• Title/Summary/Keyword: marine deep-sea water

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Locates the Sunken Ship 'Dmitri Donskoi' using Marine Geophysical Survey Techniques in Deep Water (지구물리 탐사기법을 이용한 심해 Dmitri Donskoi호 확인)

  • Yoo, Hai-Soo;Kim, Su-Jeong;Park, Dong-Won
    • 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2004.08a
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    • pp.104-117
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    • 2004
  • Dmitri Donskoi, which went down during the Russo-Japanese War occurred 100 years ago, was found by using geophysical exploration techniques at the 400 m water depth of submarine valley off Jeodong of Ulleung Island. In the submarine area with the rugged seabed topography and volcanic seamounts, in particular, the reliable seabed images were acquired by using the mid-to-shallow Multibeam exploration technique The strength of corrosion (causticity) of the sunken Donskoi, measured by the electrochemical method, decreased to 2/5 compared with the original strength.

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A Review on Major Factors for Microalgae Biofuel Commercialization (미세조류 바이오연료 상용화를 위한 주요 인자 연구)

  • Kang, Do-Hyung;Heo, Soo-Jin;Oh, Chulhong;Ju, Se-Jong;Jeon, Seon-Mi;Choi, Hyun-Woo;Noh, Jae Hoon;Park, Se Hun;Kim, Tae-Young
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.34 no.4
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    • pp.365-384
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    • 2012
  • Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms that are highly productive in the presence of basic renewable natural sources (light, $CO_2$, water and nutrients). They can synthesize lipids, carbohydrates and proteins in a small number of days. Subsequently, these carbon-captured products can be processed into both biofuels and valuable co-products. Additionally, microalgae would be an ideal feedstock for replacing land-based food crops with cellular products as high energy density transportation fuels. These microscopic organisms could contribute a significant amount of renewable energy on a global scale. In Korea, microalgae biofuel research was common in the early 1990s. The research activities were unfortunately stopped due to limited governmental funds and low petroleum prices. Interest in algal biofuels in Korea has been growing recently due to an increased concern over oil prices, energy security, greenhouse gas emissions, and the potential for other biofuel feedstock to compete for limited agricultural resources. The high productivity of microalgae suggests that much of the Korean transportation fuel requirements can be met by biofuels at a production cost competitive with the increasing cost of petroleum seen in early 2008. At this time, the development of microlalgal biomass production technology remains in its infancy. This study reviewed microalgae culture systems and biomass production, harvesting, oil extraction, conversion, and technoeconomical bottlenecks. Many technical and economic barriers to using microalgal biofuels need to be overcome before mass production of microalgal-derived fuel substitutes is possible. However, serious efforts to overcome these barriers could become a large-scale commercial reality. Overall, this study provides a brief overview of the past few decades of global microalgal research.

Long-term Changes of Bathymetry and Surface Sediments in the dammed Yeongsan River Estuary, Korea, and Their Depositional Implication (영산강 하구의 수심 및 표층 퇴적물 특성의 변화와 퇴적환경)

  • KIM, YOUNG-GIL;CHANG, JIN HO
    • The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.88-102
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    • 2017
  • Long-term changes in bathymetry and grain size of surface sediments were investigated for understanding depositional sedimentary environments in the channelized Yeongsan River Estuary, Korea. The results revealed that an average depth of the estuary had decreased up to 2.1 m from 1982 to 2006, while it had increased to 0.3 m from 2006 to 2012. The rapid decrease of the water depth from 1982 to 2006 was due to the vast deposition of mud caused by the change of water course and flow velocity after the estuary was dammed. Meanwhile the increase of the water depth from 2006 to 2012 may be associated with multiple erosional processes, including a dredging at the southern part of the estuary and other erosions from the dike sluice expansion work. Considering the water-depth change and tidal-level variation in the study area, an depositional rate in the estuary is estimated to be 8~9 cm/yr for the last 2 decades (1982~2006). The sediments of Yeongsan River Estuary are largely composed of silt-clay mixtures: overall, silt is distributed mainly in the shallow area of the estuary edge, while clay is confined to the deep area of the estuary center. Mean grain size of the sediments is 6.0 Ø on average in 1997, 7.8 Ø on average in 2005 and 7.7 Ø on average in 2012, respectively, suggesting that the sediments became finer due to the increase of silt and clay contents in 1997~2005. Furthermore, several lines of evidences, including the comparison between the amounts of the sediment influx discharged from the Yeongsan River and the sediments in the estuary, and the changes in distribution pattern of silt and clay contents implying that they moved from offshore to estuary dike, indicate that the mud sediments are originated mainly from the offshore, not from the river.

Geology of Athabasca Oil Sands in Canada (캐나다 아사바스카 오일샌드 지질특성)

  • Kwon, Yi-Kwon
    • The Korean Journal of Petroleum Geology
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    • v.14 no.1
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    • pp.1-11
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    • 2008
  • As conventional oil and gas reservoirs become depleted, interests for oil sands has rapidly increased in the last decade. Oil sands are mixture of bitumen, water, and host sediments of sand and clay. Most oil sand is unconsolidated sand that is held together by bitumen. Bitumen has hydrocarbon in situ viscosity of >10,000 centipoises (cP) at reservoir condition and has API gravity between $8-14^{\circ}$. The largest oil sand deposits are in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. The reverves are approximated at 1.7 trillion barrels of initial oil-in-place and 173 billion barrels of remaining established reserves. Alberta has a number of oil sands deposits which are grouped into three oil sand development areas - the Athabasca, Cold Lake, and Peace River, with the largest current bitumen production from Athabasca. Principal oil sands deposits consist of the McMurray Fm and Wabiskaw Mbr in Athabasca area, the Gething and Bluesky formations in Peace River area, and relatively thin multi-reservoir deposits of McMurray, Clearwater, and Grand Rapid formations in Cold Lake area. The reservoir sediments were deposited in the foreland basin (Western Canada Sedimentary Basin) formed by collision between the Pacific and North America plates and the subsequent thrusting movements in the Mesozoic. The deposits are underlain by basement rocks of Paleozoic carbonates with highly variable topography. The oil sands deposits were formed during the Early Cretaceous transgression which occurred along the Cretaceous Interior Seaway in North America. The oil-sands-hosting McMurray and Wabiskaw deposits in the Athabasca area consist of the lower fluvial and the upper estuarine-offshore sediments, reflecting the broad and overall transgression. The deposits are characterized by facies heterogeneity of channelized reservoir sands and non-reservoir muds. Main reservoir bodies of the McMurray Formation are fluvial and estuarine channel-point bar complexes which are interbedded with fine-grained deposits formed in floodplain, tidal flat, and estuarine bay. The Wabiskaw deposits (basal member of the Clearwater Formation) commonly comprise sheet-shaped offshore muds and sands, but occasionally show deep-incision into the McMurray deposits, forming channelized reservoir sand bodies of oil sands. In Canada, bitumen of oil sands deposits is produced by surface mining or in-situ thermal recovery processes. Bitumen sands recovered by surface mining are changed into synthetic crude oil through extraction and upgrading processes. On the other hand, bitumen produced by in-situ thermal recovery is transported to refinery only through bitumen blending process. The in-situ thermal recovery technology is represented by Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage and Cyclic Steam Stimulation. These technologies are based on steam injection into bitumen sand reservoirs for increase in reservoir in-situ temperature and in bitumen mobility. In oil sands reservoirs, efficiency for steam propagation is controlled mainly by reservoir geology. Accordingly, understanding of geological factors and characteristics of oil sands reservoir deposits is prerequisite for well-designed development planning and effective bitumen production. As significant geological factors and characteristics in oil sands reservoir deposits, this study suggests (1) pay of bitumen sands and connectivity, (2) bitumen content and saturation, (3) geologic structure, (4) distribution of mud baffles and plugs, (5) thickness and lateral continuity of mud interbeds, (6) distribution of water-saturated sands, (7) distribution of gas-saturated sands, (8) direction of lateral accretion of point bar, (9) distribution of diagenetic layers and nodules, and (10) texture and fabric change within reservoir sand body.

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