• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.65-93
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• 2023

Several countries have been operating radioactive waste disposal (RWD) programs to construct their own repositories and have used natural analogues (NA) studies directly or indirectly to ensure the reliability of the long-term safety of deep geological disposal (DGD) systems. A DGD system in Korea has been under development, and for this purpose a generic NA study is necessary. The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute has just launched the first national NA R&D program in Korea to identify the role of NA studies and to support the safety case in the RWD program. In this article, we review some cases of NA studies carried out in advanced countries considering crystalline rocks as candidate host rocks for high-level radioactive waste disposal. We examine the differences among these case studies and their roles in reflecting each country's disposal repository design. The legal basis and roadmap for NA studies in each country are also described. However because the results of this analysis depend upon different environmental conditions, they can be only used as important data for establishing various research strategies to strengthen the NA study environment for domestic disposal system research in Korea.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.283-294
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• 2023

APro, developed in KAERI for the process-based total system performance assessment (TSPA) of deep geological disposal systems, performs finite element method (FEM)-based multiphysics analysis. In the FEM-based analysis, the mesh element quality influences the numerical solution accuracy, memory requirement, and computation time. Therefore, an appropriate mesh structure should be constructed before the mesh stability analysis to achieve an accurate and efficient process-based TSPA. A generic reference case of DECOVALEX-2023 Task F, which has been proposed for simulating stationary groundwater flow and time-dependent conservative transport of two tracers, was used in this study for mesh stability analysis. The relative differences in tracer concentration varying mesh structures were determined by comparing with the results for the finest mesh structure. For calculation efficiency, the memory requirements and computation time were compared. Based on the mesh stability analysis, an approach based on adaptive mesh refinement was developed to resolve the error in the early stage of the simulation time-period. It was observed that the relative difference in the tracer concentration significantly decreased with high calculation efficiency.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.19 no.spc
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• pp.43-52
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• 1986

Kaolin-pyrophyllite are locally abundant in the three hydrothermal areas at Yangsan-Tongnae area, Hadong-Sancheong area and Haenam area, deposits are originally composed of acidic volcanic rocks and anorthositic rocks in Hadong-Sancheong area. The clay deposits are formed in the near shallow depths environment through acid hydrothermal alteration. Hadong-Sancheong halloysite deposits are formed by alteration of anorthosite. These differences are mainly on the various country rocks, geological structure and properties of hydrothermal solutions. Country rock is mostly underlain by rhyolitic tuffaceous and anorthositic rocks and a large number of clay deposits were formed during volcanic activity through upper Cretaceous-lower Tertiary. Intrusive rocks is broadly distributed in this area and clay deposits are variable in shapelayer and funnel typed. Zonal pattern of mineral assemblage is as follows, Yangsan-Tongnae deposits-kaolinite, pyrophyllite, dumortierite, andalusite and sericite, Hadong-Sancheong-mostly halloysite, and Haenam-dickite, pyrophyllite, alunite and diaspore. The difference in the zonal pattern of altered rock is considered to depend on differences in the initial acidity of related hydrothermal solution, initial acidity was controlled by the oxygen fugacity.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.939-946
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• 2015

Hydraulic conductivity is an important parameter in the analytical model of groundwater. This study analyzed the groundwater movement characteristics by estimating optimal parameters according to hydraulic conductivity input methods with the MODFLOW model which is widely used. It first estimated the optimal parameters by dividing hydraulic conductivity zones by attitude. Next, it estimated optimal parameters by geological characteristic. It analyzed the groundwater movement characteristics by applying the recharge quantity and amount of evapotranspiration of drought periods and flood years with the estimated parameters. As the result was analyzed that there are differences of observation water level values according to hydraulic conductivity input methods but there is no big differences of overall groundwater movement characteristics by hydraulic conductivity input method, the two methods have found to be applicability in analyses of groundwater. So, it is judged that studies on more exact application of hydraulic conductivity and the application methods are needed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.27-46
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of novelty space among pre-service elementary and secondary earth science teachers. We conducted a survey to explore the perceptions of 38 pre-service elementary school teachers at the National University of Education and 31 pre-service secondary earth science teachers at the Department of Earth Science Education at B University. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants, including three pre-service elementary teachers and nine pre-service secondary science teachers. In addition to the elements of novelty space, prior knowledge (cognition), prior outdoor learning experience (psychology), familiarity (geography) with outdoor field learning, and social and technical elements were added. When classified based on elementary and secondary levels, there were statistically significant differences in cognitive, psychological, geographic, and social areas for the elements of novelty space. Statistical differences indicated that the experience or capital related to outdoor learning may have resulted from more pre-service secondary earth science teachers than pre-service elementary teachers. In additional interviews, both elementary and secondary pre-service teachers reported that competencies in the technical domain would be emphasized in the future owing to the necessity and the technical development of virtual-reality-based outdoor field learning programs. This study emphasizes the academic significance of novelty space that should be considered to conduct geological field learning for elementary and secondary earth science pre-service teachers while considering the current post-pandemic educational context.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.589-602
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• 2020

As can be seen in many earthquakes, liquefaction causes differential settlement, which sometimes produces serious damages such as building destruction and ground subsidence. There are many possible active faults near the Busan city and the Yangsan, Dongrae, and Ilgwang faults among them pass through the city. The Busan city is also located within the influence of recent earthquakes, which occurred in the Gyeongju, Pohang, and Kumamoto (Japan). Along the wide fault valleys in the city, the Quaternary unconsolidated alluvial sediments are thickly accumulated, and the reclaimed lands with beach sediments are widely distributed in the coastal area. A large earthquake near or in the Busan city is thus expected to cause major damage due to liquefaction in urban areas. This study conducted an assessment of the liquefaction hazard according to seismic recurrence intervals across the Busan city. As a result, although there are slight differences in degree depending on seismic recurrence intervals, it is predicted that the liquefaction potential is very high in the areas of the Nakdonggang Estuary, Busan Bay, Suyeong Bay, and Songjeong Station. In addition, it is shown that the shorter the seismic recurrence interval, the greater difference the liquefaction potential depending on site periods.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.351-363
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• 2012

In order to develop the evaluation techniques for the potential sulfide ore reserves, the relationships between the modal vol.%, grain sizes and textural characteristics of the constituent minerals (e.g., sulfides, oxides and skarn minerals) and the Spectral Induced Polarization (SIP) phase differences are examined for the nine rock cores collected from the Gagok Pb-Zn skarn deposit. The Gagok Pb-Zn skarn deposit occurs mainly along the intrusive contact between the Cretaceous granitic rocks and Cambrian Myobong slate and Pungchon limestone. The nine rock cores have been grouped into three showing distinctive SIP phase differences: the highest (Group I), intermediate (Group II) and lowest (Group III). In relation with the modal vol.% of minerals, Group I is characterized by higher pyrrhotite (25-38 vol.%) and amphibole (40-55 vol.%); Group II by intermediate pyrrhotite (7-13 vol.%) and higher garnet (44-68 vol.%); and lower pyrrhotite (1-7 vol.%) and higher pyroxene (24-66 vol.%) stand for Group III. Furthermore, the grains of all the major constituent minerals become smaller from Group I (<5 mm) through Group II (<2.5 mm) to Group III (<1.6 mm). In particular, the pyrrhotite contents and their grain sizes show logarithmic correlation with the SIP phase differences, Although we present here the results solely from nine samples, the systematic interrelations especially for pyrrhotite indicate the potential ability of SIP measurements as a new mine-evaluation technique for the sulfide ore reservoir.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.55-72
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• 2023

This study aims to identify the fault zone architecture and geometric and kinematic characteristics of the Yeongdeok Fault, based on the geometry and kinematic data of various structural elements obtained by detailed field survey and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) of the fault rocks. The Yeongdeok Fault extends from Opo-ri, Ganggu-myeon, Yeongdeok-gun to Gilgok-ri, Maehwa-myeon and Bangyul-ri, Giseong-myeon, Uljin-gun, and cuts various rock types from the Paleo-proterozoic to the Mesozoic with a range of 4.6-5.0 km (4.77 km in average) of right-lateral offset or forms the rock boundaries. The fault is divided into four segments based on its geometric features and shows N-S to NNW strikes and dips of an angle of ≥ 54° to the east at most outcrops, even though the outcrops showing the westward dipping (a range of 54°-82°) of fault surface increase as it goes north. The Yeongdeok Fault shows the difference in the fault zone architecture and in the fault core width ranging from 0.3 to 15 m depending on the bedrock type, which is interpreted as due to differences in the physical properties of bedrock such as ductility, mineral composition, particle size, and anisotropy. Combining the results of paleostress reconstruction and AMS in this and previous studies, the Yeongdeok Fault experienced (1) sinistral strike-slip under NW-SE maximum horizontal principle stress (σ_Hmax) and NE-SW minimum horizontal principle stress (σ_Hmin) in the late Cretaceous to early Cenozoic, and then (2) dextral strike-slip under NE-SW maximum horizontal principle stress (σ_Hmax) and NW-SE minimum horizontal principle stress (σ_Hmin) in the Paleogene. It is interpreted that the deformation caused by the Paleogene dextral strike-slip movement was the most dominant, and the crustal deformation was insignificant thereafter.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.99-114
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• 2013

Phylogeographic and feeding ecological studies of seven terrestrial mustelid species (Carnivora, Mustelidae), the Japanese marten Martes melampus, the sable Martes zibellina, the Japanese badger Meles anakuma, the ermine or the stoat Mustela erminea, the Japanese weasel Mustela itatsi, the least weasel Mustela nivalis, and the Siberian weasel Mustela sibirica, representing four biogeographic patterns in the Japanese archipelagos (Hokkaido, Honshu-Shikoku-Kyushu, Tsushima, and Hokkaido-Honshu), were reviewed in order to clarify causes for the faunal assemblage processes of those mustelid species in Japan. Here, three main constraints were extracted as important factors on the mustelid assemblage. First, fundamental evolutionary differences maintained by niche conservatism in each ecologically diversified lineage ("evolutionary constraint") would enable the species to co-occur without any major problem (coexistence among Martes, Meles, and Mustela species). Second, "ecological constraints" would force two closely related species to be allopatric by competitive exclusion (Mu. itatsi and Mu. sibirica) or to be sympatric by resource partitions (Mu. erminea and Mu. nivalis). Third and most importantly, "geological constraints" would allow specific species to be embraced by a particular geographic region, primarily deciding which species co-occurs. The allopatric distribution of two Martes species in Japan would have been established by the strong effect of the geological separation in Tsugaru Strait. Elucidating both phylogeny and ecology of co-existing species in a community assemblage is important to know which species possess distinct lineage and which ecological traits are adapted to local environments, fulfilling the requirement of the field of conservation biology that endemism and adaptation should both be considered. The Japanese archipelagos would, therefore, provide valuable insight into the conservation for small carnivoran species.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.39-49
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• 2014

Volcanic rocks in Jeju island show vesicular structure caused by various environmental factors, and indicate the differences in geological and mechanical characteristics from region to region. Previous studies on the volcanic rocks in Jeju island have been actively conducted on geological and chemical properties in terms of geophysics and geology and on physical and mechanical properties in terms of engineering. But comprehensive comparative analysis on physical and mechanical properties of volcanic rocks in Jeju island is not conducted. In this study, the physical and mechanical properties of volcanic rocks in Jeju island were compared and analyzed comprehensively through the existing research papers and reports about volcanic rocks in Jeju island. As a result, it was found that the relationship between absorption (porosity) and apparent specific gravity is commonly linear and could be represented as two different linear approximations. In addition, it was found that the relationship between P-wave velocity and S-wave velocity and the relationship between absorption (porosity) and uniaxial compressive strength could be classified more clearly, considering two different linear relationships in absorption (porosity) and apparent specific gravity.