• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.168-177
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• 2017

In order to reveal formation factors and developmental processes of tafoni this study was conducted with petrological analysis including microscopic observation, measurement of water content and water analysis at Golgulsa temple in Gyeongju, South Korea. The direction of the entrance to tafoni at Golgulsa temple tends to coincide with the direction of slope, and this is thought to be related to the direction of wind flow and water supply. Tafoni's initial developmental processes is judged to have grown as a result of a breakaway of rock fragments along with beddings and cracks in rock. Then, tafoni have been enlarged along at the spots that sufficiently accommodate water supply depending on the direction of wind. The results of water analysis of the stagnant water in gnamma implies that a high meltage of Na and Cl compared to other inland areas can be from the adjacent shore. The effects of such saline substances on rock weathering and development of taponi are currently under way through electronic microscopy and geochemical analysis.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.339-350
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• 2022

There are a variety of types in tafoni formed in Miocene tuff from Golgulsa, Gyeongju. Tuff bearing tafoni was quite weathered, composed of quartz, feldspars, micas, vermiculite, chlorite, smectite, and analcite. In the early stage of the tafoni development, tafoni preferentially formed from cavities where volcanic breccias were removed or from microcavities where microcrystals were chemically altered. Small tafoni grew into large one by merging each other. The orientation of tafoni is inversely arranged to slopes, with slight inclination toward the inner cavity. Height, width, and depth of tafoni are closely interrelated: the correlation coefficients are 0.839 (width-height), 0.900 (width-depth), and 0.856 (height-depth), respectively. Removal of walls between tafoni resulted in lenticular or crescent forms, and small tafoni laterally combined to large tafoni. Large tafoni is weak because of high porosity and low strength compared to normal slope. Therefore, systematic monitoring for slope strength, pore proportion and volume, and growth of cavity needs to secure the slope stability where tafoni in Golgulsa is widespread.