• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.111-125
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• 1998

Dispersion, migration and enrichment of environmental toxic elements from the Samkwang Au-Ag mine area were investigated based upon major, minor and rare earth element geochemistry. The Samkwang mine area composed mainly of Precambrian granitic gneiss. The mine had been mined for gold and silver, but closed in 1996. According to the X-ray powder diffraction, mineral composition of stream sediments and soils were partly variable mineralogy, which are composed of quartz, orthoclase, plagioclase, amphibole, muscovite, biotite and chlorite, respectively. Major element variations of the host granitic gneiss, stream sediments and soils of mining and non-mining drainage, indicate that those compositions are decrese $Al_2O_3$, $Fe_2O_3$, MgO, $TiO_2$, $P_2O_5$ and LOI with increasing $SiO_2$ respectively. Average compositional ranges (ppm) of minor and/or environmental toxic elements within those samples are revealed as As=<2-4500, Cd=<1-24, Cu=6-117, Sb=1-29, Pb=17-1377 and Zn=32-938, which are extremely high concentrations of sediments from the mining drainage (As=2006, Cd=l1, Cu=71, Pb=587 and Zn=481 ppm, respectively) than concentrations of the other samples and host granitic gneiss. Major elements (average enrichment index=6.53) in all samples are mostly enriched, excepting $SiO_2$, $Na_2O$ and $K_2O$, normalized by composition of host granitic gneiss. Rare earth element (average enrichment index=2.34) are enriched with the sediments from the mining drainage. Minor and/or environmental toxic elements within all samples on the basis of host rock were strongly enriched of all elements (especially As, Br, Cu, Pb and Zn), excepting Ba, Cr, Rb and Sr. Average enrichment index of trace elements in all samples is 15.55 (sediments of mining drainage=37.33). Potentially toxic elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) of the samples revealed that average enrichment index is 46.10 (sediments of mining drainage=80.20, sediments of nonmining drainage=5.35, sediments of confluent drainage=20.22, subsurface soils of mining drainage=7.97 and subsurface soils of non-mining drainage=4.15). Sediments and soils of highly concentrated toxic elements are contained some pyrite, arsenopyrite, sphalerite, galena and goethite.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.19-28
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• 2019

Grounds of the western coast of the Korean Peninsular are mostly composed of soft and cohesive soils, and it is necessary to carry out soil improvement before construction. The CGS (Compaction Grouting System) method has been commonly applied for the purpose of not only improving soft ground but also serving as the pile foundation of a bridge. In this paper, the CGS method was applied to the Incheon International Airport facility site, which consists of reclaimed landfill and soft clay soil, so as to evaluate the applicability of this soil improvement method to soft clay ground formations. Futhermore, results of construction were intensively studied along with a series of field experiments and theoretical consideration. The cone penetration tests were performed to assess the ground improvement effect of the CGS method. Consequently, the application of CGS method led to an increase in soil strength enough to be used as the pile foundation to support the bridge at the site. In addition, the size of the upper grout-bulb was estimated by adopting the cavity expansion theory and compared with that of actual grout bulb exhumed in the field. Therefore, it is proved that the cavity expansion theory can be utilized to predict and evaluate the improvement of soft ground.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.15-23
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• 2018

The occurrence of soil erosions in Korea is mostly driven by flowing water which has a close relationship with rainfalls. The soil eroded by rainfalls flows into and deposits in the river and it polluted the water resources and making the rivers become difficult to be managed. Recently, the frequency of heavy rainfall events that are more than 30 mm/hr has been increasing in Korea due to the influence of climate change, which creating a favourable condition for the occurrence of soil erosion within a short time. In this study, we proposed a method to estimate the distribution of rainfall intensity and to calculate the energy produced by a single rainfall event using the cumulative distribution function that take into account of the physical characteristics of rainfall. The raindrops kinetic energy estimated by the proposed method are compared with the measured data from the previous studies and it is noticed that the raindrops kinetic energy estimated by the rainfall intensity variation is very similar to the results concluded from the previous studies. In order to develop an equation for estimating rainfall kinetic energy, rainfall particle size data measured at a rainfall intensity of 0.254~152.4 mm/hr were used. The rainfall kinetic energy estimated by applying the cumulative distribution function tended to increase in the form of a power function in the relation of rainfall intensity. Based on the equation obtained from this relationship, the rainfall kinetic energy of 1~80 mm/hr rainfall intensity was estimated to be $0.03{\sim}48.26Jm^{-2}mm^{-1}$. Based on the relationship between rainfall intensity and rainfall energy, rainfall kinetic energy equation is proposed as a power function form and it is expected that it can be used in the design of short-term operated facility such as the sizing of sedimentation basin that requires prediction of soil loss by a single rainfall event.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.299-309
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• 2019

This study was designed to assess the quality and quantity of food resources such as the chlorophyll a concentration (Chl-a), the particulate organic carbon (POC) and the particulate organic nitrogen (PON), on blood cocke (Tegillarca granosa Linnaeus) farms from May to November 2017 in the northwestern area of Yeoja Bay, Korea. The values of Chl-a, POC and PON were $1.69-7.68{\mu}g{\cdot}L^{-1}$ (average: $3.48{\mu}g{\cdot}L^{-1}$ in the surface), 0.88-2.58 mM (average: 1.97 mM) and 0.17-0.90 mM (average: 0.54 mM), respectively, and these values were higher in the spring and summer and lower in the autumn. Furthermore, Chl-a and POC had higher values on the bottom layer than those vales on the surface, while PON had higher values on the surface than those values on the bottom. The POC/PON ratio and POC/Chl-a ratio were 1.56-7.88 (average: 3.71 on the surface of the water) and 216-967 (average: 700 on the bottom of the water), respectively, with most of the carbon sources being sediment-accumulated particle organic matter, and the contribution by phytoplankton was assessed as being low. These results show that the food source of the blood cockle farms in the northwest area of Yeoja Bay seems to be abundant in quantity, but this is considered to be very poor in quality.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.187-197
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• 2021

The Hyeongjeseom (Islet) is an erosional remnant of volcano which is located about 2 km northeast of sea shore of the Songaksan tuff ring, and is composed of volcaniclastic deposit, agglomerate and scoria deposit, ponded lava, aa lava flows, reworked deposit and beach deposit in ascending order from the base. The volcano is formed by volcaniclastic deposits and lava flows that recorded a transition from initial phreatomagmatic to magmatic explosions followed by lava effusion. It is interpreted that the outcropped volcaniclastic deposit may be a remaining portion of outer ring of a tuff cone. A bomb and a ponded lava yield geochemically basaltic trachyandesite compositions (SiO2 51.3 wt%, Na2O+K2O 6.0 wt%) and belong to olivine basalt with scarce (<5 %) phenocrysts of olivine, petrographically. By incremental heating Ar-Ar dating method, the plateau age of lava flow in the Heongjesom is 9.2±3.6(2σ) ka, implying that the volcanism of Heongjeseom may have occurred earlier than the Songaksan tuff ring which erupted ca. 3.7 ka. It still remains a task to find a volcano which matches with a historical record of volcanic activity that occurred a thousand years ago.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.35-43
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• 2011

Confined aquifer, which is separated with upper clayey or silty materials, is partially distributed at the depths of the sediments in Ddan-sum area on the lower Nakdong river. Measurements of groundwater levels at 13 sites explain that groundwater flow shows seasonally various due to seasonal rainfall and agricultural water use. From 9 long-term monitoring data of groundwater levels at 7 sites, 3 types of groundwater levels time series can be classified using principal component analysis. The first type is seen in the center of Ddan-sum and has a round-shape graph due to a weak response to stream water levels. The second type exists in the outer part of Ddan-sum and shows sharply peak-shape graph due to a rapid and strong response to stream water levels and rainfall. The last type, which is seen in a deep layer, has a periodicity by tital effect. From geochemical analysis at each monitoring sites, [$Ca-HCO_3$] type happens in the center of Ddan-sum far from Nakdong river, and [$Na-HCO_3$] and [$Ca-SO_4(Cl)$] types exist in the outer of Ddan-sum affected by river quality.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.85-93
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• 2021

Sewage separation which often involves installing a new pipe to separate wastewater flow from stormwater runoff flow can be costly and depends highly on its feasibility in a site. To be able to develop a potentially more economical alternative that can also lessen major road traffic disturbance during this process, a different approach where a smaller sewage separator pipe is installed inside an existing combined sewer pipe was investigated. A small-scale of a box sewer and the proposed sewage separator pipe was constructed in the laboratory to observe and compare the deposition of solids and other solid-associated major pollutants at different flow rates. In addition, three-dimensional flow simulations considering five different scenarios were conducted using Ansys Fluent to observe the effect of the proposed sewage separator pipe to the hydraulic flow if installed inside the combined sewer pipe. Results revealed that the deposition of TSS, TCOD, TN, and TP were reduced by at least 60% when the wastewater was conveyed by the sewage separator pipe instead of the combined sewer pipe. Moreover, the flow simulations conducted showed that there was little to no major disturbance in hydraulic flow and velocity distribution when the sewage separator was installed inside a straight pipe and even at pipe transitions such as intersections, turns, and drop in elevation. Considering the pipe dimensions and the results of the study, the proposed approach can be promising in terms of reduction in pollutant deposition without a major effect on the hydraulic flow. Further investigation and cost-analysis should be done in the future to support these preliminary findings and help alleviate the problems caused by combined sewer overflows by introducing an alternative approach.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.561-571
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• 2019

The Hupo Basin, continental marginal basin, of the East Sea extends to Uljin-gun and Yeongdeok-gun. The Hupo Bank, a terrain that is higher than the surrounding seabed, is located at the eastern boundary of the Hupo Basin. KIOST(Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology) conducted detailed bathymetry surveys in the northern, central and southern areas of the Hupo Basin from 2011 to 2013. The Hupo Basin, bounded by steep slopes of the Hupo Bank, is deepened from the west coast to the east and deepest to a maximum depth of about 250 m. A narrow seafloor channel appears in the northern, central, and southern areas with the deepest depths. Numerous pockmarks appear on the seafloor at depths of about 150 ~ 250 m in all the three areas of the detailed bathymetry surveys. These pockmarks generally have diameters of about 20 to 50 m and depths of about 4 to 6 m, with craterlike submarine topography of various sizes. Seafloor sediments in the pockmark areas consist of fine silt. Comparing the shape and size of the pockmark of the Hupo Basin with that of other regions of the world, it is considered to be classified as a normal pockmark. There are about 7 pockmarks/1 ㎢ in the northern part of the three areas and about 8 pockmarks/1 ㎢ in the central part. The southern part has about 5 pockmarks/1 ㎢. If the area with the possibility of pockmarks is extended to the depth area of about 150 ~ 250 m in the entire Hupo Basin, the number of pockmarks is estimated to be more than about 4800. The pockmark of the Hupo Basin is more likely to be generated by a fluid such as a liquid than a gas. But it is necessary to scrutinize the cause and continuously monitor the pockmark.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.348-356
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• 2007

Statistical and probabilistic method was used in the analysis of data, which is the most effective one in describing the various natures, and the methodology relating the results with the design was developed. Influents and effluents of three treatment plants were analyzed and the focus was made on BOD, COD, SS, IN, TP The fluctuations of influent such as BOD, COD, SS were extremely large and their standard deviations(st.dev) were more than 10 mg/L. but those of TN, TP were small; the st.dev was 6.6 mg/L for TN, 0.6 mg/L for TP, respectively. But, effluent concentration showed consistent pattern regardless of the influent fluctuations, the st.dev was ranged between 0.28 and 4.48 mg/L. Effluent distributional characteristics were as follows; BOD, COD were distributed normally, but SS, TN, and TP, log-normally; unsymmetric and skewed to the right. The coefficient of reliability(COR) based on the results of statistics of data was introduced to evaluate the process performance an4 to reflect the process performance to the process design. The coefficient of reliability relates the design value(the goal) with the standards and it can be used in operating treatment facilities under a certain reliability level and/or in evaluating the reliability of the treatment facilities on operation. Each treated water quality of effluent showed the half of water quality standards in the level of 50% percentile and all treatment plant was achieved 100% probability of water quality standards. It was concluded that the variability of the process performance should be reflected to the design procedure and the standards through the analysis based on the statistics and the probability.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.597-608
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• 2020

Even after the Gyeongju earthquake and the Pohang earthquake, hundreds of aftershocks and micro-earthquakes are still occurring in the southeastern part of the Korean Peninsula. These phenomena mean that the stress is constantly working, implying that another huge earthquake may occur in the future. Therefore, the gravity field interpretation method was used to analyze the deep geological structure of the Pohang-Ulsan region in the southeastern Korean Peninsula. First, a gravity survey was performed to collect the insufficient data and to calculate the detailed Bouguer gravity anomaly in the study area. Based on the gravity anomaly data, the location, direction, and maximum depth of deep fault lines were analyzed using the inversion methods "Curvature analysis" and "Euler deconvolution method". As a result, it is interpreted that at least six fault lines(C1~C6) exist in deep depth. The deep fault line C1 is well correlated to the Yeonil Tectonic Line(YTL), suggesting that YTL is extended up to about 4000m deep. The deep fault line C2 consists of several segment faults and well correlated to the fault lines on the surface. Inferred fault lines C3, C4, and C5 have an NW-SE direction, which is parallel to the Ulsan fault. The deep fault line C6 has the direction of NE-SW, and it is interpreted that the eastern boundary fault of Eoil Basin is extended to the deep. Comparing the inferred fault lines with the distribution of micro-earthquakes, the location of the deep fault line C1 is well correlated to the hypocenter of micro-earthquakes. This implies that faults in deep depth are related to the recent earthquakes in the southeastern Korean Peninsula.