• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.123-130
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• 2009

Hyporheic zone is an area where hydraulic exchanges occur between surface water and ground water. Such transient area is anticipated to facilitate diverse biogeochemical reactions by providing habitats for various microorganism. However, only a few data are available about microbial properties in hyporheic zone, which would be important in better understanding of biogeochemical reactions in whole streams. The study site is Naesung stream, located in the north Kyoung-Sang Province, of which sediment is sandy with little anthropogenic impacts. Soil samples were collected from a transect placed perpendicular to stream flow. The transect includes upland fringe area dominated by Phragmites japonica, bare soil, and soil adjacent to water. In addition, soil samples were also collected from downwelling and upwelling areas in hyporheic zone within the main channel. Soils were collected from 3 depth in each area, and water content, pH, and DOC were measured. Various microbial properties including extracellular enzyme activities ($\beta$-glucosidase, N-acetylglucosaminidase, phosphatase and arylsulfatase), and microbial community structure using T-RFLP were also determined. The results exhibited a positive correlation between water content and DOC, and between extracellular enzyme activities and DOC. Distinctive patterns were observed in soils adjacent to water and hyporheic zone compared with other soils. Overall results of study provided basic information about microbial properties of hyporheic zone, which appeared to be discernable from other locations in the stream corridor.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.36 no.4 s.105
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• pp.434-446
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• 2003

The fate and transport of many trace metals, metalloids, and radionuclides in porous media is closely linked to the biogeochemical reactions that occur as a result of organic carbon being sequentially degraded by different microorganisms using a series of terminal electron acceptors. The spatial distribution of these biogeochemical reactions is affected by processes that are often unique and/or characteristic to a specific environment. Generic model formulations have been developed and applied to simulate the fate and transport of arsenic in two hydrologic settings, permanently flooded freshwater sediments, namely non-vegetated wetland sediments and vegetated wetland sediments. The key physical processes that have been considered are sedimentation, effects of roots on biogeochemistry, advective transport, and differences in mixing processes. Steady-state formulations were applied to the sedimentary environments. Results of numerical simulations show that these physical processes significantly affect the chemical profiles of different electron acceptors, their reduced species, and arsenate as well as arsenite that will result from the degradation of an organic carbon source in the sediments. Even though specific biological transformations are allowed to proceed only in zones where they are thermodynamically favorable, the results show that mixing as well as abiotic reactions can make the profiles of individual electron acceptors overlap and/or appear to reverse their expected order.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.53-64
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• 2009

Wetlands can remove organic contaminants, metals and radionuclides from wastewater through various biogeochemical mechanisms. In this study, a mathematical model was developed for simulating the fate and transport of chemical species in marsh wetland sediments. The proposed model is a one-dimensional vertical saturated model which is incorporated advection, hydrodynamic dispersion, biodegradation, oxidative/reductive chemical reactions and the effects from external environments such as the growth of plants and the fluctuation of water level due to periodic tides. The tidal effects causes periodic changes of porewater flow in the sediments and the evapotranspiration and oxygen supply by plant roots affect the porewater flow and redox condition on in the rhizosphere along with seasonal variation. A series of numerical experiments under hypothetical conditions were performed for simulating the temporal and spatial distribution of chemical species of interests using the proposed model. The fate and transport of a trace metal pollutant, chromium, in marsh sediments were also simulated. Results of numerical simulations show that plant roots and tides significantly affect the chemical profiles of different electron acceptors, their reduced species and trace metals in marsh sediments.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.603-610
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• 2008

A mathematical model was developed to understand how the presence of plants affects vertical profiles of electron acceptors, their reduced species, and trace metals in the wetland sediments. The model accounted for biodegradation of organic matter utilizing sequential electron acceptors and subsequent chemical reactions using stoichiometric relationship. These biogeochemical reactions were affected by the combined effects of oxygen release and evapotranspiration driven by wetland plants. The measured data showed that $SO_4{^{2-}}$ concentrations increased at the beginning of the growing season and then gradually decreased. Based on the measured data, it was hypothesized that the limitation of the solid phase sulfide in direct contact with the roots may result in the gradual decrease of $SO_4{^{2-}}$ concentrations. With the dynamic formulation for the limitation of the solid phase sulfide, model simulated time variable sulfate profiles using published model parameters. Oxygen release from roots produced divalent metal species (i.e. $Cd^{2+}$) as well as oxidized sulfur species (i.e. $SO_4{^{2-}}$) in the sediment pore water. Evapotranspiration-induced advection increased flux of divalent metal species from the overlying water column into the rhizosphere. The increased divalent metal species were converted to the metal sulfide with sufficient FeS around the rhizosphere, which contributed to the decrease of bioavailability and toxicity of divalent metal activity in the pore water. Since the divalent metal activity is a good predictor of the metal bioavailability, this model with a proper simulation of solid phase sulfide plays an essential role to predict the dynamics of trace metals in the wetland sediments.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.161-170
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• 2010

Many microbes, including both bacteria and fungi, produce manganese (Mn) oxides by oxidizing soluble Mn(II) to form insoluble Mn(IV) oxide minerals, a kinetically much faster process than abiotic oxidation. These biogenic Mn oxides drive the Mn cycle, coupling it with diverse biogeochemical cycles and determining the bioavailability of environmental contaminants, mainly through strong adsorption and redox reactions. This mini review introduces recent findings based on quantum mechanical density functional theory that reveal the detailed mechanisms of toxic metal adsorption at Mn oxide surfaces and the remarkable role of Mn vacancies in the photochemistry of these minerals.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.61-69
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• 2014

As we are trying to in-situ treat (purify or immobilize) heavy metals or radionuclides in groundwater, one of the geochemical factors to be necessarily considered is the value of oxidation/reduction potential (ORP) of the groundwater. A biogeochemical impact on the characteristic ORP change of groundwater taken from the KAERI underground was observed as a function of time by adding electron-donor (lactate), electron-acceptor (sulfate), and indigenous bacteria in a laboratory condition. There was a slight increase of Eh (slow oxidation) of the pure groundwater with time under a $N_2$-filled glove-box. However, most of groundwaters that contained lactate, sulfate or bacteria showed Eh decrease (reduction) characteristics. In particular, when 'Baculatum', a local indigenous sulfate-reducing bacterium, was injected into the KAERI groundwater, it turned to become a highly-reduced one having a decreased Eh to around -500 mV. Although the sulfate-reducing bacterium thus has much greater ability to reduce groundwater than other metal-reducing bacteria, it surely necessitated some dissolved ferrous-sulfate and finally generated sulfide minerals (e.g., mackinawite), which made a prediction for subsequent reactions difficult. As a result, the ORP of groundwater was largely affected even by a slight injection of nutrient without bacteria, indicating that oxidation state, solubility and sorption characteristics of dissolved contaminants, which are affected by the ORP, could be changed and controlled through in-situ biostimulation method.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.103-112
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• 2022

A gold amalgam voltammetric microelectrode (GAVM) system was developed for the quantification of dissolved biogeochemical species, such as O₂, Fe²⁺, Mn²⁺, and HS^- in sediment porewater. Commercially available Ag/AgCl and platinum electrodes were used as the reference and counter electrode, respectively, and a gold amalgam microelectrode was fabricated in the laboratory using 150-um diameter gold wire and a borosilicate capillary tube with a 1.6-mm diameter. A portable potentiostat (Metrohm, DropSens) was used for the application of voltage sweeping and to acquire the electric current. For sediment profiling, a commercially available actuator was customized and modified. The analysis method used in the system used the most widely used analysis method among the electrochemical analysis currently used The GAVM system was successively calibrated with the species and applied to estuarine sediments. The porewater analysis showed that the oxygen concentration was decreased to zero at a depth of 0.6 mm, and maximum Mn²⁺ and Fe²⁺ concentrations of 50 uM and 20 uM were detected at 2 and 3-cm depths, respectively. Maximum HS^- concentrations of 10 uM were detected at 4 cm in the deeper sediments. The GAVM system was successfully developed and applied to the sediment and can be used to better understand biogeochemical reactions.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.40-45
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• 2011

Microalgae are one of the major, sustaining components of ecosystem processes and are responsible for biogeochemical reactions that drive our climate changes. Despite this, many marine microalgae are poorly described and little is known of their abundance and distribution along the coastal areas of Sooyoung Bay, Busan, South Korea. The present study has been conducted from November, 2011 to August, 2009 with the objective to provide an overview of the taxonomy diversity and abundance of microalgae along the coastal areas of the Sooyoung Bay. Water samples were collected from different sites, which were located by using a GPS tracker. Chlorophyll fluorescence of the water samples were measured by using ToxY-PAM dual-channel yield analyzer. The chlorophyll fluorescence values were relatively higher during the spring and summer and even in the region near to the sea port. Similarly the abundance of microalgae was higher near the port but diversity index had lower values. The temperature and pH values were same at all the sites. However, only the temperature varied during the sampling period, with higher values during summer and lower in winter. From the preliminary results, the following class of microalgae were found; Bacillariophyceae, Dinophyceae, Silicoflagellate and Cryptophyceae. With a future ongoing work, microalgae are being isolated to establish single cell culture and for identification using light microscopic observations, photography and molecular approaches.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.6-12
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• 2014

We reviewed literature focusing on the amounts of domestic production, distribution, and consumption of strong acids and their spill cases. In particular, we investigated the chemistry and toxicity of four strong acids classified as "accident preparedness substances," including hydrochloric, nitric, sulfuric, and hydrofluoric acid. We recommend sulfuric and hydrofluoric acid as the chemicals of priority control based on the amounts used and toxicity. An advanced prevention/response system needs to be established along with an improved human and social infrastructure to prevent and efficiently respond to chemical accidents. Understanding the behavior and transport of spilled strong acids in the soil and groundwater environments requires a multi-disciplinary approach since they go through a variety of chemical and biogeochemical reactions with complex geomedia. However, no such research has been done in this area in Korea to the best of our knowledge. We expect the results of this study to contribute as basic data to future research.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.105-119
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• 2012

Indigenous bacteria isolated from contaminated sites play important roles to remediate contaminated groundwater. Chromium has the most stable oxidation states. Cr(VI) is toxic, carcinogenic, and mobile, but Cr(III) is less toxic and immobile. In this study, indigenous microorganism (MMPH-0) was enriched from Cr(VI) contaminated groundwater, and identified by 16S rRNA gene analysis. Using MMPH-0, the effect of stimulating with e-donors (glucose, lactate, acetate, and no e-donor control), respiration conditions, biomass, tolerance, and geochemical changes on Cr(VI) reduction were investigated in batch experiments for 4 weeks. The changes of Cr(VI) concentration and geochemical conditions were monitored using UV-vis-spectrophotometer and Eh-pH meter. And the morphological and chemical characteristics of MMPH-0 and precipitates in the effluents were characterized by TEM-EDS and SEM-EDS analyses. MMPH-0 (Enterobacter aerogenes) was able to tolerate up to 2000 mg/L Cr(VI) and reduce Cr(VI) under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. MMPH-0 performed faster and higher efficiency of Cr(VI) reduction with electron donors (over 70% after 1 week with e-donor, 10-20% after 4 weeks without e-donor). The changes of Eh-pH in effluents showing the tendency from oxidizing to reducing condition and a bit of acidic change in pH due to microbial oxidation of organic matters donating electrons and protons suggested the roles of MMPH-0 on Cr(VI) in the contaminated water catalyzing to transit geochemical stable zone for more stable $Cr(OH)_3$ or Cr(III) precipitates. TEM/SEM-EDS analyses of MMPH-0 and precipitates indicate direct and indirect Cr(VI) reduction: extracellular polymers capturing Cr component outside cells. These results suggested diverse indigenous bacteria and their biogeochemical reactions might enhance more effective and feasible remediation technology of redox sensitive heavy metals in metal-contaminated in groundwater.