Local variability in temperature, humidity and radiation in the BaekduDaegan Mountain protected area of Korea

A novel embedded sensor network records changes in key climatic-environmental variables over a range of altitude in the BaekduDaegan Mountain (BDM) of Gangwon Province in Korea, a protected mountain region with unique biodiversity undergoing climate change research. The investigated area is subdivided into three horizontal north-south study areas. Three variables, temperature (T, ℃), relative humidity (RH, %), and light intensity (LI, lumens m -2 , or lux, lx), have been continuously measured at hourly intervals from June, 2010 to September, 2011 using HOBO H8 devices at 10 fixed study sites. These hourly observations are aggregated to monthly, seasonal and annual mean values, and results are summarized to inaugurate a long-term climate change investigation. A region wide T difference in accordance with altitude, or lapse rate, over the interval is calculated as 0.4℃100 m -1 . T lapse rates change seasonally, with winter lapse rates being greater than those of summer. RH is elevated in summer compared to other seasons. LI within forestland is lower during summer and higher during other seasons. The obtained results could closely relate to the vegetation type and structure and the terrain state since data loggers were located in forestland.     

Age of the pterosaur and web-footed bird tracks associated with dinosaur footprints from South Korea

Abstract   An absolute age has been determined for the Cretaceous Uhangri Formation in which web-footed bird tracks, pterosaur tracks and dinosaur tracks have been discovered recently. This combined track discovery is a first from Asia. There is one other similar find in the world, however, the Uhangri site is greater in abundance and frequency. Moreover, the size of the pterosaur tracks indicates that the track maker had a wingspan of 10 m or more. Well-preserved tuffaceous rocks in the formation made it possible to measure geological age by Rb–Sr and K–Ar methods. Rb–Sr whole rock ages for the volcanic rocks are: 96.0 ± 2.5 Ma (MSWD = 0.354) for lapilli andesitic tuff, 81.0 ± 2.0 Ma (MSWD = 0.296) for felsic tuff and 77.9 ± 4.1 Ma (MSWD = 4.41) for Hwangsan welded tuff. K–Ar ages are younger, 83.2–68.8 Ma. The layer containing fossil tracks of pterosaurs and web-footed birds are preserved in black shale sandwiched by the lapilli andesitic tuff and felsic tuff, and are thus 96–81 Ma in age. Dinosaur footprints are dated at 96–78 Ma. Thus the pterosaurs, web-footed birds and dinosaurs coexisted in the same environment from Cenomanian to Campanian time.     

Recurrent events on a Quaternary fault recorded in the mineralogy and micromorphology of a weathering profile, Yangsan Fault System, Korea

Recurrence characteristics of a Quaternary fault are generally investigated on the basis of field properties that are rapidly degraded by chemical weathering and erosion in warm humid climates. Here we show that in intense weathering environments, mineralogical and micromorphological investigations are valuable in paleoseismological reconstruction. A weathering profile developed in Late Quaternary marine terrace deposits along the southeastern coast of the Korean Peninsula was disturbed by tectonic movement that appears to be a simple one-time reverse faulting event based on field observations. A comparative analysis of the mineralogy, micromorphology, and chemistry of the weathering profile and fault gouge, however, reveals that both the microfissures in the deformed weathering profile and larger void spaces along the fault plane were filled with multi-stage accumulations of illuvial clay and silt minerals of detrital origin, suggesting a repetition of fissuring and subsequent sealing in the weathering profile as it underwent continuous mineralogical transformation and particle translocation. We reconstruct a sequence of multiple faulting events unrecognized in previous field surveys, which requires revision of the view that the Korean Peninsula was tectonically stable, during the Late Quaternary.     

韩国东海Ulleung盆地天然气水合物沉积层的地震属性分析

地震属性可以由多种地震子波的特征来定义。并且根据不同的标准分类。选择叠前地震数据特征可提供丰富的诸如偏移和方向的资料,此次研究中,我们将限制叠后地震数据以提取地震属性,叠后地震数据可以通过子波特征和瞬时特征来分类。     

A social assessment of the Hebei-Spirit oil spill

This paper examines the early social consequences of the largest oil spill in Korea from December 2007 up to May 2008. The focus is on the social impact of the oil spill and its social implications in three major areas of oil spill response: (1) clean-up operations, (2) compensation, and (3) ecological impact. The paper highlights both the positive and negative consequences of the spill and the significance of the early social assessment to understand subsequent responses and adaptation in the long run.     

Estimation of incident and reflected waves in regular wave experiments

This paper presents a laboratory technique for measurement of reflected waves by a submerged horizontal plate. A simple method is proposed to decompose the composite wave record obtained from the wave reflection experiments in the wave flume. The data collected were used to compute the reflected wave height by means of two and three probe methods proposed by other investigators and compared with the directly computed reflected wave using the measured incident wave. The experiment was carried out for a horizontal plate of 1 m length spanning the full width of the flume with wave periods ranging from 0.8 to 1.8 sec with 0.1 sec increments and wave heights of 5, 10 and 15 cm. The methods using two and three probes with phase measurement yield better results than the three probe method without phase measurement, and in general they have a wider range of application. The method using three probes without the phase measurement generally fails due to numerical instability of the scheme. The results obtained by the proposed method are compared with the two and three probe methods and a comparative analysis of the four methods is presented and discussed.     

Lithospheric mantle signatures as revealed by zircon Hf isotopes of Late Triassic post‐collisional plutons from the central Korean peninsula,and their tectonic implications

The Mesozoic tectonic architecture of the Korean peninsula is largely governed by the continental collision between the North and South China blocks. Zircon Hf isotopic compositions presented in this study and whole‐rock geochemical and Sr‐Nd isotope data in the literature collectively suggest that the lithophile‐elements‐enriched signature of the Late Triassic post‐collisional plutons from the Gyeonggi massif in central Korea is a primary feature inherited from the metasomatized mantle lithosphere. Highly negative zircon ε_Hf (t) values (?23 to ?19) of plutons from the middle and eastern parts of the massif indicate an ancient metasomatism of their mantle source. Distinctly higher zircon ε_Hf (t) values (?15 to ?12) from the southwestern plutons are ascribed to a contribution from an accreted component of the South China‐like block. The involvement of asthenospheric mantle is not recognized in zircons from either group. The implications of these isotopic features are discussed in the context of Mesozoic collisional tectonics.     

Fourier-series representation and projection of spherical harmonic functions

Computations of Fourier coefficients and related integrals of the associated Legendre functions with a new method along with their application to spherical harmonics analysis and synthesis are presented. The method incorporates a stable three-step recursion equation that can be processed separately for each colatitudinal Fourier wavenumber. Recursion equations for the zonal and sectorial modes are derived in explicit single-term formulas to provide accurate initial condition. Stable computations of the Fourier coefficients as well as the integrals needed for the projection of Legendre functions are demonstrated for the ultra-high degree of 10,800 corresponding to the resolution of one arcmin. Fourier coefficients, computed in double precision, are found to be accurate to 15 significant digits, indicating that the normalized error is close to the machine round-off error. The orthonormality, evaluated with Fourier coefficients and related integrals, is shown to be accurate to O(10^?15) for degrees and orders up to 10,800. The Legendre function of degree 10,800 and order 5,000, synthesized from Fourier coefficients, is accurate to the machine round-off error. Further extension of the method to even higher degrees seems to be realizable without significant deterioration of accuracy. The Fourier series is applied to the projection of Legendre functions to the high-resolution global relief data of the National Geophysical Data Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the spherical harmonic degree variance (power spectrum) of global relief data is discussed.