• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.7-31
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• 2000

Quaternary Geological and geophysical investigation was performed at the Eurimji reservoir of Jaechon City in order to interprete depositional environment and genesis of lake sediments. For this purpose, echo sounding, bottom sampling and columnar sampling by drilling on board and GPR survey were employed for a proper field investigation. Laboratory tests cover grain size population analysis, pollen analysis and $^{14}C$ datings for the lake sediments. The some parts of lake bottom sediments anthropogenically tubated and filled several times to date, indicating several mounds on the bottom surface which is difficult to explain by bottom current. Majority of natural sediments were accumulated both as rolling and suspended loads during seasonal flooding regime, when flash flow and current flow are relatively strong not only at bridge area of the western part of Eurimji, connected to stream valley, but at the several conduit or sewage system surrounding the lake. Most of uniform suspend sediments are accumulated at the lake center and lower bank area. Some parts of bottom sediments indicate the existence of turbid flow and mudflow probably due to piezometric overflowing from the lake bottom, the existence of which are proved by CM patterns of the lake bottom sediments. The columnar samples of the lake sediments in ER-1 and ER-3-1 boreholes indicate good condition without any human tubation. The grain size character of borehole samples shows poorly sorted population, predominantly composed of fine sand and muds, varying skewness and kurtosis, which indicate multi-processed lake deposits, very similar to lake bottom sediments. Borehole columnar section, echo sounding and GPR survey profilings, as well as processed data, indicate that organic mud layers of Eurimji lake deposits are deeper and thicker towards lower bank area, especially west of profile line-9. In addition the columnar sediments indicate plant coverage of the Eurimji area were divided into two pollen zones. Arboreal pollen ( AP) is predominant in the lower pollen zone, whreas non-aboreal pollen(NAP) is rich in the upper pollen zone. Both of the pollen zones are related to the vegetation coverage frequently found in coniferous and deciduous broad-leaved trees(mixed forest) surrounded by mountains and hilly areas and prevailing by aquatic or aquatic margin under the wet temperate climate. The $^{14}C$ age of the dark gray organic muds, ER1-12 sample, is 950$\pm$40 years B.P. As the sediments are anthropogenetically undisturbed, it is assumed that the reliability of age is high. Three $^{14}C$ ages of the dark gray organic muds, including ER3-1-8, ER3-1-10, ER3-1-11 samples, are 600$\pm$30 years B.P., 650$\pm$30 years B.P., 800$\pm$40 years B.P. in the descending order of stratigraphic columnar section. Based on the interpretation of depositional environments and formation ages, it is proved that Eurimji reservoir were constructed at least 950$\pm$40 years B.P., the calibrated ages of which ranges from 827 years, B.P. to 866 years B.P. Ancient people utilize the natural environment of the stream valley to meet the need of water irrigation for agriculture in the local valley center and old alluvium fan area.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.83-94
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• 2011

Extra heavy oil reservoirs are distributed over the world but most of them is deposited in the northern part of the Orinoco River in Venezuela, in the area of 5,500 $km^2$, This region, which has been commonly called "the Orinoco Oil Belt", contains estimated 1.3 trillion barrels of original oil-in-place and 250 billion barrels of established reserves. The Venezuela extra heavy oil has an API gravity of less than 10 degree and in situ viscosity of 5,000 cP at reservoir condition. Although the presence of extra heavy oil in the Orinoco Oil Belt has been initially reported in the 1930's, the commercial development using in situ cold production started in the 1990's. The Orinoco heavy oil deposits are clustered into 4 development areas, Boyaco, Junin, Ayachoco, and Carabobo respectively, and they are subdivided into totally 31 production blocks. Nowadays, PDVSA (Petr$\'{o}$leos de Venzuela, S.A.) makes a development of each production block with the international oil companies from more than 20 countries forming a international joint-venture company. The Eastern Venezuela Basin, the Orinoco Oil Belt is included in, is one of the major oil-bearing sedimentary basins in Venezuela and is first formed as a passive margin basin by the Jurassic tectonic plate motion. The major source rock of heavy oil is the late Cretaceous calcareous shale in the central Eastern Venezuela Basin. Hydrocarbon materials migrated an average of 150 km up dip to the southern margin of the basin. During the migration, lighter fractions in the hydrocarbon were removed by biodegradation and the oil changed into heavy and/or extra heavy oil. Miocene Oficina Formation, the main extra heavy oil reservoir, is the unconsolidated sand and shale alternation formed in fluvial-estuarine environment and also has irregularly a large number of the Cenozoic faults induced by basin subsidence and tectonics. Because Oficina Formation has not only complex lithology distribution but also irregular geology structure, geological evolution and characteristics of the reservoirs have to be determined for economical production well design and effective oil recovery. This study introduces geological formation and evolution of the Venezuela extra heavy oil reservoirs and suggest their significant geological characteristics which are (1) thickness and geometry of reservoir pay sands, (2) continuity and thickness of mud beds, (3) geometry of faults, (4) depth and geothermal character of reservoir, (5) in-situ stress field of reservoir, and (6) chemical composition of extra heavy oil. Newly developed exploration techniques, such as 3-D seismic survey and LWD (logging while drilling), can be expected as powerful methods to recognize the geological reservoir characteristics in the Orinoco Oil Belt.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.343-363
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• 2023

Sulawesi island, as a global producer of nickel resources, is leading the rapid growth of nickel industry of Indonesia. Nickel laterite deposits in Sulawesi was formed by lateritization of the world-scale East Sulawesi Ophiolite (ESO) under the active tectonic setting and tropical rainforest climate. In this paper, exploration cases for nickel laterite deposits in five regions of Sulawesi are reported. Regional characteristics on nickel laterite deposits in Sulawesi are understood based on various exploration activities such as outcrop, trench and pit survey, petrological observation, geochemical analysis, and interpretation of drilling data, etc.. In the northeastern part of 'Southeast-Arm', which is a strategic location for nickel industry of Indonesia, ESO is extensively exposed to the surface. In the Morombo and Morowali regions, typical high-grade saprolite-type orebodies with a thickness of 10 to 20 m occur. The cases showed that topographic relief tends to regulate Ni-grade distribution and orebody thickness, and that high grade intervals tend to occur in places where joints and garnierite veins are dense. In the Tinanggea and South Palangga regions in the southern part of the Southeast-Arm, overburden composed of Neogene to Quaternary deposits is a major factor affecting the preservation and profitability of nickel laterite deposits. Despite the overburden, high-grade saprolite-type orebodies composed of Ni-bearing serpentine with garnierite veins occur in a thickness of around 10 m to secure economic feasibility. In contrast, in the Ampana region in the northern part of 'East-Arm', low-grade nickel laterite deposits with immature laterite profile was identified, which is thought to be the result of active denudation due to tectonic uplift. Exploration cases in this paper will help to understand characteristics and controlling factors on nickel laterite deposits in Sulawesi, Indonesia.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.143-159
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• 2024

Natural aggregate is an essential resource for human activities, closely related to construction. The aggregate demand has been increasing annually, and due to the nature of the resource, it is difficult to procure from distant locations. This study identifies the distribution and characteristics of aggregate-bearing areas as part of a municipal-level aggregate resource survey conducted in Nonsan City, Korea, in 2023. Nonsan City is located approximately 35 km straight distance from the Geum River estuary and lies at the passageway of the main stream of the Geum River. The topography of Nonsan City features eastern mountainous areas and western plains, creating an east-high-west-low geomorphic setting, with 33 streams distributed across the city, including tributaries of the Geum River like Nonsan Stream, Noseong Stream, and Ganggyeong Stream. All streams originate from the highlands in the north and east, converge with Nonsan Stream, and then join the west bank of the main stream of the Geum River at the western boundary of Nonsan City. Drilling core results show shallow depths in the highlands to the north and east, deepening towards the west, reaching a maximum depth of 25 m near the main stream of the Geum River. The total reserve of land aggregates is calculated to be 246,789,000 m³, with a developable amount of 172,750,000 m³. The total reserve of river aggregates is 5,236,000 m³, with a developable amount of 3,765,000 m³. The distribution of aggregates varies according to the geomorphic, geologic, and development pattern of the river system. Reserves are scarce in mountainous areas but are abundant in regions with rivers and wide alluvial plains, although reserves appear at depths greater than 4m. The distribution of aggregate resources in Nonsan City is influenced by stream activities and sea level changes, with the tidal range of the Yellow Sea acting as an unfavorable condition for the preservation of aggregate resources.

• Proceedings of the KSEEG Conference
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• 2001.05b
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• pp.42-63
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• 2001

The detail survey on the Songsanri tomb site including the Muryong royal tomb was carried out during the period from May 1 , 1996 to April 30, 1997. A quantitative analysis was tried to find changes of tomb itself since the excavation. Main subjects of the survey are to find out the cause of infiltration of rain water and groundwater into the tomb and the tomb site, monitoring of the movement of tomb structure and safety, removal method of the algae inside the tomb, and air controlling system to solve high humidity condition and dew inside the tomb. For these purposes, detail survery inside and outside the tombs using a electronic distance meter and small airplane, monitoring of temperature and humidity, geophysical exploration including electrical resistivity, geomagnetic, gravity and georadar methods, drilling, measurement of physical and chemical properties of drill core and measurement of groundwater permeability were conducted. We found that the center of the subsurface tomb and the center of soil mound on ground are different 4.5 meter and 5 meter for the 5th tomb and 7th tomb, respectively. The fact has caused unequal stress on the tomb structure. In the 7th tomb (the Muryong royal tomb), 435 bricks were broken out of 6025 bricks in 1972, but 1072 bricks are broken in 1996. The break rate has been increased about 250% for just 24 years. The break rate increased about 290% in the 6th tomb. The situation in 1996 is the result for just 24 years while the situation in 1972 was the result for about 1450 years. Status of breaking of bircks represents that a severe problem is undergoing. The eastern wall of the Muryong royal tomb is moving toward inside the tomb with the rate of 2.95 mm/myr in rainy season and 1.52 mm/myr in dry season. The frontal wall shows biggest movement in the 7th tomb having a rate of 2.05 mm/myr toward the passage way. The 6th tomb shows biggest movement among the three tombs having the rate of 7.44mm/myr and 3.61mm/myr toward east for the high break rate of bricks in the 6th tomb. Georadar section of the shallow soil layer represents several faults in the top soil layer of the 5th tomb and 7th tomb. Raninwater flew through faults tnto the tomb and nearby ground and high water content in nearby ground resulted in low resistance and high humidity inside tombs. High humidity inside tomb made a good condition for algae living with high temperature and moderate light source. The 6th tomb is most severe situation and the 7th tomb is the second in terms of algae living. Artificial change of the tomb environment since the excavation, infiltration of rain water and groundwater into the tombsite and bad drainage system had resulted in dangerous status for the tomb structure. Main cause for many problems including breaking of bricks, movement of tomb walls and algae living is infiltration of rainwater and groundwater into the tomb site. Therefore, protection of the tomb site from high water content should be carried out at first. Waterproofing method includes a cover system over the tomvsith using geotextile, clay layer and geomembrane and a deep trench which is 2 meter down to the base of the 5th tomb at the north of the tomv site. Decrease and balancing of soil weight above the tomb are also needed for the sfety of tomb structures. For the algae living inside tombs, we recommend to spray K101 which developed in this study on the surface of wall and then, exposure to ultraviolet light sources for 24 hours. Air controlling system should be changed to a constant temperature and humidity system for the 6th tomb and the 7th tomb. It seems to much better to place the system at frontal room and to ciculate cold air inside tombs to solve dew problem. Above mentioned preservation methods are suggested to give least changes to tomb site and to solve the most fundmental problems. Repairing should be planned in order and some special cares are needed for the safety of tombs in reparing work. Finally, a monitoring system measuring tilting of tomb walls, water content, groundwater level, temperature and humidity is required to monitor and to evaluate the repairing work.