• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.311-320
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• 2006

Digital filters designed using wavelet theory are applied to bathymetry data acquired from KR5 area of Korea Deepsea Mining Area. The filters used in this study are the linear B-spline wavelet filter and derivative of a Cubic B-spline filter. With proper tuning of the digital filters, we can identify the location and orientation of the abyssal hill and abyssal trough in bathymetry. These features obtained from the digital filters are well correlated with bathymetric image. This quantitative information, which can be used to understand the underlying geophysical processes, can be further processed to obtain the spacing, orientation and distribution of the abyssal hill. This wavelet analysis of bathymetry provides good data to select the mining site.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.303-310
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• 2007

2-D wavelet analysis is applied to bathymetric data from the KR1 area of Korea Deepsea Mining Area. The wavelet analysis is one of the quantitative methods to analyze the topography. The wavelet allows us to create filters to select for topography in a continuous variety of shapes, sizes, and orientation. The 2-D Linear B-spline filter, 100 BS and 100 NF, is convolved with bathymetric data to identify the location of abyssal hills and abyssal troughs in bathymetry. In addition, the 2-D derivative of Cubic B-spline filter, 60 BS and 60 NF, is applied to bathymetric data to find the slope of abyssal hill in bathymetry. These filters were rotated $5^{\circ}$ counterclockwise from NS to match the dominant orientation of seafloor lineament. Both filters result in good match with abyssal hills, troughs, and slopes. This method can apply to fault, fold, and other lineament structures description with variable size. The result of application shows that wavelet analysis of bathymetric data could be used with fundamental data of geophysical analysis.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.110-122
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• 1988

Between the Clarion and Clipperton fracture zones of the Northeastern Pacific, nodules and crusts were collected from abyssal plain and hills by the Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute in December, 1983 aboard the R/V KANA KEOKI of the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics. Mineralogical and geochemical data of bulk nodules are obtained and compared with analyses of other studies. Mechanisms of nodule formation are discussed based on these data. Generally, the nodules of the KONOD-1 site are composed of todorokite and ${\delta}-MnO_2$. The contents of Mn, Fe, Ni, and Cu of the bulk nodules are variable and the average contents of metals are slightly lower (Mn, 21.40%; Ni, 0.9%; Cu, 0.8%) than those of nodules from other abyssal plains between the Clarion and Clipperton fracture zones. High Mn/Fe (average 3.9; maximum 5.9) and Cu/Ni (average 0.8; maximum 1.0) ratios are similar to the nodules that were formed diagenetically in the northeast Pacific. The chemical characteristics of the KONOD-1 nodules reflect their sedimentary environments; nodules with higher diagenetic signatures occur in areas of thin Quaternary siliceous ooze, and nodules of lower diagenetic influence occur in topographically irregular abyssal hill areas.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.163-172
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• 2007

A seafloor curvature measurement method was developed to extract redundant topographic features from the multi-beam bathymetry data, and then applied to the data of abyssal plain area in the Pacific. Any seafloor might be modeled to a quadratic surface determined in a linear least squares sense, and its curvature could be derived from the eigen values related with quadratic model parameters. The curvature's magnitude as well as polarity showed distinct relationship with geometric characteristics of the seafloor like as ridge and valley. From the investigation of curvature's variation with the number of data in the quadratic surface, the optimal size of data aperture could be applied to real bathymetry data. The application to real data also required the determination of the accompanying threshold values to cope with corresponding topographic features. The calculation method of previous studies were reported to be sensitive to the background noise. The improved curvature measurement method, incorporating the sum of eigen values has reduced unwanted artifacts and enhanced ability to extract lineament features along strike direction. The result of application shows that the curvature measurement method is effective tool for the estimation of a possible mining area in the seamount free abyssal hill area.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.323-337
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• 1999

Seafloor morphology and manganese nodule occurrence were studied in the Korea Deep-sea Environmental Study (KODES) area, northeast equatorial Pacific, to understand their relationship. Study area is composed of three elongated valleys and hills with about 100~200 m height along NNE-SSW direction. Valley region is generally flat. However, hill region is very rugged with big cliffs of about 100m height and small depressions of several tens of meters depth. Tectonic movement along the Clarion-Clipperton fracture zone, consequent formation of elongated abyssal hills and Valleys, erosion of siliceous bottom sediments by bottom currents, and dissolution of carbonate sediments on the abyssal hills below CCD result in the rugged morphology. Manganese nodule occurrence is closely related to the morphology of the study area; mostly rounded-shaped manganese nodules with about 5 cm diameter are abundant on the flat valley region, whereas irregular shaped nodules (or manganese crust) with less than 5 cm to about 1 m diameter occur on the hill. These results supports the previous reports that nodule abundance, composition, and morphology are variable both on regional and local small scales on the seafloor even within some abundant nodule provinces depending on oceanographic characteristics such as bathymetric features, surface sediment type, sediment thickness, and so on. We suggest that such oceanographic characteristics affect interrelatedly on the formation of manganese nodules, and tectonic movement of the Pacific plate ultimately constrain the nodule occurrence. A potential mining place in the KODES area seems to be the valley region, which is elongated to the NNW-SSE direction with 3-4 km width.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.173-182
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• 2007

It is well known that manganese nodules enriched with valuable metals are abundantly distributed in the abyssal plain area in the Clarion-Clipperton (C-C) fracture zone of the northeast Pacific. Previous studies using deep-sea camera (DSC) system reported different observations about the relation of seafloor topographic change and nodule abundance, and they were sometimes contradictory. Moreover, proper foundation on the estimation of DSC underwater position, was not introduced clearly. The variability of the mining condition of manganese nodule according to seafloor topography was examined in the Korea Deep Ocean Study (KODOS) area, located in the C-C zone. In this paper, it is suggested that the utilization of deep towing system such as DSC is very useful approach to whom are interested in analysing the distributional characteristics of manganese nodule filed and in selecting promising minable area. To this purpose, nodule abundance and detailed bathymetry were acquired using deep-sea camera system and multi-beam echo sounder, respectively on the seamount free abyssal hill area of southern part ($132^{\circ}10'W$, $9^{\circ}45'N$) in KODOS regime. Some reasonable assumptions were introduced to enhance the accuracy of estimated DSC sampling position. The accuracy in the result of estimated underwater position was verified indirectly through the comparison of measured abundances on the crossing point of neighboring DSC tracks. From the recorded seafloor images, not only nodules and sediments but cracks and cliffs could be also found frequently. The positions of these probable unminable area were calculated by use of the recorded time being encountered with them from the seafloor images of DSC. The results suggest that the unminable areas are mostly distributed on the slope sides and hill tops, where nodule collector can not travel over.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.643-654
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• 2023

The West Philippine Basin, an oceanic basin half the size of the Philippine Sea Plate, lies in the western part of the plate and south of the Korean Peninsula on the Eurasian Plate. It subducts beneath the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Islands bordering the Ryukyu Trench and the Philippine Trench with 25-50% of this basin already consumed. However, the history of the opening of the basin's southern region has been a topic of debate. The non-transform discontinuity formed during the seafloor spreading is similar to the transform fault boundaries normally perpendicular to mid-ocean ridge axes; however, it was created irregularly due to ridge propagations caused by variations of mantle convection attributable to magma supply changes. By analyzing high-resolution multi-beam echo-sounding data, we confirmed that the non-transform discontinuity due to the propagating rift evolved in the entire basin and that the abyssal hill strike direction changed from E-W to NNW-SSE from the fossil spreading center. In the early stage of basin extension, the Amami-Sankaku Basin was rotated 90 degrees clockwise from its current orientation, and it bordered the Palau Basin along the Mindanao Fracture Zone. The Amami-Sankaku Basin separated from the Palau Basin while the spreading of the West Philippine Basin began with a counter-clockwise rotation. This indicates that the non-transform discontinuities formed by a sudden change in magma supply due to the drift of the Philippine Sea Plate and simultaneously with the rapid changes in the spreading direction from ENE-WSW to N-S. The Palau Basin was considered to be the sub-south of the West Philippine Basin, but recent studies have shown that it extends into an independent system. Evidence from sediment layers and crustal thickness hints at the possibility of its existence before the West Philippine Basin opened, although its evolution continues to be debated. We performed a combined analysis using high-resolution multi-beam bathymetry and satellite gravity data to uncover new insights into the evolution of the West Philippine Basin. This information illuminates the complex plate interactions and provides a crucial contribution toward understanding the opening history of the basin and the Philippine Sea Plate.