• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.19-35
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• 2018

The necessity of predicting the spatial information of the site-specific seismic response, which is essential information for the comprehensive earthquake disaster countermeasures, is increasing for the mid-west urban areas where the earthquake-induced damages can be increased due to frequent occurrence of mid-scale earthquake such as 2016 Gyeongju Earthquake and 2017 Pohang Earthquake. Especially, researches on strategic securing of site survey datasets and understanding the site-specific site response characteristics were conducted for Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. In this study, a GIS-based framework for site-specific assessment of site response and induced vulnerable area in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea was proposed. Geo-Data based on GIS platform was constructed for regional estimation of geotechnical characteristics by collecting borehole and land coverage datasets. And the geo-spatial grid information was developed for deriving spatial distribution of geotechnical layer and site response parameters based on the optimization of the geostatistical interpolation method. Accordingly, base information for Improving earthquake preparedness measures was derived as seismic zonation map with administrative sub-units considering the quantitative site effect of Gyeonggi-do.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.93-101
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• 2006

In this study, we propose a joint inversion method, using genetic algorithms, to determine the shear-wave velocity structure of deep sedimentary layers from receiver functions and surface-wave phase velocity. Numerical experiments with synthetic data indicate that the proposed method can avoid the trade-off between shear-wave velocity and thickness that arises when inverting the receiver function only, and the uncertainty in deep structure from surface-wave phase velocity inversion alone. We apply the method to receiver functions obtained from earthquake records with epicentral distances of about 100 km, and Rayleigh-wave phase velocities obtained from a microtremor array survey in the Kanto Plain, Japan. The estimated subsurface structure is in good agreement with the previous results of seismic refraction surveys and deep borehole data.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.727-739
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• 2015

Reclamation of closed dumping grounds is a potential solution to solve land scarce problems. Traditional geotechnical investigations of closed dumping grounds face some problems, such as the emission of hazardous liquids and gases, and the lack of ground information due to the discontinuity between two boreholes. Thus, noninvasive and continuous investigation methods are needed to supplement traditional geotechnical investigations. In this paper, two types of geophysical investigation methods, Seismic Analysis of Surface Waves (SASW) and 2D Resistivity, were carried out to study noninvasive and continuous site investigations for dumping grounds. The two geophysical methods are able to profile the distribution of physical properties of the fill and original materials, by which the extent of the dumping ground can be found and some anomalies in the subsurface can be located. Boreholes were used to assist in locating the dumping material-ground interfaces. The results show that dumping material-ground interfaces obtained from the two geophysical methods are roughly consistent. Moreover, attempt is made in the paper to use the geophysical methods to classify the types of dumping materials. The results show that the classification of dumping materials using the geophysical methods follows the results of the manual sorting of the dumping materials from a borehole.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.234-241
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• 2011

Recently, exploration and development of oil sands are thriving due to high oil price. Because oil sands reservoir usually exists as a thin layer, multicomponent VSP, which has the advantage of the high-resolution around the borehole, is more effective than surface seismic survey in exploring oil sand reservoir. In addition, prestack phase-screen migration is effective for multicomponent seismic data because it is based on an one-way wave equation. In this study, we examined the applicability of the prestack phase-screen migration for multicomponent RVSP data to image the thin oil sand reservoir. As a preprocessing tool, we presented a method for separating P-wave and PS-wave from multicomponent RVSP data by using incidence angle and rotation matrix. To verify it, we have applied the developed wavefield separation method to synthetic data obtained from the velocity model including a horizontal layer and dipping layers. Also, we compared the migrated image by using P-wave with that by using PS-wave. As a result, the PS-wave migrated image has higher resolution and wide coverage than P-wave migrated image. Finally, we have applied the prestack phase-screen migration to the synthetic data from the velocity model simulating oil sand reservoir in Canada. The results show that the PS-wave migrated image describe the top and bottom boundaries of the thin oil sand reservoir more clearly than the P-wave migrated image.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.205-215
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• 2011

In this study, we analyzed physical properties of granites and their correlation with rock mass classification methods. The granite samples were obtained from field survey, in-situ borehole tests and laboratory tests for a design phase of various roads, railways and other civil engineering works in Korea. Among the measured physical properties, the results of unit weight, compressive strength, tensile strength, seismic velocity, cohesion, friction angle, elastic modulus and deformation modulus were introduced. We also correlated these properties with the compressive strength. The results of different rock classification method of RQD, RMR, and Q-system against the granites in Korea were compared with each other, and the correlation equations were proposed in a more simplified form. We also derived RMR values using the compressive strength as well as the RQD values of in-situ drilled cores, and estimated the deformation modulus of in-situ rock mass in terms of the RMR values.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.61-68
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• 2010

A magnetotelluric (MT) survey has been performed to delineate deeply extended fracture systems at the geothermal field in Seokmo Island, Korea. To assist interpretation of the MT data, geological surveying and well logging of existing wells were also performed. The surface geology of the island shows Cretaceous and Jurassic granite in the north and Precambrian schist in the south. The geothermal regime has been found along the boundary between the schist and Cretaceous granite. Because of the deep circulation along the fracture system, geothermal gradient of the target area exceeds $45^{\circ}C/km$, which is much higher than the average geothermal gradient in Korea. 2D and 3D inversions of MT data clearly showed a very conductive anomaly, which is interpreted as a fracture system bearing saline water that extends at least down to 1.5 km depth and is inclined eastwards. After drilling down to the depth of 1280 m, more than 4000 tons/day of geothermal water overflowed with temperature higher than $70^{\circ}C$. This water showed very similar chemical composition and temperature to those from another existing well, so that they can be considered to have the same origin; i.e. from the same fracture system. A new geothermal project for combined heat and power generation was launched in 2009 in Seokmo Island, based on the survey. Additional geophysical investigations including MT surveys to cover a wider area, seismic reflection surveys, borehole surveys, and well logging of more than 20 existing boreholes will be conducted.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2007

In this study, we propose a joint inversion method, using genetic algorithms, to estimate an S-wave velocity structure for deep sedimentary layers from receiver functions and surface-wave phase velocity observed at several sites. The method takes layer continuity over a target area into consideration by assuming that each layer has uniform physical properties, especially an S-wave velocity, at all the sites in a target area in order to invert datasets acquired at different sites simultaneously. Numerical experiments with synthetic data indicate that the proposed method is effective in reducing uncertainty in deep structure parameters when modelling only surface-wave dispersion data over a limited period range. We then apply the method to receiver functions derived from earthquake records at one site and two datasets of Rayleigh-wave phase velocity obtained from microtremor array surveys performed in central Tokyo, Japan. The estimated subsurface structure is in good agreement with the results of previous seismic refraction surveys and deep borehole data. We also conclude that the proposed method can provide a more accurate and reliable model than individual inversions of either receiver function data only or surface-wave dispersion data only.