• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.207-214
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• 2008

We conducted uniaxial consolidation tests in mudstone samples with different clay content, in order to investigate time-dependent deformation and its characteristics. A significant amount of time-dependent strain was observed at a constant stress level immediately after a jump of stress was applied. For a given mudstone, the amount of time-dependent deformation was nearly proportional to the increment of stress, suggesting a linear viscous rheology. The amount of time-dependent strain increases with clay content, implying that clay plays an important role in creep of the unconsolidated mudstone. A power-law model was suitably applied to our results, suggesting that a short-term prediction of time-dependent deformation of the mudstone is tentatively feasible.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.3 s.172
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• pp.319-334
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• 2005

Some of old fluvial sediments are originally composed of fine and silty-clay grains with sands or some of them have been segregated by weathering as a result of the influence of groundwater fluctuations. For this reason, some of old fluvial sediments are not suitable for using as fine aggregates. Furthermore, the old fluvial aggregates with comparatively good quality have been exploited for a long time and quality of most remainders have been significantly poor. Though many old fluvial aggregates do not satisfy the quality controls(QC) standards such as KS F2526 and KS F 2527, they must be utilized to various usage suitable far different quality categories. Thus, we try to make constant efforts to utilize aggregates of all qualities. This study shows that physical properties of old fluvial aggregates are both controlled by source rocks and also related to old fluvial environment.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.109-137
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• 2020

Upo Wetland is the largest riverine wetland in Korea which has been inscribed on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance in 1998. In this study, sedimentological study was carried out in order to understand the environmental changes in Upo Wetland during the Holocene. The drilling work for recovering the Quaternary sediments was conducted on the inner part (UPW17-01, UPW17-02, and UPW17-03) and the outer part (UPL17-01, UPL17-02) of the Upo Wetland. The recovered sediments are commonly characterized by gravel-dominated deposits in the lower part and silty clay-dominated deposits in the middle to upper parts respectively, which are seemed to be changed from fluvial to palustrine/lacustrine environments around 4,000 cal yr BP. In order to establish the Holocene diatoms distribution from Upo Wetland, we identified 63 diatom taxa. Of these, 14 species were new records for Korea: Gomphonema consector, Gomphonema jadwigiae, Hantzschia abundans, Luticola pseudomurrayi, Luticola spauldingiae, Neidium suboblongum, Ninastrelnikovia gibbosa, Oricymba rhynchocephala, Pinnularia borealis var. lanceolata, Pinnularia latarea, Pinnularia paliobducta, Pinnularia saprophila, Sellaphora laevissima, Stauroneis pseudoschimanskii. All identified diatom species are illustrated by high-quality scanning electron microscopic and light microscopic microphotographs. The ecological habitat for all taxa are presented.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.12-28
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• 2023

Each national groundwater monitoring well showed distinct change patterns in groundwater levels and electrical conductivity (EC) in the Nakdong River Estuary, implying different external forces (EFs) on each well. According to the annual average data in 1997-2020, seawater was invaded into Well C. The desalination rate of -1,062 µS/cm/year represents the adaptive capacity of the well to seawater intrusion. The water levels and EC in Well E responded to precipitation, indicating the low absorptive capacity to climate changes. Meanwhile, Well B showed constant increases in water levels, suggesting that problems by rising groundwater should be considered in the study area where confined aquifers are overlaid by clay aquitards. The other wells showed consistent water levels and EC, indicating resilience to EFs. Here, resilience is the capacity of a well to resist changes by EFs, including the absorptive and adaptive capacity. The resilience of Wells E and F to climate changes was quantitatively compared using a resilience cost (RC). The RC showed Well F was more resilient than Well E, and the bedrock aquifer was more resilient than the alluvium aquifer, supporting the usefulness of RC. The resilience assessment against EFs (e.g., changes in land use and climate) helps sustainable groundwater management.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.32-41
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• 1992

An XRD quantitative analytical method using calculated XRD patterns was discussed in this study, Deep-seabed sediments commonly contain smectite, illite, chlorite, and kaolinite, and XRD pattern of each clay mineral of appropriate chemical composition was simulated by using an XRD pattern calculation method. Theoretical peak intensities of specific reflections of four clay minerals (the 001 reflections of smectite and illite, the 004 reflection of chlorite, and the 002 reflection of kaolinite) were measured from calculated patterns, and MIF(mineral intensity factor)value of each phase was determined from the intensities of calculated patterns. The peak intensities obtaine from experimental XRD patterns of sediments were corrected using the MIF values so that the calibrated intensity values for the specimens are linearly proportional to the weight fraction of each phase, which is normalized to 100 wt%. The MIF method can provide accurate quantitaive results without the necessity of correcting the factors by the mass absorption coefficient of each phase. This method excludes the necessity of standard specimens having compositions that are similar to those of clay minerals in the sediment samples. Therefore, quantitaive analysis using XRD calculation method can be utilized for the specimens, for which the standard specimens are very difficult or impossible to obtain. this quantitative method can provide rapid, routine analysis results for a large number of samples which occur in similar geological environments.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.83-93
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• 2015

This study investigated genetic, mineralogical and spectral characteristics of oil shale and coal samples in Dundgobi area, Mongolia. Based the Rock/Eval and Total organic carbon (TOC) analysis, kerogen type, hydrogen quantity, thermal maturity and depositional environment were confirmed. Moreover, the mineral composition of oil shale and coal samples were analyzed by XRD and spectroscopy. The result of Rock Eval/TOC analysis revealed that the samples of Eedemt deposit are immature to mature source rocks with sufficient hydrocarbon potential, and the kerogen types were classified as Type I, Type II and Type III kerogen. On the other hand, the samples from Shine Us Khudag deposit were mature with good to very good hydrocarbon potential rocks where kengen types are defined as Type I, Type II/III and Type III kerogen. According to the carbon and sulfur contents, the depositional environment of the both sites were defined as a freshwater depositional environment. The XRD analysis revealed that the mineral composition of oil shale and coal samples were quartz, calcite, dolomite, illite, kaolinite, montmorillonite, anorthoclase, albite, microcline, orthoclase and analcime. The absorption features of oil shale samples were at 1412 nm and 1907 nm by clay minerals and water, 2206 nm by clay minerals of kaolinite and montmorillonite and 2306 nm by dolomite. It is considered that spectral characteristics on organic matter content test must be tested for oil shale exploration using remote sensing techniques.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.4 s.50
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• pp.355-361
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• 2006

Artificially crushed sands occupy approximately 30 percent of the total consumption in South Korea. The demand for the crushed sands is expected to rise in the future. Most manufacturers use granitic rocks to produce the crushed sands. During the manufacturing process, fine fractions (i.e., sludges or particles smaller than 63 microns) are removed through the process of flocculation. The fine fraction occupies about 15% of the total weight. The sludges are comprised of quartz, feldspars, calcite, and various kinds of clay minerals. Non-clay minerals occupy more than 75 percent of the sluges weight, according to the XRD semi-quantification measurement. Micas, kaolinites, chlorite, vermiculite, and smectites occur as minor constituents. The sludges from Jurassic granites contain more kaolinites and $14{\AA}$-types than those from the Cretaceous ones. The chemical analysis clearly shows the difference between the parent rocks and the sludges in chemical compositions. Much of colored components in the sludges was accumulated as the weathering products. Particle size analysis results show that the sludges can be categorized as silt loam in a sand-silt-clay triangular diagram. This result was for her confirmed by the hydraulic conductivity data. In South Korea, the sludges remained after crushed sand production are classified as an industrial waste because of their impermeability, and which is caused by their high silt and clay fractions.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.91-101
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• 2017

Fault materials has various properties depending on their areas, rock types, and components because they are formed by heterogeneous and complicated mechanisms. In this study, to understand the physical and mechanical properties of fault materials, 109 fault materials distributed in South Korea were collected to conduct various laboratory tests with them and analyze their physical and mechanical properties (unit weight, specific gravity, porosity, gravel content, silt/clay content, clay mineral content, friction angle, and cohesion) according to areas, rock types, and components. As for the physical and mechanical properties by rock type, gneiss shows the highest medians in the unit weight ($17.1kN/m^3$) and specific gravity (2.73), granite does so in the porosity (45.5%), schist does so in the gravel content (20.0 wt.%) and cohesion (38.1 kPa), and phyllite does so in the silt/clay content (54.4 wt.%), clay mineral content (30.1 wt.%), and friction angle ($38.2^{\circ}$). With regard to the physical and mechanical properties by component, fault gouge was shown to have lower values than cataclasite and damage zones in all factors other than porosity and silt/clay contents.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.167-168
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• 2003

The Upo wetland, the largest natural wetland in Korea, is located in Changnyeong-gun, Gyeongsannam Province ($35^{\circ}33'$ N, $128^{\circ}25'$ E), and 70 km upstream from the Nakdong River estuary. Unlike most other Korean wetlands that have been destroyed under the name of economic development, the Upo wetland has been able to preserve its precious ecosystem throughout the years. Thanks to increased public awareness about natural wetlands and environmental conservation, the Korean Ministry of Environment designated the Upo wetland an 'Ecological Conservation Area' on July 26th, 1997. On March 2nd of the following year, the Upo wetland (8.54 $\textrm{km}^2$) was designated a 'Protected Wetland' in accordance with the international Ramsar Treaty. A 4.49m long (from 9.73 to 5.24 m in altitude) UP-1 core ($35^{\circ}33'05"N$, $128^{\circ}25'17"E$), recovered in the marginal part of the Upo wetland, is divided into eight buried paleosol units of different ages on the basis of the abundance of color mottles and vertical color variations (Aslan et al., 1998). Radiocarbon datings suggested that the paleosol profile represent the last 5700 years. The entire section of the core was more or less subjected to pedogenetic processes, and shows very weak to moderate soil profile development. These Holocene paleosols are therefore regarded as synsedimentary soils of deluvium (deposits formed by floods) origin (Sycheva et al., 2003). Unit 1 to 5 paleosols are generally silt-rich and exhibit moderate profile development. The boundaries between the units are somewhat distinguishable, but not so clear cut. This is due to variable repeated combination of accumulation, denudation and soil forming processes within various periods. Mottle textures gradually decrease in abundance with increasing clay content in Unit 6, which results in weak profile development. The lower boundary of Unit 6 lies around about 2000 yrBP, the beginning of Subatlantic in Korea (Kim et al., 2001). Abrupt sediment textural change is detected in Unit 7, which is interpreted to indicate the human activities on the Upo wetland. Unit 8 represents the recent soil forming processes. The preliminary results of this ongoing study imply the primary factor for pedogenetic processes is the water table fluctuations related to the sedimentary textures like grain size distributions, and the geomorphological stability of the Upo wetland.o wetland.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.417-432
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• 2016

It was firstly revealed in this research that the marine terrace of the Ijin-ri (Bukpyung-myeon, Haenam-gun) was formed during the last interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage 5e; MIS 5e). The marine terrace totally ranging from 4.8 m (asl) to 8.8 m (asl) is subdivided into 4 units; Unit I ranges 4.8-5.3 m, unit II ranges 5.3-6.9 m, unit III ranges 6.9-8.3 m, and unit IV ranges 8.3-8.8 m. Strong evidences that units II and III were formed during MIS5e were obtained based on OSL dating, the physical characterizations such as particle size distribution, magnetic susceptibility and water content, principal element and trace element analyses, and quantitative clay mineral analysis for samples at the 30 cm intervals. The rounded gravels on the marine terrace are regarded to be originated from the clastic materials transported directly from the surrounding mountains toward the marine and abraded in the coastal area, without any fluvial processes. During the warmest period (125k, unit II), the increase in rainfall, along with the rapid rise in sea level, was likely caused the high amount of clastic materials transported to the upper part of the beach. As a result of comparing clay mineral ratios of study site with those derived from sediments of either tidal flats, or the Yellow Sea, it is interpreted that the sediments of study site were influenced from the marine. The results will be used to investigate the hydrological activity and sedimentary environment during the high sea level in the past.