• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.169-181
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to develop geochemical tracers to identify a specific source desert of mineral dust in China using the published data. In addition, we tested the applicability of these tracers to wet-deposits and soil samples collected in Jeju, Korea. Because of similarity in trace elemental compositions of mineral dust from the major arid regions in China, such as Taklimakan, West Ordos (Badain Jaran), East Ordos (Mu Us and Hobq), East Northern China (Horqin), West Northern China (Gurbantunggut), and Chinese Loess Plateau, there has been limited to the use of geochemical data for source identification. Here we propose the four (4) plots using combination of seven (7) geochemical variables as a source indicator to distinguish one from other source regions in China: $\frac{Y}{Tb_N}$ vs. $\frac{Th}{{\Sigma}REE_N}$, $\(\frac{La}{Gd}\)_N$ vs. $\frac{Y}{{\Sigma}REE_N}$, $\frac{Th}{Tb_N}$ vs. $\frac{Y}{Nd_N}$, and $\frac{Th}{Tb_N}$ vs. $\(\frac{Ce}{Ce}\)_N^*$, where $_N$ and $\(\frac{Ce}{Ce}\)_N^*$ stand for values normalized to Post-Archean Average Shale composition and Ce anomaly, respectively. Mineral dusts from aforementioned six major deserts are distinguished one from the others by the combined use of these variables. Jeju rock and soil samples form a separate domain from Chinese mineral dusts in all four plots. In contrast, most of Jeju dust samples were comparable with the West Ordos desert (Badain Jaran) domain, indicative of strong influence of Badain Jaran dust in Jeju in spring season when the mineral dust was collected. A weak positive Ce anomaly in Jeju samples implies minimal local contribution. Our study suggests that the combination of $\frac{Y}{Tb_N}$ vs. $\frac{Th}{{\Sigma}REE_N}$, $\(\frac{La}{Gd}\)_N$ vs. $\frac{Y}{{\Sigma}REE_N}$, $\frac{Th}{Tb_N}$ vs. $\frac{Y}{Nd_N}$, and $\frac{Th}{Tb_N}$ vs. $\(\frac{Ce}{Ce}\)_N^*$ can be used to identify a specific source region of mineral dust in China as well as Jeju mineral particles.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.165-165
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• 2003

A borehole core ECSDP-102 (about 68.5 m long) has been investigated to get information on paleoenvironmental changes in response to the sea-level fluctuations during the period of late Quaternary. Several AMS $\^$14/C ages show that the core ECSDP-102 recorded the depositional environments of the northern East China Sea for approximately 60 ka. The Yangtze River discharged huge amounts of sediment into the northern East China Sea during the marine isotope stage (MIS) 3. In particular, $\delta$$\^$13/Corg values reveal that the sedimentary environments of the northern East China Sea, which is similar to the Holocene conditions, have taken place three times during the MIS 3. It is supported by the relatively enriched $\delta$$\^$13/Corg values of -23 to -21$\textperthousand$ during the marine settings of MIS 3 that are characterized by the predominance of marine organic matter akin to the Holocene. Furthermore, we investigated the three Holocene sediment cores, ECSDP-101, ECSDP-101 and YMGR-102, taken from the northern East China Sea off the mouth of the Yangtze River and from the southern Yellow Sea, respectively. Our study was focused primarily on the onset of the post-glacial marine transgression and the reconstructing of paleoenvironmental changes in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea during the Holocene. AMS $\^$14/C ages indicate that the northern East China Sea and the southern Yellow Sea began to have been flooded at about 13.2 ka BP which is in agreement with the initial marine transgression of the central Yellow Sea (core CC-02). $\delta$$\^$18/O and $\delta$$\^$13/C records of benthic foraminifera Ammonia ketienziensis and $\delta$$\^$13/Corg values provide information on paleoenvironmental changes from brackish (estuarine) to modem marine conditions caused by globally rapid sea-level rise since the last deglaciation. Termination 1 (T1) ended at about 9.0-8.7 ka BP in the southern and central Yellow Sea, whereas T1 lasted until about 6.8 ka BP in the northern East China Sea. This time lag between the two seas indicates that the timing of the post-glacial marine transgression seems to have been primarily influenced by the bathymetry. The present marine regimes in the northern East China Sea and the whole Yellow Sea have been contemporaneously established at about 6.0 ka BP. This is strongly supported by remarkably changes in occurrence of benthic foraminiferal assemblages, $\delta$$\^$18/O and $\delta$$\^$13/C compositions of A. ketienziensis, TOC content and $\delta$$\^$13/Corg values. The $\delta$$\^$18/O values of A. ketienziensis show a distinct shift to heavier values of about 1$\textperthousand$ from the northern East China Sea through the southern to central Yellow Sea. The northward shift of $\^$18/O enrichment may reflect gradually decrease of the bottom water temperature in the northern East China Sea and the Yellow Sea.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.781-797
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• 2023

Recently, there has been a rapid response from mineral-demanding countries for securing critical minerals in a high tech industries. Graphite, while overwhelmingly dominated by China in production, is changing in global supply due to the exponential growth in EV battery sector, with active exploration in East Africa. Rare earth elements are essential raw materials widely used in advanced industries. Globally, there are ongoing developments in the production of REEs from three main deposit types: carbonatite, laterite, and ion-adsorption clay types. While China's production has decreased somewhat, it still maintains overwhelming dominance in this sector. Recent changes over the past few years include the rapid emergence of Myanmar and increased production in Vietnam. Nickel has been used in various chemical and metal industries for a long time, but recently, its significance in the market has been increasing, particularly in the battery sector. Worldwide, nickel deposits can be broadly classified into two types: laterite-type, which are derived from ultramafic rocks, and ultramafic hosted sulfide-type. It is predicted that the development of sulfide-type, primarily in Australia, will continue to grow, while the development of laterite-type is expected to be promoted in Indonesia. This is largely driven by the growing demand for nickel in response to the demand for lithium-ion batteries. The global lithium ores are produced in three main types: brine lake (78%), rock/mineral (19%), and clay types (3%). Rock/mineral type has a slightly higher grade compared to brine lake type, but they are less abundant. Chile, Argentina, and the United States primarily produce lithium from brine lake deposits, while Australia and China extract lithium from both brine lake and rock/mineral sources. Canada, on the other hand, exclusively produces lithium from rock/mineral type. Vanadium has traditionally been used in steel alloys, accounting for approximately 90% of its usage. However, there is a growing trend in the use for vanadium redox flow batteries, particularly for large-scale energy storage applications. The global sources of vanadium can be broadly categorized into two main types: vanadium contained in iron ore (81%) produced from mines and vanadium recovered from by-products (secondary sources, 18%). The primary source, accounting for 81%, is vanadium-iron ores, with 70% derived from vanadium slag in the steel making process and 30% from ore mined in primary sources. Intermediate vanadium oxides are manufactured from these sources. Vanadium deposits are classified into four types: vanadiferous titanomagnetite (VTM), sandstone-hosted, shale-hosted, and vanadate types. Currently, only the VTM-type ore is being produced.

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.14-20
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• 2006

During the 11 year period of 1995-2005, there was about a 40% increase in the world copper demand mainly because of the Asian economic growth. In the increase, about a half was consumed by China. Most of the China's copper demand increase has been taken place over the final 5-6 years of that period. The growth is expected to continue for several years, and in 10 years or sooner the same situation is expected for India. Copper is the third metal in global demand, but its little abundance in the Earth's crust is not well recognized. From the production rate and the abundance, a copper shortage, or crisis, has a high probability than the other metals. Deep ocean mineral resources such as manganese nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zones, Kuroko-type massive seafloor sulfides (SMS), and cobalt-rich manganese crusts in the EEZ and the high sea areas have big potentials for the future sources. We need to re-evaluate their potentials as copper resources and other metals to realize their developments. The same situation is under progress in the hydro-carbon markets. Methane hydrates that are classified into non-conventional hydro-carbon resources have an important role as the future sources, too.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.57-63
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• 2020

In this paper, we reported that the global trend of cement production and utilization as raw materials and as a fuel. As we know, cement is one of the significant materials required for the construction industry. The recent trend of rising urbanization, both the cement and construction industry played a vital role. The cement industry is a major sustainable infrastructure for the countries. Currently, China producing cement half of the world's cement production. During the year 2018, Korea producing cements nearly 57.5 million metric tons. Waste materials are used as circular resources and also having tremendous benefits for cement production. Another important use of these circular resources is fuel for the cement industry. There is a large potential benefit of the cement industry, but it's creating a severe environmental threat. The cement industry contributes to the major emissions of CO2. This leads the global warming. As per the Paris agreement, the Korean government initiated the recycling policy of waste materials and also the utilization of circular resources for the prevention of limited natural resources and also the global warming effect.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.468-473
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• 2007

The chemical composition distribution of the surface samples collected from the loess plateau in China were estimated. Major elements concentration distribution difference between 10 different sampling site were not found except sample 3. This sample had higher contents of Ca, Mg, LOI and lower contents of Si, Fe, P, Na, Ti. And also, minor element contents such as Ba, Cr, Nb, Pb, Rb, Zr, V were lower than other samples. UCC-normalized abundances of the most elements were within $0.5-1.5{\times}UCC$ and Cr showed enrichment aspect. Rare-earth element (REE) analysis results showed light REE enriched pattern compared to heavy REE with negative Eu anomaly in condrite-normalized REE pattern.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.199-209
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• 2010

Coal gasification technology in the sector of domestic clean coal technologies is being into the limelight since recent dramatic rise of international oil price. In this study, we used a low rank coal from Inner Mongolia, China as a starting material for gasification. Various properties including optical, mineralogical, X-ray spectroscopic, X-ray diffraction, and drying property were measured and tested in order to estimate the suitability of the coal to gasification. The coal was identified as a brown coal of lignite group from the measurement of vitrinite reflectance. The coal has very low slagging and fouling potentials, and the ignition temperature is about $250^{\circ}C$. The major impurities consist of quartz, siderite, and clay minerals. Additionally, the coal had moisture content above 28%. Tests for finding effective drying method showed that the microwave drying is more effective than thermal drying.

• The Korean Journal of Petroleum Geology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2006

Jiaolai Basin is the Cretaceous continental sedimentary basin developed in Shandong Province of China. It is interpreted as a pull-apart basin which is filled with fluvio-lacustrine sediments and volcanic rocks. The sedimentary strata are divided into three formations: Laiyang Formation, Qingshan Formation and Wangshi Formation in ascending order. Laiyang Formation of the early Cretaceous consists of conglomerate, sandstone and shale, which are grey, black or red in color, respectively. Qingshan Formation of early Cretaceous includes various kinds of volcanic rocks. Late Cretaceous Wangshi Formation consists of red conglomerate, sandstone and shale. Various types of oil shows are observed on many outcrops in the basin such as asphalt filing fissures, oil smelling, rocks wetted with oil. However, commercial oil discovery was not made. Laiyang Formation is the richest in terms of organic matter contents. Some grey or black shales of Laiyang Formation contain more than 1% of organic matter. Kerogens of some layers mainly consist of amorphous organic matter or pollen. Thermal maturity of the organic matter reached main oil generation zone and hydrocarbon genetic potential is fairly good. According to such geochemical data, some layers of Laiyang Formation can act as hydrocarbon source rocks.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2018

Brazilian splitting tests, uniaxial compression tests and triaxial compression tests are carried out on the coal samples cored from Shanxi group $II_1$ coal seam of Jiaozuo coal mine, Henan province, China, to obtain their property parameters. Considering the bedding has notable effect on the property parameter of coal, the samples with different bedding angles are prepared. The effects of bedding on the anisotropic characteristics of the coal seam are investigated. A geological geomechanical model is built based on the geology characteristics of the Jiaozuo coal mine target reservoir to study the effects of bedding on the fracture propagations during hydraulic fracturing. The effects of injection pressure, well completion method, in-situ stress difference coefficient, and fracturing fluid displacement on the fracture propagations are investigated. Results show bedding has notable effects on the property parameters of coal, which is the key factor affecting the anisotropy of coal. The hydraulic cracks trends to bifurcate and swerve at the bedding due to its low strength. Induced fractures are produced easily at the locations around the bedding. The bedding is beneficial to form a complicated fracture network. Experimental and numerical simulations can help to understand the effects of bedding on hydraulic fracturing in coalbed methane reservoirs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Mineral and Energy Resources Engineers
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.359-366
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• 2019

This article aims to summarize the recycling status of scrap gold, silver, platinum, and palladium by regions and industries in order to utilize the data for securing raw materials of the domestic urban mining industry. The amount of gold from scrap has shown a tendency to decrease in countries other than China over the last ten years, which is attributed to the increase in scrap containing gold in China. The industry demand for gold is the highest in electronic products, but it is decreasing. The amount of scrap recycling for silver has declined but total silver production has increased by increasing mine products. As production and demand from platinum and palladium scrap are mostly for catalysts, their demand could be affected by the electric vehicle industry.