphy. The electrical conductivity measurement (ECM) shows 11 peaks with the current more than 0.8 ${\mu}A$ Comparing the profiles of $SO_4{^{2-}}$ and $Cl^-$ concentrations to correlate with known volcanic eruptions, the first two ECM peaks appear to be linked to the eruptions (January and June 2007) of Kliuchevskoi volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia, which supports the reliability of our ECM data. Finally, the composition of stable isotopes (${\delta}^{18}O$ and ${\delta}D$) shows a well-defined seasonal variation, suggesting that various chemical proxies may have been well preserved in the successive ice layers of Tsambagarav ice core. Our ice core processing method and analytical procedures for fundamental proxies are expected to be used for paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental studies from polar and alpine ice cores.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.375-387
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• 2013

Accuracy assessment of tide models in polar ocean has to be performed to accurately analyze tidal response of glaciers by using Double-Differential Interferometric SAR (DDInSAR) technique. In this study, we used 120 DDInSAR images generated from 16 one-day tandem COSMO-SkyMed DInSAR pairs obtained for 2 years and in situ tide height for 11 days measured by a pressure type wave recorder to assess the accuracy of tide models such as TPXO7.1, FES2004, CATS2008a and Ross_Inv in Terra Nova Bay, East Antarctica. Firstly, we compared the double-differential tide height (${\Delta}\dot{T}$) for Campbell Glacier Tongue extracted from the DDInSAR images with that predicted by the tide models. Tide height (T) from in situ measurement was compared to that of the tide models. We also compared 24-hours difference of tide height ($\dot{T}$) from in situ tide height with that from the tide models. The root mean square error (RMSE) of ${\Delta}\dot{T}$, T and $\dot{T}$ decreased after the inverse barometer effect (IBE)-correction of the tide models, from which we confirmed that the IBE of tide models should be corrected requisitely. The RMSE of $\dot{T}$ and ${\Delta}\dot{T}$ were smaller than that of T. This was because $\dot{T}$ is the difference of tide height during temporal baseline of the DInSAR pairs (24 hours), in which the errors from mean sea level of the tide models and in situ tide, and the tide constituents of $S_2$, $K_2$, $K_1$ and $P_1$ used in the tide models were canceled. This confirmed that $\dot{T}$ and ${\Delta}\dot{T}$ predicted by the IBE-corrected tide models can be used in DDInSAR technique. It was difficult to select an optimum tide model for DDInSAR in Terra Nova Bay by using in situ tide height measured in a short period. However, we could confirm that Ross_Inv is the optimum tide model as it showed the smallest RMSE of 4.1 cm by accuracy assessment using the DDInSAR images.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.41 no.2 s.113
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• pp.150-167
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• 2006

This study was conducted to determine the pedogenesis of dense subsurface horizons (denoted either Bx or Bd) observed within closed depressions and in toeslope positions at loess-covered glacial tillplains in southern Wisconsin. Some of these dense subsurface horizons, especially those occurring within depressions, show a close morphological resemblance to fragipans elsewhere, even though the existence of fragipans has not been previously reported in southern Wisconsin. The spatial occurrence of fragipans was first examined over the landscape to characterize general soil-landscape relationships. Detailed physico-chemical and micromorphological analyses were followed to investigate the development of fragipans within a closed depression along a catenary sequence. The formation of fragipans at the study site is a result of sequential processes of physical ripening and accumulation of colloidal materials. A very coarse prismatic structure with a closely packed soil matrix was formed via physical ripening processes of loess deposited in small glacial lakes and floodplains that existed soon after the retreat of the last glacier. The physically formed dense horizons became hardened by the accumulation of colloidal materials, notably amorphous Si. The accumulation intensity of amorphous Si varies with mass balance relationships, which are governed by topography and local drainage conditions. Well-developed Bx horizons evolve at closed depressions where net accumulation of amorphous Si occurs, but the collapsed layers remain as Bd horizons at other locations where soluble Si has continuously been removed downslope or downvalley. Hydromorphic processes caused by the presence of fragipans are degrading upper parts of the prisms, resulting in the formation of an eluvial fragic horizon (Ex).