Geomechanical modeling of hydrate‐bearing sediments during dissociation under shear

Methane hydrate‐bearing sediments exist throughout the world in continental margins and in Arctic permafrost. Hydrates are ice‐like compounds when dissociate due to temperature rise or reduction in fluid pressure, release gas. Because of the mechanical property changes caused by dissociation in which the loads supported by the hydrates are transferred to soil grains, these sediments may become unstable. To quantify the risk of ground instability triggered by dissociation, which may happen during operation to extract methane gas or from climate changes, a reliable predictive model is indispensable. Even though many models have been proposed, a detailed validation of the ability to model dissociation impact is still needed. This study investigated the adequacy of an spatially mobilized plane constitutive model and a modeling framework using laboratory‐induced dissociation tests under shear from literature. Using laboratory‐imposed temperature and pressure changes and the resulting hydrate saturation changes as input, this study was able to capture the geomechanical responses and determine the stability state of methane hydrate‐bearing sediments as observed. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Records of palaeo‐sea level and eruption duration in a coastal tuff ring,Jeju Island,Korea

Phreatomagmatic volcanoes and their sedimentary products can preserve high‐resolution records of earth surface processes because of their high deposition rate. Songaksan, Jeju Island, Korea, is a phreatomagmatic volcano, which erupted c. 3.7 ka BP in a coastal setting. Its tuff ring preserves a record of intertidal to supratidal facies transition in the basal part, which reveals the position of palaeo‐high‐tide level for at least 13 high‐tide events, and a record of a storm‐surge event in the middle part of the tuff ring, which lasted approximately three tidal cycles. Based on these features, the phreatomagmatic eruption of Songaksan is estimated to have taken place over a month. The sea level at the time was almost identical to that at present. This study shows that coastal phreatomagmatic volcanoes can preserve high‐resolution records of eruption duration and palaeo‐sea level, and can provide accurately levelled and dated data points to the Quaternary sea‐level curve.     

Long gamma-ray burst progenitors: boundary conditions and binary models

The observed association of Long Gamma-Ray Bursts (LGRBs) with peculiar Type Ic supernovae gives support to Woosley‘s collapsar/hypernova model, in which the GRB is produced by the collapse of the rapidly rotating core of a massive star to a black hole. The association of LGRBs with small star-forming galaxies suggests low-metallicity to be a condition for a massive star to evolve to the collapsar stage. Both completely-mixed single star models and binary star models are possible. In binary models the progenitor of the GRB is a massive helium star with a close companion. We find that tidal synchronization during core-helium burning is reached on a short timescale (less than a few millennia). However, the strong core-envelope coupling in the subsequent evolutionary stages is likely to rule out helium stars with main-sequence companions as progenitors of hypernovae/GRBs. On the other hand, helium stars in close binaries with a neutron-star or black-hole companion can, despite the strong core-envelope coupling in the post-helium burning phase, retain sufficient core angular momentum to produce a hypernova/GRB.     

Multi‐depth monitoring of electrical conductivity and temperature of groundwater at a multilayered coastal aquifer: Jeju Island,Korea

To supplement conventional geophysical log data, this study presents temporal variations in electrical conductivity (EC) and temperature with depth in a multilayered coastal aquifer, on the eastern part of Jeju Island, Korea. One‐month time‐series data obtained at eight points from a multi‐depth monitoring system showed that semidiurnal and semimonthly tidal variations induced dynamic fluctuations in EC and temperature. At some depths, EC ranged from 1483 to 26 822 µS cm^?1, while some points showed no significant variations. The results of EC log and time‐series data revealed that a sharp fresh‐saltwater interface occurred at low tide, but the diffusion zone broadened to 20 m at high tide. EC, temperature, and tide level data were used for the cross‐correlation analysis. The response time of EC and temperature to tide appears to range from less than 30 min to 11 h. Using end‐member mixing analysis (EMMA), the fraction of variations of chloride concentration in the multilayered aquifer was explained, and a conceptual model was developed which subdivided the coastal aquifer into four vertical zones. The percentage of water derived from seawater varied from 2 to 48 at specific depth, owing to tidal fluctuations. Continuous observations of EC and temperature at multiple depths are powerful tools for quantifying the transport of saline water by tidal variations in multilayered coastal aquifers. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of shape parameters of sands: a deep learning approach

Acta Geotechnica - The shape parameters of sand particles can be determined by either a Krumbein-Sloss chart or mathematical computation based on the particle image. However, these approaches are...     

Coupled storm surge and wave simulations for the Southern Coast of Korea

Ocean Science Journal - An integrated model system was developed to apply surge-wave coupled simulations to the southern coast of Korea during Typhoon Sanba in 2012. Numerical experiments were...     

Under-ice measurements of suspended particulate matters using ADCP and LISST-Holo

Ocean Science Journal - Using a mooring package comprising an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) and holographic imaging system, a 1-day ice camp study was performed under the Arctic sea ice...     

Regional-scale relationships between aerosol and summer monsoon circulation, and precipitation over northeast Asia

We investigated the regional-scale relationships between columnar aerosol loads and summer monsoon circulation, and also the precipitation over northeast Asia using aerosol optical depth (AOD) data obtained from the 8-year MODIS, AERONET Sun/sky radiometer, and precipitation data acquired under the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP). These high-quality data revealed the regional-scale link between AOD and summer monsoon circulation, precipitation in July over northeast Asian countries, and their distinct spatial and annual variabilities. Compared to the mean AOD for the entire period of 2001–2008, the increase of almost 40–50% in the AOD value in July 2005 and July 2007 was found over the downwind regions of China (Yellow Sea, Korean peninsula, and East Sea), with negative precipitation anomalies. This can be attributable to the strong westerly confluent flows, between cyclone flows by continental thermal low centered over the northern China and anticyclonic flows by the western North Pacific High, which transport anthropogenic pollution aerosols emitted from east China to aforementioned downwind high AOD regions along the rim of the Pacific marine airmass. In July 2002, however, the easterly flows transported anthropogenic aerosols from east China to the southwestern part of China in July 2002. As a result, the AOD off the coast of China was dramatically reduced in spite of decreasing rainfall. From the calculation of the cross-correlation coefficient between MODIS-derived AOD anomalies and GPCP precipitation anomalies in July over the period 2001–2008, we found negative correlations over the areas encompassed by 105–115°E and 30–35°N and by 120–140°E and 35–40°N (Yellow Sea, Korean peninsula, and East Sea). This suggests that aerosol loads over these regions are easily influenced by the Asian monsoon flow system and associated precipitation.     

High-resolution numerical simulation of the Pacific Ocean

The present study developed Pacific Ocean models from the Research Institute for Applied Mechanics Ocean Model (RIAMOM) with very high horizontal (1/6° and 1/12°) and vertical (70 levels) resolutions. The hydrographic features of the simulations show good agreement with observed climatological features. Solution differences between the 1/6° and 1/12° models are small for general features of various physical components, but large for eddy fields and the strengths of western boundary currents and their extensions. However, the two high-resolution models show realistic climatological features of Pacific Ocean circulation patterns. Volume transports through major straits in the northwestern Pacific Ocean were also simulated and compared with previous observational results.