• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.737-760
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• 2022

For the geological disposal of high-level radioactive wastes (HLW), an understanding of deep subsurface environment is essential through geological, hydrogeological, geochemical, and geotechnical investigations. Although South Korea plans the geological disposal of HLW, only a few studies have been conducted for characterizing the geochemistry of deep subsurface environment. To guide the hydrogeochemical research for selecting suitable repository sites, this study overviewed the status and trends in hydrogeochemical characterization of deep groundwater for the deep geological disposal of HLW in developed countries. As a result of examining the selection process of geological disposal sites in 8 countries including USA, Canada, Finland, Sweden, France, Japan, Germany, and Switzerland, the following geochemical parameters were needed for the geochemical characterization of deep subsurface environment: major and minor elements and isotopes (e.g., ³⁴S and ¹⁸O of SO₄^2-, ¹³C and ¹⁴C of DIC, ²H and ¹⁸O of water) of both groundwater and pore water (in aquitard), fracture-filling minerals, organic materials, colloids, and oxidation-reduction indicators (e.g., Eh, Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺, H₂S/SO₄^2-, NH₄⁺/NO₃^-). A suitable repository was selected based on the integrated interpretation of these geochemical data from deep subsurface. In South Korea, hydrochemical types and evolutionary patterns of deep groundwater were identified using artificial neural networks (e.g., Self-Organizing Map), and the impact of shallow groundwater mixing was evaluated based on multivariate statistics (e.g., M3 modeling). The relationship between fracture-filling minerals and groundwater chemistry also has been investigated through a reaction-path modeling. However, these previous studies in South Korea had been conducted without some important geochemical data including isotopes, oxidationreduction indicators and DOC, mainly due to the lack of available data. Therefore, a detailed geochemical investigation is required over the country to collect these hydrochemical data to select a geological disposal site based on scientific evidence.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.129-143
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• 2024

In magnetotelluric (MT) surveys, small inhomogeneities near the surface cause a static shift in which apparent resistivities shift regardless of frequency. As the static shift in MT data leads to errors in subsurface structure interpretation, many studies have been conducted over the past few decades to mitigate or remove the distortions it caused. The most representative method involves removing static shifts from the data before inversion. Conversely, static shifts can be corrected during inversion or included in the inversion process. In addition, other geophysical data can be used to remove static shifts. However, the correction methods are limited to one-dimensional (1D) static responses, and limitations remain in two- or three-dimensional (2D or 3D) interpretation of distorted MT data owing to static shifts. This study provides a foundation for future studies on static shift by analyzing several previously published methods.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.381-391
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• 2010

Probabilistic prediction methods of landslides which have been developed in recent can be reliable with premise of detailed survey and analysis based on deep and special knowledge. However, landslide susceptibility should also be analyzed with some reliable and simple methods by various people such as government officials and engineering geologists who do not have deep statistical knowledge at the moment of hazards. Therefore, this study suggests an evaluation chart of landslide susceptibility with high reliability drawn by accurate statistical approaches, which the chart can be understood easily and utilized for both specialists and non-specialists. The evaluation chart was developed by a quantification method based on canonical correlation analysis using the data of geology, topography, and soil property of landslides in Korea. This study analyzed field data and laboratory test results and determined influential factors and rating values of each factor. The quantification analysis result shows that slope angle has the highest significance among the factors and elevation, permeability coefficient, porosity, lithology, and dry density are important in descending order. Based on the score assigned to each evaluation factor, an evaluation chart of landslide susceptibility was developed with rating values in each class of a factor. It is possible for an analyst to identify susceptibility degree of a landslide by checking each property of an evaluation factor and calculating sum of the rating values. This result can also be used to draw landslide susceptibility maps based on GIS techniques.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.545-554
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• 2017

Birnessite is one of the dominant Mn (oxyhydr)oxide phases commonly found in soil and deep ocean environments. It typically occurs as nano-sized and poorly crystalline aggregates in the natural environment. It is well known that birnessite participates in a wide variety of bio/geochemical reactions as a reactive mineral phase with structural defects, cation vacancies, and mixed valences of structural Mn. These various bio/geochemical reactions control not only the fate and transport of inorganic and organic substances in the environment, but also the formation of diverse Mn (oxyhydr)oxides through birnessite transformation. This review assessed and discussed about the phase transformation of birnessite under a wide range of environmental conditions and about the potential geochemical factors controlling the corresponding reactions in the literature. Birnessite transformation to other types of Mn (oxyhydr)oxides were affected by dissolved Mn(II), dissolved oxygen, solution pH, and co-existing cation (i.e., $Mg^{2+}$). However, there still have been many issues to be unraveled on the complex bio/geochemical processes involved in the phase transformation of birnessite. Future work on the detail mechanisms of birnessite transformation should be further investigated.

• Journal of the Geological Society of Korea
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.489-499
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• 2018

A series of geological events such as the formation of the Antarctic continental ice sheets, the changes in ocean circulation and a mass extinction after the onset of Oligocene has been studied as major concerns by various researches. However, paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic changes during the most period of Oligocene since the Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT) still remains unclear. Especially, although the late Oligocene warming (LOW) has been assessed as the largest period in the paleoceanographic changes, the detailed understanding on the changed components is very low. The purpose of this study is the reconstruction of the paleoceanographic history during the late Oligocene using core sediments from IODP Expedition 342 Site U1406 performed in J-Anomaly Ridge in North Atlantic. Because North Atlantic deep water (NADW) has flowed southward through the study area since the early Oligocene, this area has been considered to an important location for studies on the changes of NADW. The core sediment analyzed in this study were deposited from about 26.0 to 26.5 Ma as evidenced by both of onboard and shore-based paleomagnetic data, and this is corresponded to the earliest period of LOW. The sediment profile can be divided into three Units (Unit 1, 2 & 3) based on the changes in both of total number and test size of Oridorsalis umbonatus as well as grain size data of clastic sediments. Unit 2 represents largest values in these three data. Because the total number, test size of O. umbonatus and grain size can be proxy records on the oxygen concentration and circulation intensity of deep water, we interpreted that Unit 2 had been deposited during the period of relatively strengthened NADW. Previous Cibicidoides spp. stable isotope results from the low latitude region of the North Atlantic also support our interpretation that is the intensified formation of NADW during the identical period. In conclusion, our results present a new evidence for the previous ideas that the causes on LOW are directly related to the changes in NADW.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.535-547
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• 2021

Aggregate is an essential construction material, and the demand is increasing every year. Aggregate has different properties in each region, and it is difficult to supply it over long distances due to its quantity and weight. For the stabilization of aggregate supply and demand, regional aggregate resource surveys have been conducted since 1993 in Korea. In this study, an aggregate resource survey was conducted in Goyang City to understand the characteristics of aggregate distribution as part of the annual regional aggregate resource survey in 2020. Goyang City has a high mountainous area to the east, and the southwestern part shows a topography where a wide flatland develops. It has 18 small streams originated from the eastern mountainuos area and 1 large stream Han River. The drilling data shows that thickness of the Quaternary deposits tend to deepen toward the south. The aggregate reserves are relatively abundant, the depth of the aggregates are relatively deep. Changes in the depth of the Quaternary deposits and the amount of aggregate in Goyang are seems to be closely related to the activities of the Han River rather than the sedimentation characteristics from the upstream to the downstream of the small streams. This characteristics show a similar tendency to the distribution of aggregates in adjacent regions to the west coast in Korea. Therefore, the regions that close to west coast have a high probability of aggregate reserves around relatively large-scale streams flowing into the west coast.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.541-552
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• 2019

In this study, landslide flume tests were performed to analyze characteristics of ground characteristics and landslide occurrence due to rainfall infiltration. As test materials, weathered granite soil and gneiss soil, the most frequent landslides in Korea, were used, and landslides were triggered by heavy rain (Intensity = 200 mm/hr). The measurement sensors were installed with 3 sets at toe, slope, top part and shallow (GL-0.2 m), middle (GL-0.4 m), and deep (GL-0.6 m) depth in the slope and measured at 10 second intervals. After landslide flume tests, the slope stability analysis was performed by applying the unsaturated soil theory based on the change of ground characteristics and compared with actual landslide occurrence from flume test. As a result of the analysis, factor of safety reflected the landslide occurrence from flume test and factor of safety decreased as rainfall infiltration, leading to slope failure. Finally we compared to the factor of safety below 1 and actual landslide occurrence time, the average difference was 1,600 seconds for weathered granite soil and 5,400 seconds for weathered gneiss soil.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.91-103
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• 1980

In spite of the fact that the Okcheon system has been rather intensively studied by many geologists since 1945, it still remains as a controversal problem as to its stratigraphy and geologic age. Present study has mainly focused on the upper members of the Okcheon system, namely the Hwanggangri and the Kunjasan formations so as to clarify the lithology, the depositional environment and the tectonic evolution of the formations. The Kunjasan formation lying unconformably over the Hwanggangri formation which is supposed to be a meta-tillite is interpreted as a metamorphosed calcareous argillaceous and/or arenaceous sediments on contract to the idea postulated by some geologists that it was a derivative of silicified Hwanggangri formation. Lithology of the Kunjasan and the Hwanggangri formation is quite different in that the former is white in color, contains few pebbles, and mostly composed of diopside and detrital quartz, whereas the latter is black to dark in color, contains abundant and variable kinds of pebbles, and composed of more argillacous matrix that has been metamorphosed to hornfels. The Hwanggangri and the Kunjasan formations were deposited in the rather deep sea which has transgressed toward northeast from southwest in the late Precambrian time, and the writer (1970) had formerly designated it as Okcheon Paleogeosyncline. With the beginning of Paleozoic era, Okcheon neogeogyncline was formed to the northeast of the old paleogeogyncline area. The transgression of the sea had proceeded toward southwest in which Cambrian strata were accumulated. During this period the area occupied formerly by the paleogeosyncline was uplifted, so that most of the Hwanggangri and the Kunjasan formations were eroded away except in the area close to the neogeosyncline sea coast. This is the reason why the Hwanggangri and the Kunjasan formations are cropped out presently in the area of the vicinity of contact zone of the paleo- and neogeosyncline zones. The age of the Okcheon system has been reconfirmed to be Precambrian from the view of the facts that 1) the Hanggangri formation, the upper member of the Okcheon system is meta-tillite and correlated to the Precambrian tillite in the Yantze basin in China, 2) the Okcheon system has been moderately metamorphosed while other formations of the same age, if it is Paleozoic or later, have not been metamorphosed, and 3) tectonic history and limited areal distribution of the Hwanggangri and the Kunjasan formations is suggestive of Precambian age.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.663-666
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• 2005

Gas hydrates are ice-like compounds that form at the low temperature and high pressure conditions common in shallow marine sediments at water depths greater than 300-500 m when concentrations of methane and other hydrocarbon gases exceed saturation. Estimates of the total mass of methane carbon that resides in this reservoir vary widely. While there is general agreement that gas hydrate is a significant component of the global near-surface carbon budget, there is considerable controversy about whether it has the potential to be a major source of fossil fuel in the future and whether periods of global climate change in the past can be attributed to destabilization of this reservoir. Also essentially unknown is the interaction between gas hydrate and the subsurface biosphere. ODP Leg 204 was designed to address these questions by determining the distribution, amount and rate of formation of gas hydrate within an accretionary ridge and adjacent basin and the sources of gas for forming hydrate. Additional objectives included identification of geologic proxies for past gas hydrate occurrence and calibration of remote sensing techniques to quantify the in situ amount of gas hydrate that can be used to improve estimates where no boreholes exist. Leg 204 also provided an opportunity to test several new techniques for sampling, preserving and measuring gas hydrates. During ODP Leg 204, nine sites were drilled and cored on southern Hydrate Ridge, a topographic high in the accretionary complex of the Cascadia subduction zone, located approximately 80km west of Newport, Oregon. Previous studies of southern Hydrate Ridge had documented the presence of seafloor gas vents, outcrops of massive gas hydrate, and a pinnacle' of authigenic carbonate near the summit. Deep-towed sidescan data show an approximately $300\times500m$ area of relatively high acoustic backscatter that indicates the extent of seafloor venting. Elsewhere on southern Hydrate Ridge, the seafloor is covered with low reflectivity sediment, but the presence of a regional bottom-simulating seismic reflection (BSR) suggests that gas hydrate is widespread. The sites that were drilled and cored during ODP Leg 204 can be grouped into three end-member environments basedon the seismic data. Sites 1244 through 1247 characterize the flanks of southern Hydrate Ridge. Sites 1248-1250 characterize the summit in the region of active seafloor venting. Sites 1251 and 1252 characterize the slope basin east of Hydrate Ridge, which is a region of rapid sedimentation, in contrast to the erosional environment of Hydrate Ridge. Site 1252 was located on the flank of a secondary anticline and is the only site where no BSR is observed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.307-319
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• 2009

Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technology has been regarded as one of the most possible and practical option to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) and consequently to mitigate the climate change. Korean government also have started a 10-year R&D project on $CO_2$ storage in sea-bed geological structure including gas field and deep saline aquifer since 2005. Various relevant researches are carried out to cover the initial survey of suitable geological structure storage site, monitoring of the stored $CO_2$ behavior, basic design of $CO_2$ transport and storage process and the risk assessment and management related to $CO_2$ leakage from engineered and geological processes. Leakage of $CO_2$ to the marine environment can change the chemistry of seawater including the pH and carbonate composition and also influence adversely on the diverse living organisms in ecosystems. Recently, IMO (International Maritime Organization) have developed the risk assessment and management framework for the $CO_2$ sequestration in sub-seabed geological structures (CS-SSGS) and considered the sequestration as a waste management option to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. This framework for CS-SSGS aims to provide generic guidance to the Contracting Parties to the London Convention and Protocol, in order to characterize the risks to the marine environment from CS-SSGS on a site-specific basis and also to collect the necessary information to develop a management strategy to address uncertainties and any residual risks. The environmental risk assessment (ERA) plan for $CO_2$ storage work should include site selection and characterization, exposure assessment with probable leak scenario, risk assessment from direct and in-direct impact to the living organisms and risk management strategy. Domestic trial of the $CO_2$ capture and sequestration in to the marine geologic formation also should be accomplished through risk management with specified ERA approaches based on the IMO framework. The risk assessment procedure for $CO_2$ marine storage should contain the following components; 1) prediction of leakage probabilities with the reliable leakage scenarios from both engineered and geological part, 2) understanding on physio-chemical fate of $CO_2$ in marine environment especially for the candidate sites, 3) exposure assessment methods for various receptors in marine environments, 4) database production on the toxic effect of $CO_2$ to the ecologically and economically important species, and finally 5) development of surveillance procedures on the environmental changes with adequate monitoring techniques.