• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.277-287
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• 2022

The ancient underground cities are a collection of self-supporting spaces that have been manually excavated in the soil or rock in the past. Because these structures have a very high cultural value due to their age, the study of their stability under the influence of natural hazards, such as earthquakes, is very important. In this research, while introducing the underground city of Ouyi Nushabad located in the center of Iran as one of the largest man-made underground cities of the old world, the analysis of dynamic stability is performed. For this purpose, the dynamic stress-displacement analysis has been performed through numerical modeling using the finite element software PLAXIS. At this stage, by simulating the Khorgo earthquake as one of the large-scale earthquakes that occurred in Iran, with a magnitude of 6.9 on the Richter scale, dynamic analysis by time history method has been performed on three selected sections of underground spaces. This study shows that the maximum amount of horizontal and vertical dynamic displacement is 12.9 cm and 17.7 cm, respectively, which was obtained in section 2. The comparison of the results shows that by increasing the cross-sectional area of the excavation, especially the distance between the roof and the floor, in addition to increasing the amount of horizontal and vertical dynamic displacement, the obtained maximum acceleration is intensified compared to the mapping acceleration applied to the model floor. Therefore, preventive actions should be taken to stabilize the excavations in order to prevent damage caused by a possible earthquake.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.997-1007
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• 2012

This study was performed to assess functions of 10 man-made wetlands in Gunsan City, Jeollabuk Province by means of RAM (Rapid Assessment Method), a technique recommended by Ramsar Convention to appraise wetlands. The assessment of the wetlands value found Gunsan reservoir to have the highest function points while Bukchosan reservoir was estimated to have the lowest function among the wetlands surveyed. By detailed factors of valued 10 man-made wetland, the wetlands were found to function most favorably in terms of vegetational variety and as habitat for wild animals. They need to have more improved functions as habitats for fish and amphibians reptiles, for preservation and betterment of water quality as well as for supplement of underground water, though. From the assessment of vegetational naturalness of the surveyed reservoirs, Gunsan reservoir turned out to be the most favorable wetland from the viewpoint of vegetation science whereas, however, Anjeong wetland was rated as the lowest in the assessment of vegetational value due to simplicity in its vegetation and lots of dangers in its neighborhood threatening its vegetation and ecology. The assessment of vegetational values for Gunsan, Gongchang, Daewi, Bukchosan, Anjeong, Geumgul, Changan and Chuksan reservoirs showed the same orextremely similar results as RAM function assessment. Geumsan reservoir only, however, featured the opposite result.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.207-215
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• 2018

Almost all countries of the world have recently made great efforts to reduce green-house gases to alleviate the global warming threatening human survival, because a huge amount of carbon dioxide as one of the main green-house gases has been emitted from the combustion processes of fossil fuels such as coal and oil. $CO_2$ capture and storage (CCS) technology is a representative method to diminish the green-house gases, and actively investigated by many countries. This study focuses on the design and construction of a high pressure $CO_2$ injection facility to store it to underground, which is the first $CO_2$ injection in Korea following the steps of the $CO_2$ capture from large $CO_2$ emission sources and transportation to the sea. Injection tests of $CO_2$ on the platform on the sea were carried out in Yeongil Bay of Pohang city in the early 2017. Thus, we were able to perceive the necessary operating conditions of the injection facility, injection characteristic, and knowhow of the injection facility. The results obtained from the injection test shall be utilized for facility upgrades and scale-ups.