• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.6-19
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• 2021

Subsurface physical properties can be obtained and imaged by seismic exploration, and various algorithms have been developed for this purpose. In this regard, root mean square error (RMSE) has been widely used to quantitatively evaluate the accuracy of the developed algorithms. Although RMSE has the advantage of being numerically simple, it has limitations in assessing structural similarity. To supplement this, full-reference image quality assessment (FR-IQA) techniques, which reflect the human visual system, are being investigated. Therefore, we selected six FR-IQA techniques that could evaluate the obtained physical properties. In this paper, we used the full-waveform inversion, because the algorithm can provide the physical properties. The inversion results were applied to the six selected FR-IQA techniques using three benchmark models. Using salt models, it was confirmed that the inversion results were not satisfactory in some aspects, but the value of RMSE decreased. On the other hand, some FR-IQA techniques could definitely improve the evaluation.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.20-27
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• 2021

Subsurface rock produces heat from the decay of radioactive isotopes in constituent minerals and gamma-ray emissions, of which the magnitude is dominated by the contents of the major radioactive isotopes (e.g., U, Th, and K). The heat production is generally calculated from the rock density and contents of major isotopes, which can be determined by mass spectrometry of drilled core samples or rock fragments. However, such methods are not easily applicable to deep boreholes because core samples recovered from depths of several hundred meters to a few kilometers are rarely available. A geophysical logging technique for boreholes is available where the U, Th, and K contents are measured from the gamma-ray spectrum. However, this technique requires the density to be measured separately, and the measurement depth of the equipment is still limited. As an alternative method, a normal gamma-ray logging tool was adopted to estimate the heat production from the total gamma activity, which is relatively easy to measure. This technical report introduces the development of the proposed method for evaluating the heat production of a granitic rock mass with domestic commercial borehole logging tools, as well as its application to a ~2 km deep borehole for verification.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.703-713
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• 2020

In many geological fields, including hydrogeology, it is of great importance to determine the heterogeneity of the subsurface media. This study briefly introduces the concept and theory of the method that can estimate the hydraulic properties of the media constituting the aquifer, which was recently introduced by Park (2020). After the introduction, the method was applied to the synthetic aquifer to demonstrate the practicality, from which various implications were drawn. The introduced technique uses a global optimization technique called the covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMA-ES). Conceptually, it is a methodology to characterize the aquifer heterogeneity by assimilating the groundwater level time-series data due to the imposed hydraulic stress. As a result of applying the developed technique to estimate the hydraulic conductivity of a hypothetical aquifer, it was confirmed that a total of 40000 unknown values were estimated in an affordable computational time. In addition, the results of the estimates showed a close numerical and structural similarity to the reference hydraulic conductivity field, confirming that the quality of the estimation by the proposed method is high. In this study, the developed method was applied to a limited case, but it is expected that it can be applied to a wider variety of cases through additional development of the method. The development technique has the potential to be applied not only to the field of hydrogeology, but also to various fields of geology and geophysics. Further development of the method is currently underway.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.353-364
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• 2021

Since the mid-twentieth century, geology has gradually evolved as an interdisciplinary context in South Korea. The journal of Economic and Environmental Geology (EEG) has a long history of over 52 years and published interdisciplinary articles based on geology. In this study, we performed a literature review using topic modeling based on Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), an unsupervised machine learning model, to identify geological topics, historical trends (classic topics and emerging topics), and association by analyzing titles, keywords, and abstracts of 2,571 publications in EEG during 1968-2020. The results showed that 8 topics ('petrology and geochemistry', 'hydrology and hydrogeology', 'economic geology', 'volcanology', 'soil contaminant and remediation', 'general and structural geology', 'geophysics and geophysical exploration', and 'clay mineral') were identified in the EEG. Before 1994, classic topics ('economic geology', 'volcanology', and 'general and structure geology') were dominant research trends. After 1994, emerging topics ('hydrology and hydrogeology', 'soil contaminant and remediation', 'clay mineral') have arisen, and its portion has gradually increased. The result of association analysis showed that EEG tends to be more comprehensive based on 'economic geology'. Our results provide understanding of how geological research topics branch out and merge with other fields using a useful literature review tool for geological research in South Korea.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.53-66
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• 2021

Velocity model building is an essential procedure in seismic data processing. Conventional techniques, such as traveltime tomography or velocity analysis take longer computational time to predict a single velocity model and the quality of the inversion results is highly dependent on human expertise. Full-waveform inversions also depend on an accurate initial model. Recently, deep neural network techniques are gaining widespread acceptance due to an increase in their integration to solving complex and nonlinear problems. This study investigated cases of seismic velocity model building using deep neural network techniques by classifying items according to the neural networks used in each study. We also included cases of generating training synthetic velocity models. Deep neural networks automatically optimize model parameters by training neural networks from large amounts of data. Thus, less human interaction is involved in the quality of the inversion results compared to that of conventional techniques and the computational cost of predicting a single velocity model after training is negligible. Additionally, unlike full-waveform inversions, the initial velocity model is not required. Several studies have demonstrated that deep neural network techniques achieve outstanding performance not only in computational cost but also in inversion results. Based on the research results, we analyzed and discussed the characteristics of deep neural network techniques for building velocity models.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.78-88
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• 2021

Owing to the abnormal weather conditions due to global warming, carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology has attracted global attention as a countermeasure to reduce CO₂ emissions. In the Pohang CCS demonstration project in South Korea, 100 tons of CO₂ were successfully injected into the subsurface CO₂ storage in early 2017. However, after the 2017 Pohang earthquake, the Pohang CCS demonstration project was suspended due to an increase in social concerns about the safety of the CCS project. In this study, to reconfirm the structural suitability of the CO₂ storage site in the Pohang Basin, we employed seismic imaging based on reverse-time migration (RTM) to analyze small-scale ocean-bottom seismic data, which have not been utilized in previous studies. Compared with seismic images using marine streamer data, the continuity of subsurface layers in the RTM image using the ocean-bottom seismic data is improved. Based on the obtained subsurface image, we discuss the structural suitability of the Pohang CO₂ storage site.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.113-130
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• 2021

Recently, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys have been actively employed to obtain a large amount of data on occurrences such as ground subsidence and road safety. However, considering the cost and time efficiency, more intuitive and accurate interpretation methods are required, as interpreting a whole survey data set is a cost-intensive process. For this purpose, GPR data can be subjected to attribute analysis, which allows quantitative interpretation. Among the seismic attributes that have been widely used in the field of exploration, complex trace analysis and similarity are the most suitable methods for analyzing GPR data. Further, recently proposed attributes such as edge detecting and texture attributes are also effective for GPR data analysis because of the advances in image processing. In this paper, as a reference for research on the attribute analysis of GPR data, we introduce the useful attributes for GPR data and describe their concepts. Further, we present an analysis of the interpretation methods based on the attribute analysis and past cases.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.73-77
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• 2021

Induced polarization (IP) is useful for mineral exploration and hydrogeological studies by visualizing the electrochemical reactions at the interface between polarized minerals and groundwater. Frequency-domain IP (FDIP) is not actively applied to field surveys because it takes longer to acquire data, despite its higher data quality than conventional time-domain IP. However, data quality is more important in current mineral exploration as the targets gradually shift to deep or low-grade ore bodies. In addition, the measurement time reduced by automated instrumentation increases the potential for FDIP field applications. Therefore, we demonstrate that FDIP can detect mineral exploration targets by performing geophysical logging in the boreholes of a skarn deposit, in South Korea. Alternating current (AC) resistivity, percent frequency effect (PFE) and metal factor (MF) were calculated from impedance values obtained at two different frequencies. Skarn zones containing magnetite or pyrite showed relatively low AC resistivity, high PFE, and high MF compared to other zones. Therefore, FDIP surveys are considered to be useful for mineral exploration.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.202-208
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• 2021

Induced polarization (IP) was first published in a Korean academic journal in 1973, and it was soon applied to coal and metal ore exploration. Then, in universities and research institutes, IP modeling studies using the finite element approach and experimental studies on IP responses for artificial samples were conducted. In the mid-1980s, the spectral IP (SIP) measurement module was introduced to Korea, and physical scale modeling and inversion approaches were developed. Due to the decline of the mineral resource industry, this method was not actively applied. However, the SIP method was not applied In the 1990s, IP exploration was applied in the investigation of hydrothermal deposits of sulfide minerals and bentonite mineralization zones, as well as to areas where the groundwater was contaminated by intruding seawater. In the 2000s, three-dimensional inversion of the IP approach was developed, and high-precision geophysical exploration was required to secure domestic and overseas mineral resources, so SIP experiments on rock samples and approaches for field exploration were developed. The SIP approach was proven useful for the exploration of metal deposits containing sulfide minerals by applying it to explore the mineralization zone of gold-silver deposits in the Haenam region. The IP method is considered to be effective in exploring critical minerals (lithium, cobalt, and nickel) in high-tech industries. It also is expected to be useful for environmental and geotechnical investigations.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.435-450
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• 2022

In step-by-step site selection for geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste, parameters necessary for site selection will be acquired through deep drilling surveys from the basic survey stage. Unlike site investigations of rock mass structures such as tunnels and underground oil storage facilities, those related to the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste are not only conducted in relatively deep depths, but also require a high level of quality control. In this report, based on the 750 m depth drilling experience conducted to acquire the parameters necessary for deep geological disposal, the methodology for deep drilling and the geology, geophysics, geochemistry, hydrogeology and rock mechanics obtained before, during, and after deep drilling are discussed. The procedures for multidisciplinary geoscientific investigations were briefly described. Regarding in-situ stress, one of the key evaluation parameter in the field of rock engineering, foreign and domestic cases related to the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste were presented, and variations with depth were presented, and matters to be considered or agonized in acquiring evaluation parameters were mentioned.