• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.68-74
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• 1998

Performance and efficiency of deep seabed collector is a primary factor for feasibility of commercial deep ocean mining. The efficiency of manganese nodules collector depends on vehicle mobility relative to undulating seafloor and is attributed pickup head to keep altitude and elevation of it against seafloor. For this reason, motion control of pickup head relative to the changing deep-sea topography and other disturbances is of particular importance in design of pickup device. The concept of design axiom is applied to a pickup device of hybrid type in order to evaluate the concept design. Kinematic analysis conducted in absolute Cartesian coordinates gives position, velocity, and acceleration of the hydraulic cylinders which enable the pickup head to keep the preset optimal distance from seafloor. Inverse dynamic analysis provides the driving forces of hydraulic cylinders and the reaction forces at each joint. Design sensitivity analysis is performed in order to investigate the effects of possible design variables on the change of the maximum strokes of hydraulic cylinders. The direct differentiation method is used to obtain the design sensitivity coefficients.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.167-176
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• 2008

Lau basin of the south Pacific, as an active back arc basin, is promising area bearing seafloor massive hydrothermal deposit that is located in a subduction zone between the Pacific ocean plate and Indo-Australian continental plate. We performed multi-beam bathymetry survey in the Lau basin using EM120, to find out high hydrothermal activity Bone. Fonualei Rift and Spreading Center (FRSC) and Mangatolou Triple Junction (MTJ) area were selected for precise site survey through seafloor morphology investigation. The result of surface and deep-tow magnetometer survey showed that Central Anomaly Magnetization High (CAMH) recorded which is associated with active ridge in FRSC-2 and revealed very low magnetic anomalies that can be connected to past or present high hydrothermal activity in MTJ-1 seamount area. Moreover, the physical and chemical tracers of hydrothermal vent flume, i.e., transmission, hydrogen ion concentration (pH), adenosine triphosphate (ATP), methane (CH4) by use of CTD system, showed significant anomalies in those areas. From positive vent flume results, we could conclude that these areas were or are experiencing very active volcanic activities. The acquired chimney and hydrothermal altered bed rock samples gave us confidence of the existence of massive hydrothermal deposit. Even though not to use visual exploration equipment such as ROV, DTSSS, etc., traditional marine geophysical investigation approach might be a truly cost-effective tool for exploring seafloor hydrothermal massive deposit.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.145-153
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• 2013

High-resolution chirp profiles were analyzed to investigate the echo types of near-surface sediments in the Yellow Sea off the Baegryeong Island. On the basis of seafloor morphology and subbottom echo characters, 7 echo types were identified. Flat seafloor with no internal reflectors or moderately to well-developed subbottom reflectors (echo type 1-1 and 1-2) is mainly distributed in the southern part of the study area. Flat seafloor with superposed wavy bedforms (echo type 1-3) is also distributed in the middle part. Mounded seafloor with either smooth surface or superposed bedforms (echo type 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3) occurs in the middle part of the study area. Irregular and eroded seafloor with no subbottom reflectors (echo type 3-1) is present in the northern part of the study area off the Baegryeong Island. According to the distribution pattern and sedimentary facies of echo types, depositional environments can be divided into three distinctive areas: (1) active erosional zone due to strong tidal currents in the northern part; (2) formation of tidal sand ridges in response to tidal currents associated with sea-level rise distributed in the middle part; and (3) transgressive sand sheets in the southern part. Such a depositional pattern, including 7 echo types, in this area reflects depositional process related to the sea-level rise and strong tidal currents during the Holocene transgression.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.143-152
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• 1987

The digital data were obtained using Kennedy 9000 magnetic tape deck which was connected to the SMS960 side scan sonar during the field operations. The data of three consecutive survey tracks near Seongsan-po, Cheju were used for the development of this study. The softwares were mainly written in Fortran-77 using VAX 11/780 MINI-COMPUTER (CPU Memory; 4MB). The established mapping system consists of the pretreatment and the digital processing of seafloor image data. The pretreatment was necessary because the raw digital data format of the field magnetic tapes was not compatible to the VAX system. Therefore the raw data were read by the personal computer using the Assembler language and the data format was converted to IBM compatible, and next data were communicated to the VAX system. The digital processing includes geometrical correction for slant range, statistical analysis and cartography of the seafloor image. The sound speed in the water column was assumed 1,500 m/sec for the slant range correction and the moving average method was used for the signal trace smoothing. Histograms and cumulative curves were established for the statistical analysis, that was purposed to classify the backscattering strength from the sea-bottom. The seafloor image was displayed on the color screen of the TEKTRONIX 4113B terminal. According to the brief interpretation of the result image map, rocky and sedimentary bottoms were very well discriminated. Also it was shown that the backscattered acoustic pressurecorrelateswith the grain size and sorting of surface sediments.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.863-868
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• 2016

In this study, the precise shapes of sunken ships and information on seafloor topography were analyzed using data obtained from a multi-beam echo sounder. The state of each sunken ship was analyzed by processing diverse imagery data which was compared with data obtained from past investigations to determine changes in the state and circumjacent seafloor topography. Apparent changes in the seafloor topography around one sunken ship, the "Pacific Friend", were found from stern to bow as a result of continued submarine erosion and sedimentation. In the case of sunken ship "No. 7 Haeseong", the partial collapse of the bow was revealed in the seabed images captured in 2015, though it had still been intact in images captured during the Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency's investigation in 2011. This partial collapse was presumed to have resulted from the effects of continued tidal currents, the cargo load of the ship and continued corrosion of the ship over a long time on the seabed. Continuous monitoring of residual fuel inside the ship is necessary to avoid leakage and potential marine pollution. By conducting image analysis on these sunken ships, it has been determined that the structural safety of the ships is seriously influenced by tidal currents and seafloor topography, while the hulls will be continuously changed by corrosion. As a result, it can be concluded that the development of prediction and response techniques that take into consideration residual fuel leakage and environmental changes according to the geological characteristics of sunken ships is necessary.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.465-475
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• 2022

The seafloor massive sulfide deposits are important mineral resources for base and precious metals, and their ore genesis and metal contents are mainly controlled by wall-rock leaching process and/or magmatic volatile input from the underlying magma chamber. However, the contribution of two different metal sources to the seafloor hydrothermal mineralization significantly varies in diverse geological settings and thus still remains controversial. In this review, mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of SMS deposits from mid-ocean ridges (MORs) and volcanic arcs were investigated to understand the contribution from different metal sources and to suggest future challenges that need to be addressed. As a result, the genetic occurrences of enargite and cubanite, galena and barite indicate the effects of magmatic input and water-rock interaction, respectively. Also, the distributional behaviors of Co, As, and Hg in pyrite and FeS content of sphalerite could be useful empirical indicators to discriminate the significant roles of different metal sources between MOR and Arc settings. To date, as most studies have focused on sulfide samples recovered from the seabed, further studies on magmatic sulfides and sulfate minerals are required to fully understand the genetic history of SMS deposits.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.22-37
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• 2020

We analyze the comprehensive three-dimensional (3D) magnetic structure characteristics from the seafloor to the deep layer of the Tofua Arc (TA) 12 seamount in the Tonga Arc, Southwestern Pacific, using bathymetric and geomagnetic data, and magnetization vector inversion (MVI) results. The seafloor features surrounding TA 12 highlight a NW-SE-oriented elliptical caldera at the summit of the seamount, two small cones in the depressed area. A large-scale sea valley is present on the western flank of the seamount, extending from these caldera cones to the southwestern base of the seamount. TA 12 seamount exhibits a low magnetic anomaly in the caldera depression, whereas a high magnetic anomaly is observed surrounding the low magnetic anomaly across the caldera summit. It is therefore presumed that there may be a strong magnetic material distribution or magma intrusion in the caldera. The 3D MVI results show that the high anomaly zones are mainly present in the surrounding slopes of the seamount from the seafloor to the -3,000 m (below the seafloor) level, with the magnetic susceptibility intensity increasing as the seafloor level increases at the caldera depression. However, small high anomaly zones are present across the study area near the seafloor level. Therefore, we expect that the magma ascent in TA 12 seamount migrated from the flanks to the depression area. Furthermore, we assume that the complex magnetic distribution near the seafloor is due to the remnant magnetization.

• Proceedings of the Petrological Society of Korea Conference
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• 1999.06a
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• pp.70-74
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• 1999

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.26-26
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• 2009

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.11 no.9
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• pp.774-780
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• 2005

For the accurate inspection of the resources and space in the ocean, the method of locating the measurement equipments in the seafloor and retrieving these equipments later after a certain period of time. is generally used. In this method, the reliability of retrieving measurement equipments is very important. In our proposed remotely-controlled acoustic release system, an underwater ultrasonic wave recognition algorithm by which we can recognize the sound signal without the influence of disturbances due to underwater environment changes is developed, and a battery is used for the reduction of electric power consumption. we show the effectiveness of our proposed system through experimental results.