• 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.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.597-602
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• 2005

The Late Quaternary palynoflora from an archaeological site in Piseo-ri, Muan, Korea consists predominately of deciduous broadleaved angiosperms and subordinately of herbs and conifers. Dominant taxa are Polypodiaceae, Taxodiaceae-Cupressaceae-Taxaceae, Alnus, Carpinus, deciduous Quercus, Compositae and Gramineae. The palynoflora dated 43,000-18,000 yr BP, corresponding to the last glacial period, is similar to the modern vegetation of the cool temperate deciduous broadleaved forest in the middle part of the Korean Peninsula. Based on palynofloral composition, three palynozones are recognized. Zone I represents a cool temperate deciduous broadleaved forest, composed of Polypodiaceae, Taxodiaceae-Cupressaceae-Taxaceae, Alnus and D. Quercus, and is characterized by persistent occurrence of warm temperate taxa. Zone II shows drastic decrease in Polypodiaceae, Taxodiaceae-Cupressaceae-Taxaceae, and increase in herbs. This zone reflects a cool temperate deciduous broadleaved forest with scattered open grasslands. Zone III is characterized by dominance in herbs and increase in conifers. The palynofloral composition suggests a cool temperate climate, and variation in occurrences of main taxa indicates that climatic conditions gradually became cold and dry.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.369-379
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• 2003

Analysis of high-resolution seismic profiles and sediment data from the southeastern continental shelf of Korea reveals that the late Quaternary deposits consist of a set of lowstand (LST), transgressive (TST), and highstand systems tracts (HST) that corresponds to the sea-level change after the Last Glacial Maximum. LST (Unit I) above the sequence boundary consists of sandy mud or muddy sand deposited during the last glacial period and is confined to the shelf margin and trough region. TST (Unit II) between transgressive surface and maximum flooding surface consists of sandy sediments deposited during the postglacial transgression (15,000-6,000 yr BP). Although TST is widely distributed on the shelf, it is much thinner than LST and HST. On the basis of distribution pattern, TST can be divided into three sub-units: early TST (Unit IIa) on the shelf margin, middle TST (Unit IIb) on the mid-shelf, and late TST (Unit IIc) on the inner shelf, respectively. These are characterized by a backstepping depositional arrangement. HST(Unit III) above the maximum flooding surface is composed of the fine-grained sediments deposited during the last 6000 yrs when sea level was close to the present level and its distribution is restricted to the inner shelf along the coast.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.264-274
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• 2023

The Korea Strait comprises a continental shelf in a shallow sea that experienced glacio-eustastic sea-level changes during the Quaternary period. A long core of 76.6 m in length was acquired at the South Sea Drilling Project site (SSDP-101; 34°19.666'E and 128°16.335'N) with a 60 m water deep. The uppermost massive sand beds were interpreted as sandy sediments of the nearshore marine sand ridge in the shallow sea during the transgression of sea level, whereas the lower parts of alternating sandy and muddy beds were interpreted as deposits in marsh, estuary, and tidal flat environments. A three-layered geoacoustic model was reconstructed for the sedimentary succession in the high-resolution seismic profile based on a 140-grain size and sediment type of core SSDP-101. For the actual underwater simulation and experiments, the in-situ P-wave speeds were calculated using the sound speed ratio of the Hamilton method.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.299-312
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• 2019

This study analyzed variation of tidal channels associated with Shihwa reclamation project for corresponding observation period based on remote sensing approaches. The project period was subdivided to developing period, closed period, and open period based on developing and management plan of Shiwa lake, and number, length, width, and direction of tidal channels for each period were analyzed using CORONA, Landsat 5 TM, Landsat 7 ETM+, and orthorectified aerial photographs. Number of tidal channels decreased from developing to opening period while $3^{rd}$ order channles did not show noticeable changes. The length of tidal channels decreased during developing to closed period, and increasing trend of $2^{nd}$ and $3^{rd}$ order channels was observed for the opening period. The average widtrh of $2^{nd}$ and $3^{rd}$ order channels decreased from developing to closed period, and increased during open period. The direction of tidal channels showed NW and NE direction in general, while the rose diagram showed deacrased frequency of NE direction and increased frequency of NW direction during the open period. These variations in tidal channels are considered to be related to changes in tidal energy environment, where stable energy environment before the project was changed to disconnection of tidal energy by closed environment, and re-connection of the energy during the open period.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.33-48
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• 2000

Vegetation disturbance history of the Korean Peninsula from the Palaeolithic Age to the Koryo Dynasty (1392) has reconstructed by the use of various data sources. Active vegetation disturbance, which has begun during the Neolithic Age, seems to be more widespread on lowland and coastal areas in the early stages, but later expanded into inland areas. The ploughing of a field and the selective cutting of certain trees, such as oak trees, nettle trees and pine trees are noticeable, and eventually caused deforestation during the Bronze Age. The use of iron tools of the Iron Age has enabled the forest clearing to develope the dry fields. During the Three Kingdoms period (BC 57∼AD 918) extensive deforestation has maintained for the development of cultivated fields, as well as other activities, such as timber, lumbering, production of iron farm implement, ploughing by cattle. The encouragement of disafforestation on mountain slope and creation of terraced field during the Koryo Dynasty (918∼1392) has caused the deforestation over the country, along with the consumption of large amount of wood and timber for fire-wood, ship-building, mining, xylography and so on.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.34-47
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• 2009

AMS radiocarbon dates indicated that Eurimji reservoir, located at Jecheon City, Chungbuk Province, has been formed during the late Holocene Epoch. The sedimentary sequence at bottom reveals histories in hydrology, climate conditions and past vegetation dynamics. Ages controlled sedimentological and palynological analyses on ER 3-1 Core contribute to reconstruct paleoclimate and past hydrological conditions. These analyses suggest that lower interval (307.5m~309.5m elevations) of the ER 3-1 Core was deposited in stable from 1,920 yrBP to 1,420 yrBP, but upper layer sediment above these elevations was composed of reworked sediments during the pre and post 2,000 yrBP. Pollen assemblage indicates that watershed vegetation of the Eurimji reservoir, during the period of 1,920 yrBP~1,420 yrBP, was closely comparable to modern vegetation dominated Pinus and Quercus mixed vegetation. Also, riparian including Alnus, Fraxinus and Salix were inhabited along the banks of stream, and aquatics such as Typha, Nymphaea and Persicaria flourished at shore of the reservoir. According to cultural chronicle, it infers that the Eurimji reservoir was formed from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age or the beginning of ancient society. An integrated data suggested that Quercus-Pinus-Abies mixed forest flourished under cool and dry climate conditions during 3,200 yrBP~200 yrBP.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.50-62
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• 1999

Sediment core samples recovered from the Korea Deep Ocean Study (KODOS)-97 area were divided into two or three units according to their distinct changes in sediment colors and chemical and physical properties. Analyses of radiolarian faunas in the sediments and $^{10}Be$ ratios in each unit were performed to reveal stratigraphic and paleoceanographic history of the study area. In the upper part of the sediments, Tertiary radiolarians were mixed at various proportions with Quaternary assemblages probably by reworking process of bottom current and benthic animals. Dissolution of radiolarians was severe in deeper depth and in the Unit III, only few of the fragments of corroded Tertiary radiolarians were detectable. The mid layer of the Unit I belonged to Collosphaera invaginata Zone, the time period of 0.21 Ma. The Unit II belonged to Collosphaera tuberosa Zone with the time period younger than 0.42 Ma which was observed above the Stylatractus universus Zone. The Unit III is assigned to Tertiary, which is younger than the Late Eocene. Composition analyses of radiolarian assemblage and $^{10}Be$ ratio data indicated hiatus periods of more than 3 My between late of Middle Miocene and Pliocene resulting from erosion and dissolution caused by Antarctic Bottom Water. Stratigraphic evidence from radiolaria was well correlated with $^{10}Be$ data. Sedimentation rate during Quaternary can be suggested as 0.15-0.5 mm per 1000 years. Dominance of warm-water radiolaria species and the results reflected minimum climatic changes of tropical conditions.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2008

We investigated metal concentrations and oceanic environment changes that have occurred over the past several years by studying the hard coral Porites lutea, which inhabits tropical and subtropical areas. Soft X-radiographs clearly showed distinctive annual bands within 71 mm coral sample, which reflect changes in the oceanic environment over this period. There were large fluctuations in the major and minor element concentrations. Considering the physicochemical partition coefficient, some elements accumulated in the aragonite matrix in a mechanical manner, while others were affected by environmental factors. The concentrations of some heavy metals varied over a wide range, implying local environmental effects. The variation of Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca in coral skeleton clearly showed large-scale fluctuation over the specific intervals, implying environmental changes during this period. The concentrations of heavy metals also show high fluctuations, and roughly accord with Mg/Ca variation. In addition, Cu and Zn seem to show cyclicity-like peaks, coincide with Mg/Ca variation over the specific intervals. Such variation might be related to local pollution and oceanographic changes. More detailed investigation is necessary, including the pretreatment of coral skeleton sediment.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.20 no.1 s.26
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• pp.9-27
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• 2006

The East Asian (China, Korea and Japan) summer monsoon precipitation and its variability are examined from the outputs of the 22 coupled climate models performing coordinated experiments leading to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC AR4) following the multi-model ensemble (MME) technique. Results are based on averages of all the available models. The shape of the annual cycle with maximum during the summer monsoon period is simulated by the coupled climate models. However, models fail to simulate the minimum peak in July which is associated with northward shifts of the Meiyu-Changma-Baiu precipitation band. The MME precipitation pattern is able to capture the spatial distribution of rainfall associated with the location of the north Pacific subtropical high and the Meiyu-Changma-Baiu frontal zone. However precipitation over the east coast of China, Korea-Japan peninsular and the adjoining oceanic regions is underestimated. Future projections to the radiative forcing of doubled $CO_2$ scenario are examined. The MME reveals an increase in precipitation varying from 5 to 10 %, with an average of 7.8 % over the East Asian region at the time of $CO_2$ doubling. However the increases are statistically significant only over the Korea-Japan peninsula and the adjoining north China region. The increase in precipitation may be attributed to the projected intensification of the subtropical high, and thus the associated influx of moist air from the Pacific to inland. The projected changes in the amount of precipitation are directly proportional to the changes in the strength of the subtropical high. Further a possible increase in the length of the summer monsoon precipitation period from late spring through early autumn is suggested.