• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.133-145
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• 2020

Soil in mine waste-rock fields, and at the pithead, sediments and farmlands around an abandoned mine in the Chungcheong Province of South Korea were investigated to assess the distribution of metallic elements and to understand the scope of the pollution. Reddening was observed from the mine up to a distance of 61 m. Losses of waste rock around the mine were assessed over a section of 1800 ㎥. Yellowish precipitates on the bottom of a stream were identified as ferrihydrite and goethite. For anions, a mean sulfate ion level over 773.6 mg/L was found during August in the river water samples. Mine drainage at the site was shown to have a pH of 4.9 and a sulfate concentration of 1557.8 mg/L during the August rainy season. A possible cause of the metallic element contamination in the mine is waste-rock loss, because mine waste-rock is located on the slope in this area. In conclusion, the total soil area to be treated, based on the amount that exceeded the recommended Korean soil pollution levels, was assessed to be 10,297 ㎡.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.86-94
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• 1991

Volcanic ash soils were classified as Andepts, a suborder of the Inceptisols in Soil Taxonomy. Increased knowledge on the volcanic ash soils necessitated and facilitated considerable improvement in this system. As a result, the new Order of Andisols was incorporated in the 1990 edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy. The central concept of an Andisol is that of a soil developing in volcanic ejecta, and/or in volcaniclastic materials, whose colloidal fractions are dominated by short-range-order minerals or Al-humus complexes. Andic propertis of volcanic ash soil in Cheju Island were investigated. For this study, soils of toposequence distributed along the southern slope of Mt. Halla, and the major soil groups such as dark brown soils, very dark brown soils, black soils, and brown forest soils were collected and analyzed for Al, Fe and Si extracted with solutions of pyrophosphate, dithionite-citrate. and oxalate respectively. Weolpyeong and Yongheung soils developed on the lower elevations contain only small amounts of allophane and Al-and Fe-humus complexes. For other soils, allophane content decrease with elevation and increaes with soil depth,whereas Al-humus complexes increase with elevation and decrease with soil depth. Substantial amount of allophane and ferrihydrite are found in all horizons of Ora and Ara soils developed on 150-300m elevations and of Noro and Jeogag soils developed on cinder cones. In the A horizons of Pyeongdae, Tosan and Heugag soils developed on the higher elevations, Al-humus complexes are dominant form of Al reflecting low pH and high organic matter content. However, lower horizons are dominated by allophane.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.161-175
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• 2008

The soil developed from volcanic ash in Jeju Island, Korea, were classified as typical Andisols. The soils had acidic pH, high water contents, high organic matters and clay-silty textures. The crystalline minerals of the samples were mainly composed of ferromagnesian minerals such as olivine and pyroxene, and iron oxides such as magnetite and hematite derived from basaltic materials. A large amount of gibbsite was found at the subsurface horizon as a secondary product from the migration of excessive aluminum. In addition, our study has shown that considerable amounts of poorly ordered minerals like allophane and ferrihydrite were present in Jeju soils. The contents of $SiO_2$ were lower than those of other soil orders, but $A1_2O_3$ and $Fe_2O_3$ contents were higher. These results are some of the important chemical properties of Andisols. The contents of heavy metals were in the range of $84{\sim}198$ for Zn, $56{\sim}414$ for Ni, $38{\sim}150$ for Co, $132{\sim}1164\;mg\;kg^{-1}$ for Cr, which are higher than the worldwide values in most of the soils. Some soil samples contained relatively high levels of Cr exceeding 1000 mg/kg. Mean reduction capacity of the Jeju soils was $6.53\;mg\;L^{-1}$ reduced Cr(VI), 5.1 times higher than that of the non-volcanic ash soils from inland of Korea. The soil reduction capacity of the inland soils had a good correlation with total carbon content (R = 0.90). However, in spite of 20 times higher total carbon contents in the Jeju soils, there was a week negative correlation between the reduction capacity and the carbon content (R = -0.469), suggesting that the reduction capacity of Jeju soils is not mainly controlled by the carbon content and affected by other soil properties. Correlations of the reduction capacity with major elements showed that Al and Fe were closely connected with the reduction capacity in Jeju soil (R = 0.793; R = 0.626 respectively). Moreover, the amounts of Ni, Co and Cr had considerable correlations with the reduction capacity (R = 0.538; R = 0.647; R = 0.468 respectively). In particular, in relation to the behavior of redox-sensitive Cr, the oxidation of the trivalent chromium to mobile and toxic hexavalent chromium can be restricted by the high reduction capacity in Jeju soil. The factors controlling the reduction capacity in Jeju soils may have a close relation with the andic soil properties explained by the presence of considerable allophane and ferrihydrite in the soils.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.139-151
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• 2009

Mineralogical characteristics of secondary precipitate formed at some mineral water springs in Gyeongbuk Province, Korea were studied in relation to water chemistry. The chemical water types of mineral water springs are mostly classified as $Ca-HCO_3$ type, but $Na(Ca)-HCO_3$ and $Ca-SO_4$ types are also recognized. Ca, Fe, and $HCO_3\;^-$ are the most abundant components in the water. The pH values of most springs lie in 5.76${\sim}$6.81, except Hwangsu spring having pH 2.8. Saturation indices show that all springs are supersaturated with respect to iron minerals and oxyhydroxides such as hematite and goethite. The result of particle size analysis shows that the precipitate is composed of the composite with various sizes, indicating the presence of iron minerals susceptible to a phase transition at varying water chemistry or the mixtures consisting of various mineral species. The particle size of the reddish precipitate is larger than that of the yellow brown precipitate. Based on XRD and SEM analyses, the precipitate is mostly composed of ferrihydrite (two-line type), goethite, schwertmannite, and calcite, with lesser silicates and manganese minerals. The most abundant mineral fanned at springs is ferrihydrite whose crystals are $0.1{\sim}2\;{\mu}m$ with an average of $0.5\;{\mu}m$ in size, characterized by a spherical form. It should be interestingly noted that schwertmannite forms at Hwangsu spring whose pH is very low. At Shinchon spring, Gallionella ferruginea, one of the iron bacteria, is commonly found as an indicator of the important microbial activity ascribed to the formation of iron minerals because very fine iron oxides with a spherical form are closely distributed on surfaces of the bacteria. A genetic relationship between the water chemistry and the formation of the secondary precipitate from mineral water springs was discussed.

• Proceedings of the Mineralogical Society of Korea Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.38-39
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• 2001

The seasonal changes in pH, Fe, Al and SO$_4$$\^$2-/ contents of acid drainage released from coal mine dumps play a major role in precipitation of metal hydroxides in the Taebaek coal field area, southeastern Korea. Precipitates in the creeks underwent a cycle of the color change showing white, reddish brown and brownish yellow, which depends on geochemical factors of the creek waters. White precipitates consist of Al-sulfate (basaluminite and hydrobasaluminite) and reddish brown ones are composed of ferrihydrite and brownish yellow ones are of schwertmannite. Goethite coprecipitates with ferrihydrite and schwertmannite. Ferrihydrite formed at higher values than pH 5.3 and schwertmannite precipitated below pH 4.3, and goethite formed at the intermediate pH range between the two minerals. With the pH being increased from acid to intermediate regions, Fe is present both as schwertmannite and goethite. From the present observation, the most favorable pH that basauluminte can precipitate is in the range of pH 4.45-5.95. SEM examination of precipitates at stream bottom shows that they basically consist of agglomerates of spheroid and rod-shape bacteria. Bacteria species are remarkably different among bottom precipitates and, to a less extent, there are slightly different chemical compositions even within the same bacteria. The speciation and calculation of the mineral saturation index were made using MINTEQA2. In waters associated with yellowish brown precipitates mainly composed of schwertmannite, So$_4$ species is mostly free So$_4$$\^$2-/ ion with less AlSo$_4$$\^$+/, CaSo$\sub$(aq)/, and MgSo$\sub$4(aq)/. Ferrous iron is present mostly as free Fe$\^$2+/, and FeSo$\sub$4(aq)/ and ferric iron exists predominantly as Fe(OH)$_2$$\^$+/, with less FeSo$\sub$4(aq)/, Fe(OH)$_2$$\^$-/, FeSo$_4$$\^$-/ and Fe$\^$3+/, respectively Al exists as free Al$\^$3+/, AlOH$_2$$\^$-/, (AlSo$_4$)$\^$+/, and Al(So$_4$)$\^$2-/. Fe is generally saturated with respect to hematite, magnetite, and goethite, with nearly saturation with lepidocrocite. Aluminum and sulfate are supersaturated with respect to predominant alunite and less jubanite, and they approach a saturation state with respect to diaspore, gibbsite, boehmite and gypsum. In the case of waters associated with whitish precipitates mainly composed of basaluminite, Al is present as predominant Al$\^$3+/ and Al(SO$_4$)$\^$+/, with less Al(OH)$\^$2+/, Al(OH)$_2$$\^$+/ and Al(SO$_4$)$\^$2-/. According to calculation for the mineral saturation, aluminum and sulfate are greatly supersaturated with respect to basaluminite and alunite. Diaspore is flirty well supersaturated while jubanite, gibbsite, and boehmite are already supersaturated, and gypsum approaches its saturation state. The observation that the only mineral phase we can easily detect in the whitish precipitate is basaluminite suggests that growth rate of alunite is much slower than that of basaluminite. Neutralization of acid mine drainage due to the dilution caused by the dilution effect due to mixing of unpolluted waters prevails over the buffering effect by the dissolution of carbonate or aluminosilicates. The main factors to affect color change are variations in aqueous geochemistry, which are controlled by dilution effect due to rainfall, water mixng from adjacent creeks, and the extent to which water-rock interaction takes place with seasons. pH, Fe, Al and SO$_4$ contents of the creek water are the most important factors leading to color changes in the precipitates. A geochemical cycle showing color variations in the precipitates provides the potential control on acid mine drainage and can be applied as a reclamation tool in a temperate region with four seasons.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.125-134
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• 2014

The Janggun mine (Longitude $E129^{\circ}$ 03' 40", Latitude $N36^{\circ}$ 51' 19") was once operated as an underground mine and recently significant amount of mine and leachate water has been discharged from the mine adits and tailing dumps. Mine and leachate waters are characterized by neutral to weakly basic pH values (6.81-9.59). Major cations and anions have concentrations between 6.70-129.80 mg/L of Mg, 289.29-661.02 mg/L of Ca, 4.74-14.38 mg/L of Mn and 1205.00-2448.69 mg/L of $SO{_4}^{2-}$. Brownish yellow precipitates that found in the stream bottom consist of poorly crystallized 2-line ferrihydrite ($Fe_2O_3{\cdot}0.5H_2O$. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) photographs show that brownish yellow precipitates consisted of micro-sized granular particles of about $0.1{\mu}m$ in diameter. Semi-quantitative energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) analyses show that these samples contained mainly Fe with minor Mn, Ca, Si and As.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.199-207
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• 2016

One of the most significant environmental issues in abandoned coal mine is acidic drainage which gives rise to the many environmental problems that acidifying streams water, sedimentation of iron/aluminium hydroxide, and pollution of water and soil. Water and precipitate samples for experiments were collected from stream and bottom in the pit mouth of Sambong mine. Mine water shows pH range from 7.24 to 7.94 in winter and 3.87 to 5.73 in summer season. The EC shows range from 432 to $897{\mu}S/cm$ at the stream receiving mine water. The highest concentrations of cations such as Mg, Al, Ca, and Mn are showing 15.50, 4.56, 85.30, 12.76 mg/L in the pit mouth, respectively. The reddish brown precipitates (Munsell color 10R-5YR in winter and 2.5YR-5Y in summer) consist mainly of 2-line ferrihydrite and schwertmannite. The precipitates are characterized by rod or cylindrical forms, and coccus or sphere of 0.1 to $0.5{\mu}m$ in diameter.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.837-843
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• 2010

This research investigated classification of clay activity degree by different clay mineral components. Based on compositions of different clay and oxide minerals within 390 soil series in Korea, 7 soils were selected to analyze for CEC and specific surface area of clay minerals. As a result, soils were mainly composed with Chlorite originated from sandstone, Smectite originated from Andesite porphyry and combination of Allophane and Ferrihydrite originated from volcanic ash, if the ratio of CEC value to clay content (degree of clay activity) was greater than 0.7. If the degree of clay activity was ranged between 0.3 and 0.7, soils were composed mainly with Kaolin originated from anorthite. Soils with this ratio also was composted with combinations of Kaolin, Illite and Vermiculite originated with river deposits. When the degree of the activity was less than 0.3, soils were commonly red-yellowish color and composed with two different minerals. One type of composition was Kaolin originated from granite and granite gneiss and the soils contained Geothite and Hematite. The other type was composited mainly with Illite and Vermiculite minerals originated from granite. These soils contained Gibbsite, Geothite and Hematite. The degree of clay activity was highly related with CEC and specific surface area. The greater degree of the activity displayed greater values of clay CEC and specific surface area. It is not easy to measure actual quantity and compositions of clay minerals, while the degree of clay activity can be measured from routine soil analyses. As a conclusion, the degree of clay activity may be not just a simple but also powerful tool to estimate physical-chemical properties of soils and to evaluate the soil classification in Korean soils.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.2358-2366
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• 2013

Iron oxide (ferrihydrite, hematite, and magnetite) coated silica gels were prepared using a low-cost, easily-scalable and straightforward method as the adsorbent material for arsenic removal application. Adsorption of the anionic form of arsenic oxyacids, arsenite ($AsO^{2-}$) and arsenate ($AsO{_4}^{3-}$), onto hematite coated silica gel was fitted against non-linear 3-parameter-model Sips isotherm and 2-parameter-model Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm. Adsorption kinetics of arsenic could be well described by pseudo-second-order kinetic model and value of adsorption energy derived from non-linear Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm suggests chemical adsorption. Although arsenic adsorption process was not affected by the presence of sulfate, chloride, and nitrate anions, as expected, bicarbonate and silicate gave moderate negative effects while the presence of phosphate anions significantly inhibited adsorption process of both arsenite and arsenate. When the actual efficiency to remove arsenic was tested against 1 L of artificial arsenic-contaminated groundwater (0.6 mg/L) in the presence competing anions, the reasonable amount (20 g) of hematite coated silica gel could reduce arsenic concentration to below the WHO permissible safety limit of drinking water of $10{\mu}g/L$ without adjusting pH and temperature, which would be highly advantageous for practical field application.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.1 s.51
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• pp.47-60
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• 2007

While sedimentological researches on Western coastal tidal flats of Korea have been much pelformed previously, mineralogical and biogeochemical studies are beginning to be studied. The objectives of this study were to investigate mineralogical characteritics of the inter-tidal flat sediments and to explore phase transformation of iron(oxyhydr)oxides and biomineralization by metal-reducing bacteria enriched from the inter-tidal flat sediments from Muan, Jeollanam-do, Korea. Inter-tidal flat sediment samples were collected in Chungkye-myun and Haeje-myun, Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do. Particle size analyses were performed using the pipette method and sedimentation method. The separates including sand, silt and clay fractions were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffiaction (XRD). After enriching the metal-.educing bacteria from the into,-tidal flat sediments, the bacteria were used to study phase transformation of the synthesized iron (oxyhydr)oxides and iron biomineralization using lactate or glucose as the electron donors and Fe(III)-containing iron oxides as the electron accepters. Mineralogical studies showed that the sediments of tidal flats in Chung]rye-myun and Haeje-myun consist of quartz, plagioclase, microcline, biotite, kaolinite and illite. Biogeochemical researches showed that the metal-reducing bacteria enriched from the inter-tidal flat sediments reduced reddish brown akaganeite and mineralized nanometer-sized black magnetite. The bacteria also reduced the reddish brown ferrihydrite into black amorphous phases and reduced the yellowish goethite into greenish with formation of nm-sized phases. These results indicate that microbial Fe(III) reduction may play one of important roles in iron and carbon biogeochemistry as well as iron biomineralization in subsurface environments.