• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.674-683
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• 2010

The current study was performed to examine the agricultural suitability of the cultivated upland nearby abandoned mining areas in Korea using three different scientific risk assessment models of Korea, USA and UK. For this, three mining sites DM, MG and KS were selected among 687 abandoned mines through preliminary risk assessment. A wide range of parameters were obtained through analysis of both soil and crop samples from the selected areas for heavy metal concentration and questionnaires to the communities along with the selected mining sites. Heavy metal concentration in soil samples was lower than the values previously reported by the Ministry of Environment (ME, 2002). However, both As and Cd concentration in the soil samples exceeded the concern level for agricultural area of the Soil Environment Conservation Act. Judging from the contaminant criteria for the crops, only Zn level in pepper, soybean and corn from the mining area DM exceeded the criteria whereas As, Cd, $Cr^{6+}$, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb did not exceed the criteria. It was demonstrated that there would be human health risk by Pb accumulated in crops from both mining areas MG and KS when estimated by the risk assessment models of Korea and USA. Against it, results of the risk assessment model of UK showed human health risk by Pb in the crops from all study areas.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.456-464
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• 2010

Recently, heavy metals contamination of the agricultural soil and crops surrounding mining areas has been identified as one of the most serious environmental problems in South Korea. The Ministry of the Environment in Korea conducted a Preliminary National Environmental Health Survey (PNEHS) in abandoned metal mines in 2007. The priority for a subsequent detailed examination was ranked from the results of PNEHS. The studied mine which was ranked as being of the highest priority is located in the midwestern part of Korea and was operated from 1911 to 1985. In this study, the contamination levels of the heavy metals in the abandoned metal mine were investigated. From the results, the average daily dose (ADD), target hazard quotient (THQ) and target cancer risk of the heavy metals were evaluated. The concentration of arsenic (As) in all of the tailings from the mine was higher than its countermeasure standard of Korea. In particular, the highest concentration of As, 330 mg/kg, was up to 15 times higher than its countermeasure standard. The average concentration of As in agricultural soils was higher than the warning standard of Korea, and higher than its countermeasure standard at six sites. The average concentrations of the analyzed heavy metals in agricultural soil were below the warning standard, but concentrations of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) at 4 sites were higher than its warning standard. The average concentration of As in surface water exceeded the warning standard of Korea. The value of the THQ of As for the tailings was higher than the health protection standard 1. The value of THQ of As for the farmlands was lower than the standard, while the hazard index (HI) of As was higher than the standard. The value of target cancer risk (TCR) of As, $6.44{\times}10^{-4}$, were higher than the health protection standard of a lifetime risk for TCR at $1{\times}10^{-6}$. This suggests that the residents around the metal mines are exposed to As pollution with a carcinogenic risk.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.191-205
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• 2012

Because insect visitors was different depending on decomposition stage, dipterans occurred on chicken carcasses depending on postmortem intervals were compared by abandoned sites and decomposition from a serial study on arthropod occurrence from carcasses as forensic indicator. Species occurrence and decomposition of carcasses were different depending on abandoned sites (forest hill, open field, stream, greenhouse and roof), seasons (spring, summer, fall and winter), and situation (burying and non-burying). Development of carcass decomposition was faster at all sites in summer, carcass in greenhouse in winter, and unburied carcasses. Although visiting time of blow flies (Calliphoridae) (Phaenicia sericata, Lucilia illustris, Lucilia sp., Chrysomyia pinguis, and Chrysomyia megacephala) was different depending on abandoned season, their adults were generally collected from carcasses within 2 days. However, there were no visited flies at fresh stage of buried carcasses. The flesh flies (Sarcophagidae) were collected from all sites and seasons, and much faster from unburied carcasses than buried carcasses. Those were collected earlier from carcasses in greenhouse than other sites and occurrence was also shorter. In greenhouse, occurrence time of flesh flies were different depending on season; spring and summer - from fresh to active decay stage, fall - fresh to active decay stage, and winter - advanced decay to remains stage. Calliphora lata, Tricerotopyga calliphoroides, and Aldrichana grahami were dominant species and occurrences were different from other flies. These flies were active mainly from fresh to active stage. Larvae of sarcophagid flies were occurred earlier than those of calliphorid flies on buried carcasses.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2003

The United States Antarctic program (USAP) through its principal Support Contractor Raytheon polar Services Co. (RPSC), has recently finished a 3 years projects, almost 936m length of underground utility tunnels at Amundsen-Scott station. It accommodates the piping that conveys fresh water from current well sites, as well as waste water to repositories in abandoned wells. The under snow tunnels allow year-round access for system operations and maintenance.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.331-344
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• 2022

This study analyzed the characteristics of the soil and hydrological environment of abandoned paddy wetlands examined the changes in land cover type in the ecological affect area, analyzed the environmental factors of abandoned paddy wetlands, and examined the changes in land cover type in the ecological impact area. The ecological environment characteristics of the reference abandoned paddy wetlands were investigated through literature research, environmental spatial information service, and preliminary exploration of the abandoned paddy wetlands, and the basic data for the restoration of abandoned paddy wetlands ware provided by examining the changes in land cover type in the ecological impact area for 40 years. Through this study, it will be possible to manage the rapidly increasing number of abandoned farmland to be converted into wetlands so that it can perform functions equivalent to or greater than that of natural wetlands. In particular, as we checked the clues that abandoned paddy wetlands could spread to surrounding ecological influences through land cover changes, the study sites are highly likely to be reference wetlands, and if the topography, soil, water circulation system, and carbon reduction performance are analyzed carefully, it will be possible to standardize the development process. In addition, through the change in land cover, clues were confirmed that the abandoned paddy wetlands could spread to the surrounding ecological affect areas. The land cover type in the ecological impact area, forests was mainly distributed, but generally decreased rapidly in the last 10-20 years, and forests were changing from coniferous forests to broad-leaved forests, mixed forests, or grassland. It has not yet been fully called to the wetland, and it is found that it has maintained the form of barren or grassland, and as can be seen in the case of natural wetlands after more than 30 years after abandoned, it is expected that the transition will gradually proceed to wetlands that are structurally and functionally similar to natural wetlands.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.1-11
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• 2003

The objectives of this paper are to overview present status of soil pollution in Korea, to review the current policies and management strategies for soil pollution prevention and remediation of contaminated sites, and to suggest some recommendations to be considered toward more efficient policies. Soils in Korea are contaminated mainly by industrial facilities, landfills, underground storage tanks, abandoned/inactive mines, military camps, and other sources. Concentrations of most of soil pollutants were similar to the background levels, except for a few heavily contaminated sites such as industrial sites or abandoned/inactive mines. The Soil Environment Conservation Act (SECA), which was effective from 1995, provides a comprehensive legal framework for both preventing soil pollution and remedying contaminated sites in Korea. The Act includes various management policies such as the designation of standards and soil pollution policy area, soil monitoring networks, management of suspected contamination sources, and extended 'polluter-pays' principle. To make current policies more efficient and reasonable, some policies or strategies such as the establishment of national priority list, more detailed standards, risk-based cleanup goal, fund raise, soil erosion problem, and finally, integrity between soil and groundwater management frameworks may need to be pursued in the long term.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.239-244
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• 2004

In this review, we present the results of our ten years of study on beef cattle production as a means of preserving phytodiversity and landscape in the semi-natural grasslands of the Aso region of Japan. There are about 16,000 ha of semi-natural grasslands in the region. The grasslands are maintained for animal production through such activities as grazing, mowing, and controlled burning. The Shannon's diversity index values, as measured in the present study, were higher in the grazed sites than in the abandoned sites. The grazing activities thus seem to create suitable habitats for coexisting herbaceous species. The grassland grazed moderately over a long term was able to sustain more animals than the grassland unused over a long term.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.21-33
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• 2004

The objective of this study is to review of environmental assessment of heavy metals derived from various metalliferous mines in Korea. As a results of national wide research for heavy metal contaminations in the vicinity of metalleferous mines, the main contaminants are mine waste materials including tailings. From the materials, toxic elements including As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn can be dispersed into downstream through wind and water. Thus, soils around the mines contain elevated levels of those elements, which are over the guide values for environmental regulation of soils in Korea. Arsenic is one of the most important elements contaminated by mining activities, to a less extent, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn. In spite of remediation works for some metal mines by the government, there are still lots of abandoned mines which are necessary for reclamation of mining sites. This study also includes that metal concentrations in soils and tailings can be varied upon various decomposition methods including 0.1N HC1 and aqua regia and sequential extraction scheme, with differences in each element, too. This may be due to geochemical characteristics of the elements, such as solubility, mobility and chemical forms in the geochemical environment. Finally, it is suggested that a certain organization should be runned by Korean government for management of abandoned mines.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.269-276
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• 2008

In order to understand the role of seed banks for restoration, seed banks in abandoned rice fields in the Gwangneung National Arboretum, central Korea were investigated using the seedling emergence method. The study sites represented three stages: an initial stage dominated by forbs such as Persicaria thunbergii and Juncus effuses var. decipiens, a middle stage dominated by Salix, and a late stage dominated by Quercus aliena and Prunus padus (in nearby riparian forest chosen as a reference stand). DCA ordination arranged the stands according to the number of years since abandonment. CCA ordination identified the dominant environmental variables correlated most closely with Axes 1 and 2 as $Mg^{2+}$ (intraset correlation was 0.827) and $K^+$ (intraset correlation was -0.677), respectively. Species richness and diversity decreased from the initial stage (H'=2.61) to the middle (H'=1.79) and late (H'=0.75) stages. A total of 49 species $(/m^2)$ and 18,620 seedlings $(/m^2)$ emerged out of the seed bank samples. The DCA ordination and similarity analysis detected a large discrepancy between the composition of the actual vegetation and the seed bank. We conclude that the contribution of seed bank to restoration is low. However, seed bank may help the recovery of forbs after disturbance. Some of our results are consistent with the tolerance model of succession whereas others follow the trajectory of the facilitation model. More research on succession will be required to understand the underlying mechanisms.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Groundwater Environment
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.38-47
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• 1995

This study was carried out in order to provide basic information on neutralization processes of acid mine drainage (AMD) from the abandoned Donghae coal mine in the Samchuk coalfield. The contents of potentially toxic elements in stream water increase and the level of pH decreases during dry season. Hydrated lime is turned out to be the best neutralizer of the acid mine water from a technical and economic viewpoint. From the results of equilibrium calculation, Fe and Al could be precipitated as FeOOH, and Al(OH)$_3$, respectively, in the neutralization process. The sites of holding basins necessary to equalize quantity and quality of AMD are recommended by GIS analysis, and the capacities of holding basins are determined by hydrological calculation.