• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.73-81
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• 2005

K-Ar ages have been determined for the submarine basalts dredged from the P2 and P3 segments of the Phoenix Ridge, Drake Passage, Antarctica, for better understanding on the extinction of seafloor spreading. At the P3 segment, the K-Ar ages of the rifted ridge basalts are 3.5-6.4 Ma, and those for the axial seamount basalts are 1.5-3.1 Ma. The K-Ar ages for the basalts at the rifted ridge and axial central high in the P2 segment are 2.1 and 1.4-1.9 Ma, respectively. We suggest that the extinction of seafloor spreading at the P3 and P2 segments occurred at 3.3 and 2.0 Ma, respectively, on the basis of ridge structure and formation time of basalts. This result favors a stepwise extinction model rather than a simultaneous one on the extinction of the Phoenix Ridge.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.236-242
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• 2011

A psychrotrophic bacterium, Arthrobacter sp. ON14, isolated from Antarctica, was shown to exhibit a high ${\beta}$-galactosidase activity at a low temperature. A genomic library of ON14 was constructed and screened for ${\beta}$-galactosidase genes on functional plates containing 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-${\beta}$-D-galactopyranoside (X-gal) as the substrate. Two different ${\beta}$-galactosidase genes, named as galA, galB, were found in ON14. Computational analyses of the genes revealed that the encoded protein GalA belongs to family 2 of glycosyl hydrolysases and is a cold-active protein, whereas GalB belongs to family 42 of glycosyl hydrolysases and is a mesophilic protein. Reverse transcription analyses revealed that the expression of galA is highly induced at a low temperature ($4^{\circ}C$ ) and repressed at a high temperature ($28^{\circ}C$ ) when lactose is used as the sole carbon source. Conversely, the expression of galB is inhibited at a low temperature and induced at a high temperature. The purified GalA showed its peak activity at $15^{\circ}C$ and pH 8. The mineral ions $Na^+$, $K^+$, $Mg^{2+}$, and $Mn^{2+}$ were identified as enzyme activators, whereas $Ca^{2+}$ had no influence on the enzyme activity. An enzyme stability assay revealed that the activity of GalA is significantly decreased when it is incubated at $45^{\circ}C$ for 2 h, and all its activity is lost when it is incubated at $50^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.43-53
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• 2013

Environmental monitoring analysis were analyzed for the period from 1988 to 2007 near King Sejong Station. Extreme environment structure behaviors(Marine Biology Lab.) were evaluated using monitoring sensors developed commercial sensors. Also when installing the sensors ambient environment of the King Sejong Station, to analyze the measured data and the comparative behavior of the structure were analyzed. As a environmental monitoring analysis result at King Sejong Station temperature, sensors were installed to withstand about $-25.6^{\circ}C$ or less and 49.5m/s. They were needed that the height of 225.0cm or more to be installed during the installation. For several monitoring sensors used in Antarctic, temperature, snow and strong winds were very sensitive to the atmospheric environment. Quite often a camouflage(animals and humans) would make it necessary to provide housing for monitoring sensors. Therefore, protection system developed for these sensors were to protect the sensors and data logger. Protection system the newly developed, is economical, easy to install even in harsh environments. Based on the measurement result of the one year, consider electrode applicability of the protection system, it was confirmed that the behavior of the structure is also predictable.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.199-203
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• 1990

To study distribution of bacterial flora and their biochemical characteristics in the Antarctic soilecosystem, these experiments were performed during the austral summer(Feb., 1989) on the King George Island, Antarctica. The numbers of heterotrophic bacterial colonies and extracellular enzyme actibities were estimated from the Antarctic terrestrial soils which were sampled from 17 different locations near Sejong station (Korea) and Teniente Jubany station (Argentina) on the King George Island. The numbers of heterotrophic bacterial colonies were extremely variable with sampling sites and incubation temperatures. Arithmetric average numbers were $2.5\times 10^{4}$, $2.7\times 10^{7}$ , $6.9\times 10^{5}$ CFU/$cm^{3}$ soil at the incubation temperature of $37^{\circ}C$, $25^{\circ}C$ and $4^{\circ}C$, respectively. The activities of extracellular $\alpha$-glucosidase, $\beta$-glucosidase and N-acetyl-$\beta$-glucosaminidase were shown as similar mean percentage in the colonies obtained at different temperatures. Mean value of protease activities, however, was remarkably higher (92%) in the colonies grown at $4^{\circ}C$,.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.171-183
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• 1998

Early Tertiary volcanics, volcanoclastics and granodiorite occur in the Barton Peninsula, King George Island, Antarctica. In the granodioritic stock and volcanic rocks, propylitic alteration characterized by actinolite, epidote, chlorite and calcite is widespread, and disseminations and veinlets of sulfide minerals such as pyrite, chalcopyrite and bornite are ubiquitious. The study on the hydrothermal alteration near granodioritic stock can be summarized as follows; (1) granodiorite intrusion is a small, high level stock associated with calc-alkaline volcanism, and have high copper content, (2) high temperature type of propylitic alteration and common occurrence of copper sulfides in and around granodiorite intrusion, (3) low ${\delta}^{34}S$ values of pyrites by oxidational conditions of sulfide deposition, (4) low ${\delta}^{34}S$ values of quartz and feldspar in the granodiorite, and isotopic non-equilibrium by hydrothermal alteration. It suggest that hyrothermal alteration and mineralization near granodioritc stock should be genetically related to granodiorite intrusion in the Barton Peninsula.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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• 2010.04a
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• pp.29.4-30
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• 2010

A VHF meteor radar at King Sejong Station ($162.22^{\circ}S$, $58.78^{\circ}W$), Antarctica has been observing meteors during a period of March 2007-July 2009. We analyzed the height profiles of the observed meteor decay times between 70 and 95 km by classifying strong and weak meteors according to their estimated electron line densities. The height profiles of monthly averaged decay times show a peak whose altitude varies with season in the range of 80~85 km: higher peak in southern spring and summer than in fall and winter. The higher peak during summer is consistent with colder temperatures that cause faster chemical reactions of electron removal, as effective recombination rates measured by rocket experiments. The height profiles of 15-min averaged decay times show a clear increasing trend with decreasing altitude from 95 km to the peak altitude, especially for weak meteors. This feature for weak meteors is well explained by ambipolar diffusion of meteor trails, allowing one to estimate atmospheric temperatures and pressures, as in previous studies. However, the strong meteors show not only significant scatters but also different slope of the increasing trend from 95 km to the peak altitude. Therefore, atmospheric temperature estimation from meteor decay times should be applied for weak meteors only. In this study, we present the simple model decay times to explain the height profiles of the observed decay times and discuss the additional removal processes of meteor trail electrons through the empirical recombination and by icy particles.

• Geosciences Journal
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.939-953
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• 2018

We examined the microfabrics of omphacite and garnet in foliated eclogite to determine the influence of the layered structure on seismic observations in subduction zone. The analyzed eclogite, from the Lanterman Range, northern Victoria Land, Antarctica, is characterized by layering in which the modal abundances of garnet and omphacite vary. For garnet, the low aspect ratios, similar angular distribution of long axes relative to the foliation in both layers, uniform grain size distribution, near-random crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs), and misorientation angle distributions are indicative of passive behavior during deformation. In contrast, omphacite shows relatively high aspect ratios, a low angle between the long axes of crystals and the foliation, a wide grain-size distribution, and distinctive CPOs, suggesting dislocation creep as the main deformation mechanism. The results of fabric analyses are consistent with strain localization into omphacite or omphacite-rich layers rather than garnet or garnet-rich layers. The single-crystal seismic anisotropy of garnet is very weak ($AV_P=0.2%$, $AV_S=0.5-0.6%$), whereas that of omphacite is much stronger ($AV_P=3.7-5.9%$ and $AV_S=2.9-3.8%$). Seismic anisotropy of the omphacite-rich layers shows an increase of 329% for $AV_P$ and 146% for $AV_S$ relative to the garnet-rich layers. Our results demonstrate the importance of the layered structure in strain localization and in the development of the seismic anisotropies of subducting oceanic crust.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.73-81
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• 2005

We construct improved geocentric digital elevation model (DEM), estimate tidal dynamics and ice stream velocity over Sulzberger Ice Shelf, West Antarctica employing differential interferograms from 12 ERS tandem mission Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images acquired in austral fall of 1996. Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) laser altimetry profiles acquired in the same season as the SAR scenes in 2004 are used as ground control points (GCPs) for Interferometric SAR (InSAR) DEM generation. 20 additional ICESat profiles acquired in 2003-2004 are then used to assess the accuracy of the DEM. The vertical accuracy of the OEM is estimated by comparing elevations with laser altimetry data from ICESat. The mean height difference between all ICESat data and DEM is -0.57m with a standard deviation of 5.88m. We demonstrate that ICESat elevations can be successfully used as GCPs to improve the accuracy of an InSAR derived DEM. In addition, the magnitude and the direction of tidal changes estimated from interferogram are compared with those predicted tidal differences from four ocean tide models. Tidal deformation measured in InSAR is -16.7cm and it agrees well within 3cm with predicted ones from tide models. Lastly, ice surface velocity is estimated by combining speckle matching technique and InSAR line-of-sight measurement. This study shows that the maximum speed and mean speed are 509 m/yr and 131 m/yr, respectively. Our results can be useful for the mass balance study in this area and sea level change.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.257-267
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• 2021

Constraints on the structure and composition of the active layer are important for understanding permafrost evolution. Soil convection owing to repeated moisture-induced freeze-thaw cycles within the active layer promotes the formation of self-organized patterned ground. Here we present the results of ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys across a selected sorted circle near King Sejong Station, Antarctica, to better delineate the active layer and its relation to the observed patterned ground structure. We acquire GPR data in both bistatic mode (common mid-points) for precise velocity constraints and monostatic mode (common-offset) for subsurface imaging. Reflections are derived from the active layer-permafrost boundary, organic layer-weathered soil boundary within the active layer, and frozen rock-fracture-filled ice boundary within the permafrost. The base of the imaged sorted circle possesses a convex-down shape in the central silty zone, which is typical for the pattern associated with convection-like soil motion within the active layer. The boundary between the central fine-silty domain and coarse-grained stone border is effectively identified in a radar amplitude contour at the assumed active layer depth, and is further examined in the frequency spectra of the near- and far-offset traces. The far-offset traces and the traces from the lower frequency components dominant on the far-offset traces would be associated with rapid absorption of higher frequency radiowave due to the voids in gravel-rich zone. The presented correlation strategies for analyzing very shallow, thin-layered GPR reflection data can potentially be applied to the various types of patterned ground, particularly for acquiring time-lapse imaging, when electric resistivity tomography is incorporated into the analysis.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.271-280
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• 2022

Landfast sea ice forms near coastlines in polar regions. Continuous monitoring of this sea ice is important, as it plays a key role in the marine ecosystem and affects the operation of nearby research stations. This study detected landfast sea ice around Jang Bogo research station in East Antarctica by stacking interferometric coherence images of Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data with 6-, 12- and 18-day temporal baselines. A total of 50 landfast sea ice maps were generated covering July 2017 to June 2018. The time series revealed regional differences in the timing of the maximum extent as well as growth rate of landfast sea ice. Overall, detecting landfast sea ice using interferometric SAR coherence seems promisingly feasible; however, limitations remain owing to low backscattering coefficients from new and smooth sea ice surfaces and subtle movements of sea ice in contact with the Campbell Glacier Tongue.