• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.25-50
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• 1988

The survival of rich evidence of palaeolithic occupation found in the Imjin-Hant'an River basin was possible due to many fortuitous geological conditions provided there. Formation of the basalt plain in a narrow valley system which developed during the late Mesozoic insured the appearance of a basin of sedimentation in which archaeological sites would be preserved with relatively minor post-depositional disturbance. Geomagnetic and K-Ar dating indicates that lava flows occurred during the Brunes Normal Epoch. During and after the process of basin sedimentation, erosion of the plain was confined to the major channel of the present river system which developed along the structural joints formed by the lava flow. Due to characteristic columnar structure and platy cleavage of the basalt bedrock, erosion of the basalt bedrock occurred mainly in vertical direction, developing deep but narrow entrenched valleys cut into the bedrock. Consequently, the large portion of the site area remained intact. Cultural deposits formed on top of the basalt plain were left unmodified by later fluvial disturbances due to changes in the Hant'an River base-level, since they were formed about 20 to 40m above the modern floodplain. Sedimentological evidence of cultural deposits and palynological analysis of lacustrine bed formed in the tributary basin of the Hant'an River indicate that hominid occupation occurred in this basin under rapidly deteriorating climatic conditions. From three thermoluminescence dates, the timing of hominid occupation as represented by 'Acheulian-like' bifaces apparently occur sometime during 45,000 BP. Thus, deposition of cultural layers in this basin approximately coincides with the beginning of the second stadial of the final glacial, during which the Korean Peninsula must have had provided a sanctuary for prolonged human occupation.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.203-216
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• 2003

The process of constructing coastal digital elevation model(DEM), for the 3 dimensional analysis, is composed by abstracting land layers for land elevation and water depth, reprojecting UTM, relocating geographical grid, and interpolating works. The geomorphic set of shallow sea, including tidal current, tidal zone deposition, and water depth distribution, was analyzed by eye search of Landsat TM image, masking of land zone, band combination and regression analysis. Some horizontal differences, between combined DEM and surveyed data of shallow sea, was corrected for analysis. Analyzed geomorphic elements are stream channel, alluvial fan, coastal terrace, tidal current. and shallow sea bank. Results of analysis present that transported fluvial materials influence tidal sedimentation, especially from Gahwacheon river, for the role of artificial draining flooding waters from Jinyang Reservoir, almost in the summer season. In the coastal area with less tidal current, more fine materials are deposited. The influence of currental deposition are higher on small pockets with west coast of well developed terraces. The lower skirt of alluvial fans developed into the tidal zone of shallow sea. Small pocket type bays are closed by coastal current, and less influenced from tidal deposition. The bank of Jinju Bay are developed originally from submerging of remnant erosional mountain ranges, and play on the role of trapping fine materials.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.121-128
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• 2012

High resolution intertidal DEM is a basic material for science research like sedimentation/erosion by ocean current, and is invaluable in a monitoring of environmental changes and practical management of coastal wetland. Since the intertidal zone changes rapidly by the inflow of fluvial debris and tide condition, remote sensing is an effective tool for observing large areas in short time. Although radar interferometry is one of the well-known techniques for generating high resolution DEM, conventional repeat-pass interferometry has difficulty on acquiring enough coherence over tidal flat due to the limited exposure time and the rapid changes in surface condition. In order to overcome these constraints, we tested the feasibility of radar interferometry using Cosmo-SkyMed tandem-like one-day data and ERS-ENVISAT cross tandem data with very short revisit period compared to the conventional repeat pass data. Small temporal baseline combined with long perpendicular baseline allowed high coherence over most of the exposed tidal flat surface in both observations. However the interferometric phases acquired from Cosmo-SkyMed data suffer from atmospheric delay and changes in soil moisture contents. The ERS-ENVISAT pair, on the other hand, provides nice phase which agree well with the real topography, because the atmospheric effect in 30-minute gap is almost same to both images so that they are cancelled out in the interferometric process. Thus, the cross interferometry with very small temporal baseline and large perpendicular baseline is one of the most reliable solutions for the intertidal DEM construction which requires very accurate mapping of the elevation.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.111-125
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• 2001

An estuary is semi-inclosed inlets, located between terrestrial and marine environment. Since many estuaries along south-western coasts of Korean peninsula were affected by human settlements and activities, significant changes in sedimentation environments have been observed. The research area is divided into three distinct morpho-stratigraphic units: fluvial dominated area(Area1), mixed area(Area 2), tide-dominated area(Area3). The landform of this area has been changed by reclamation and river channel change. Temporal variations affected by dam construction, periodic freshet was iterrupted. Sediments began to continuously accmulate on estuary banks by tide. Meanwhile, because of the continuous but reduced discharge of fresh water, the salinity of estuarine sediments was declined. That processes made vegetated area( Phregmites lonivalvis and Suaeda japonica) to be expanded. It indicates that the magnitude and frequency of geomorphic processes has been significantly changed.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.194-205
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• 2022

Sandbars formed by sediment transportation and sedimentation are some of the most important habitats for specific wildlife and they provide an aesthetic landscape in streams. The purpose of this study was to understand the successional process of the colonization and development of early vegetation over time on sandbars exposed by the opening of a gate at a downstream weir. We selected the following four study sites in the Geumgang River, South Korea: three weir-upstream sites with different gate-opening times and a control site that was not affected by weir operation. Changes in the structural characteristics and spatial distribution of the riparian vegetation on the sandbars exposed after opening the gate at the weir were surveyed according to the different exposure periods of the sandbars at the study sites. The newly formed sandbars accounted for more than 33% of the area of the existing floodplain in the three weir-upstream sites of the Geumgang River after opening the gate at the weir. Nine main plant communities were distributed on the exposed sandbars. These communities were classified as annual mesophytic, perennial hydrophytic, perennial hygrophytic, subtree, and tree vegetation based on their species traits. As the duration of exposure of the sandbar increased, the area of the bare sandbar and the annual herbaceous and perennial hydrophytic communities decreased, and the areas occupied by perennial hygrophytic, subtree, and tree communities increased. Changes in vegetation on the sandbar were classified into three types of succession according to the condition of the aquatic habitat before the gate-opening and the degree of physical disturbance caused by the water flow after the gate-opening. The types of succession were: 1) succession starting from hydrophytes in the lentic aquatic zone, 2) succession starting from annual herbaceous hygrophytes in the lotic aquatic zone, and 3) willow-dominated succession in the disturbed channel side. Our results suggested that the dynamics of successional changes in vegetation should be considered during weir operation to ecologically manage the habitats and landscape of the fluvial landforms, including sandbars in streams.

• The Korean Journal of Petroleum Geology
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• v.8 no.1_2 s.9
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• pp.1-43
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• 2000

A comparison study for understanding a stratigraphic response to tectonic evolution of sedimentary basins in the Yellow Sea and adjacent areas was carried out by using an integrated stratigraphic technology. As an interim result, we propose a stratigraphic framework that allows temporal and spatial correlation of the sedimentary successions in the basins. This stratigraphic framework will use as a new stratigraphic paradigm for hydrocarbon exploration in the Yellow Sea and adjacent areas. Integrated stratigraphic analysis in conjunction with sequence-keyed biostratigraphy allows us to define nine stratigraphic units in the basins: Cambro-Ordovician, Carboniferous-Triassic, early to middle Jurassic, late Jurassic-early Cretaceous, late Cretaceous, Paleocene-Eocene, Oligocene, early Miocene, and middle Miocene-Pliocene. They are tectono-stratigraphic units that provide time-sliced information on basin-forming tectonics, sedimentation, and basin-modifying tectonics of sedimentary basins in the Yellow Sea and adjacent area. In the Paleozoic, the South Yellow Sea basin was initiated as a marginal sag basin in the northern margin of the South China Block. Siliciclastic and carbonate sediments were deposited in the basin, showing cyclic fashions due to relative sea-level fluctuations. During the Devonian, however, the basin was once uplifted and deformed due to the Caledonian Orogeny, which resulted in an unconformity between the Cambro-Ordovician and the Carboniferous-Triassic units. The second orogenic event, Indosinian Orogeny, occurred in the late Permian-late Triassic, when the North China block began to collide with the South China block. Collision of the North and South China blocks produced the Qinling-Dabie-Sulu-Imjin foldbelts and led to the uplift and deformation of the Paleozoic strata. Subsequent rapid subsidence of the foreland parallel to the foldbelts formed the Bohai and the West Korean Bay basins where infilled with the early to middle Jurassic molasse sediments. Also Piggyback basins locally developed along the thrust. The later intensive Yanshanian (first) Orogeny modified these foreland and Piggyback basins in the late Jurassic. The South Yellow Sea basin, however, was likely to be a continental interior sag basin during the early to middle Jurassic. The early to middle Jurassic unit in the South Yellow Sea basin is characterized by fluvial to lacustrine sandstone and shale with a thick basal quartz conglomerate that contains well-sorted and well-rounded gravels. Meanwhile, the Tan-Lu fault system underwent a sinistrai strike-slip wrench movement in the late Triassic and continued into the Jurassic and Cretaceous until the early Tertiary. In the late Jurassic, development of second- or third-order wrench faults along the Tan-Lu fault system probably initiated a series of small-scale strike-slip extensional basins. Continued sinistral movement of the Tan-Lu fault until the late Eocene caused a megashear in the South Yellow Sea basin, forming a large-scale pull-apart basin. However, the Bohai basin was uplifted and severely modified during this period. h pronounced Yanshanian Orogeny (second and third) was marked by the unconformity between the early Cretaceous and late Eocene in the Bohai basin. In the late Eocene, the Indian Plate began to collide with the Eurasian Plate, forming a megasuture zone. This orogenic event, namely the Himalayan Orogeny, was probably responsible for the change of motion of the Tan-Lu fault system from left-lateral to right-lateral. The right-lateral strike-slip movement of the Tan-Lu fault caused the tectonic inversion of the South Yellow Sea basin and the pull-apart opening of the Bohai basin. Thus, the Oligocene was the main period of sedimentation in the Bohai basin as well as severe tectonic modification of the South Yellow Sea basin. After the Oligocene, the Yellow Sea and Bohai basins have maintained thermal subsidence up to the present with short periods of marine transgressions extending into the land part of the present basins.