• Title/Summary/Keyword: Geosphere

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Sources and Behaviors of Nitrate and Sulfate in Riverside Alluvial Aquifer

  • Choi Byoung-Young;Yun Seong-Taek;Kim Kyoung-Ho;Kim Kang-Joo
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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    • 2005.10a
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    • pp.271-273
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    • 2005
  • The ${\delta}^{15}N\;and\;{\delta}^{15}O$ data of nitrate indicates the sources of nitrate in oxic groundwater as a mixture of ammonia or urea-containing fertilizer and manure. The ${\delta}^{34}S_{sulfate}$ values indicate that sulfate Is mainly originated from fertilizers and soil S. In sub-oxic groundwater, the increased ${\delta}^{34}S_{sulfate}$ values evidently indicate that sulfate is gradually removed by microbial mediated sulfate reduction. However, iron reduction does not occur In this study area. Such a reversed redox sequence may occur In the presence of stable iron oxides such as hematite and goethite in alluvlal aquifer.

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Record of Fimbristylis ovata (Cyperaceae) from Jejudo Island, Korea

  • YANO, Okihito;TAMURA, Yuki;YAMAJI, Yuna;CHUNG, Kyong-Sook;IM, Hyoung-Tak
    • Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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    • v.50 no.1
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    • pp.80-83
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    • 2020
  • We report Fimbristylis ovata (Burm.f.) J. Kern (Cyperaceae) from the sunny grasslands along the coastline on Jejudo Island, Korea, as a new distribution in Korea. This is thought to be the third confirmed record of this rare sedge in Korea; the first was from Gapari ('Is. Quelpaert') collected by Taquet in 1908, and the second was from Marado Island, collected by Kim and Kim in 2018. We found two new populations on Jejudo Island, the first with many individuals and the second with only a few plants. Following an examination of herbarium specimens, this species is considered to be rare and endangered in Korea, limited in distribution in Korea to Jejudo and Marado Islands.

Hydrogeochemical study of a watershed in Pocheon area: controls of water chemistry

  • Kim, Kyoung-Ho;Yun, Seong-Taek;Chae, Soo-Ho;Jean, Jong-Wook;Lee, Jeong-Ho;Kweon, Hae-Woo
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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    • 2004.09a
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    • pp.121-121
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    • 2004
  • The groundwater in the Pocheon area occurs from both a fractured bedrock aquifer in igneous and metamorphic rocks and an alluvial aquifer with a thickness of <50 m, and forms a major source of domestic and agricultural water supply. In this study, we performed a hydrogeochemical study in order to identify the control of geochemical processes on groundwater quality. For this study, groundwater level and physicochemical parameters (EC, Eh, pH, alkalinity) were monitored once a month from a total of 150 groundwater wells between June 2003 to August 2004. A total of 153 water samples (13 surface water, 66 alluvial groundwater, 74 bedrock groundwater) were also collected and analyzed in February 2004. Groundwater chemistry in the study area is very complex, depending on a number of major factors such as geology, degree of chemical weathering, and quality of recharge water. Hydrochemical reactions such as the leaching of surficial and near-solace soil salts, dissolution of calcite, cation exchange, and weathering of silicate minerals are proposed to explain the chemistry of natural groundwater. Alluvial groundwaters locally have very high TDS concentrations, which are characterized by their chloride(nitrate)-sulfate-bicabonate facies and low Na/Cl ratio. Their grondwater levels are highly fluctuated according to rainfall event. We suggest that high nitrate content and salinity in such alluvial groundwaters originates from the local recharge of sewage effluents and/or fertilizers. Likewise, high concentrations of nitrate were also locally observed in some bedrock groundwaters, suggesting their effect of anthropogenic contamination. This is possibly due to the bypass flow taking place through macropores. Tile degree of the weathering of silicate minerals seems to be a major control of the distribution of major cations (sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium) in bedrock groundwaters, which show a general increase with increasing depth of wells. Thermodynamic interpretation of groundwater chemistry shows that the groundwater in the study area is in chemical equilibrium with kaolinite and Na-montmorillonite, which indicates that weathering of plagioclase to those minerals is a major control of hydrochemistry of bedrock groundwater. The interpretation of the molar ratios among major ions, as well as the mass balance calculation, also indicates the role of both dissolution/precipitation of calcite and Ca-Na cationic exchange as bedrock groundwaters evolves progressively.

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자연환경 변화와 광물의 역할

  • 김수진
    • Proceedings of the Petrological Society of Korea Conference
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    • 2000.05a
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    • pp.3-11
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    • 2000
  • The earth environment consists of four spheres : geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere. The geosphere consists mostly of minerals. It, however, contains some water and air in its shallow depth. Although hydrosphere and atmosphere consist predominantly of water and air, respectively, both contain some minerals. The biosphere consisting of various organisms is present in the interfaces of geosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. The natural environment of the earth is continuously changing by the interaction of four spheres. It suggests that out relevant environmental problems can not be revolved without understanding the natural relationship of these four spheres. Minerals in our environment are very important because they are the main constituent materials of the earth and they control our environment. The roles of minerals in our environment have not been understood even in the scientific society. Thus their roles have been neglected. Review of studies on the environmental mineralogy so far made at our laboratory and others show that minerals control the environment in various ways. Minerals neutralize the acid water as well as acid rain. Minerals in soils and rocks are major neutralizer of the acid rain. Salinization of sea water is attributed to the ionic substitution between minerals and sea water. Some minerals control the humidity of the air. Corals, the products of biomineralization, are the main carbon controller of the air. Minerals also adsorb heavy metals, organic pollutants and radioactive nuclides. Such remarkable functions for controlling the environment come from the mineral-water reaction and biomineralization. All these phenomena are subjects of the environmental mineralogy, a new field of earth science.

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Preliminary study on colloidal partitioning and speciation of trace metals in acid mine drainage

  • Kwon, Jang-Soon;Lee, Jeong-Ho;Yun, Seong-Taek;Jung, Hun-Bok;Chang, Min-Kyoung;Lee, Pyeong-Ku
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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    • 2004.04a
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    • pp.100-101
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    • 2004
  • Many researches in Korea have been performed to understand the pollution of stream waters by acid mine drainage. However, few studies have been conducted regarding the effect of particulate and colloidal fractions on the transport of trace metals. To estimate harmful effects of trace metals, it is important to evaluate the particulate and colloidal metals as well as dissolved metals, because particulate and colloidal fractions of trace metals play an important role in transport of trace metals and may adversely affect habitats and organisms in riverine system. Colloids are solids with effective diameters in size range from 0.001 $\mu$m to 1 $\mu$m. According to Jone et al. (1974), metals in surface water, like Al, Fe, and Mn, require filtration with pore-size membranes smaller than 0.45 $\mu$m to define dissolved concentrations. The main objective of this study is to understand the effects of particulate, colloidal, and truly dissolved fractions on the transport and fate of trace metals in acid mine drainage. This study was conducted for the Onjeong creek in the Uljin mine area. Sampling was carried out in 13 sites, spatially covering the area from mine dumps to the downstream Onjeong reservoir. To examine the metal partitioning between particulate, colloidal, and truly dissolved fraction, we used successive filtration techniques consisting of conventional method (using 0.45 $\mu$m membranes) and tangential-flow ultrafiltration (using 0.001 $\mu$mm membranes). Ultrafiltration may seperate much smaller particles from aqueous phase (Josephson, 1984; Hernandez and Stallard, 1988). The analysis of metals were performed by inductively coupled plasma - atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES: model Perkin Elmer OPTIMA3000XL). Anions such as SO$_4$, Cl and NO$_3$ were measured with ion chromatograph (IC: model Dionex 120). Sample analysis is still in progress. The preliminary data show that the studied creek is severely polluted by Al, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn. Toward upstream sites with relatively lower pH, less than 50% of Al and Fe occur in the sorbed form on particles or colloids, whereas more than 80% of Al and Fe occur in the sorbed form in downstream sites or tributaries with relatively higher pH. Less than 30% of Zn is present in particle or colloidal forms in the whole range of creek. Truly dissolved fraction of trace metals is negatively correlated with pH. The Kd values for Al, Fe and Zn consistently increase with increasing pH and decrease with increasing particle concentration.

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Hydrogeochemical characteristics of urban groundwater in Seoul

  • Lee, Ju-Hee;Yun, Seong-Taek;Kwon, Jang-Soon;Kim, Dong-Seung;Park, Seong-Sook
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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    • 2004.04a
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    • pp.472-472
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    • 2004
  • Numerous studies on urban groundwater have been carried out in many other countries. Urban groundwater shows a unique hydrologic system because of complex urban characteristics such as road pavement, sewers and public water supply systems. These urban facilities may change the characteristics of groundwater recharge but contaminate its quality as well. There have been several researches on urban groundwater in Seoul. Seoul has been industrialized very rapidly so that the city has large population. The recent population in Seoul amounts to more than ten millions, corresponding to a very high density of about 17, 000 people/km$^2$. Therefore, many factors affect the groundwater quality and quantity in Seoul. Nowadays, groundwater in Seoul is being extracted for construction, industrial use, and drinking and so on. There are 15, 714 wells in Seoul and its annual usage is 41, 425, 977m$^3$(in 2001). Therefore, systematic studies are needed to properly manage and use the groundwater in Seoul. The purposes of this study in progress are to identify geochemical characteristics of groundwater in Seoul and to determine the extent of groundwater contamination and its relationship with urban characteristics. For this study, groundwater was sampled from more than 400 preexisting wells that were randomly selected throughout the Seoul area. For all samples, major cations together with Si, Al, Fe, Pb, Hg For 200 samples among them, TCE, PCE, BTEX were also analyzed by GC. Our study shows that groundwater types of Seoul are distributed broadly from Ca-HCO$_3$ type to Ca-Cl+NO$_3$ type. The latter type indicates anthropogenic contamination. Among cations, Ca is generally high in most samples. In some samples, Na and K are dominant. The dominant anions change widely from HCO$_3$ to Cl+NO$_3$. The anion composition is considered to effectively indicate the contribution of distinct anthropogenic sources. In addition, major ions are positively proportional to total dissolved solid (TDS) except K and NO$_3$. Thus, we consider that TDS may be used as an effective indicator of the extent of pollution. However, the increase of TDS may result from increased water-rock interaction. To determine the extent of groundwater contamination, it is needed to figure out the baseline water quality in Seoul. Furthermore, detailed geochemical studies are required to find out pollution sources and their corresponding hydrochemical parameters.

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Draft List and Relative Importance of Principal Processes in the Geosphere to be Considered for the Radiological Safety Assessment of the Domestic Geological Disposal Facility through Analyzing FEPs for KBS-3 Type Disposal Repository of High-level Radioactive Waste(HLW) (KBS-3 방식 고준위방폐물 심층처분장 FEP 분석을 통한 국내 사용후핵연료 심층처분시설 방사선학적 안전성 평가용 지권영역 주요 프로세스 항목 및 상대적 중요도 도출)

  • Sukhoon Kim;Donghyun Lee;Dong-Keuk Park
    • Journal of Radiation Industry
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.33-44
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    • 2023
  • The deep geological repository of high-level radioactive waste shall be designed to meet the safety objective set in the form of radiation dose or corresponding risk to protect human and the environment from radiation exposure. Engineering feasibility and conformity with the safety objective of the facility conceptual design can be demonstrated by comparing the assessment result using the computational model for scenario(s) describing the radionuclide release and transport from repository to biosphere system. In this study, as the preliminary study for developing the high-level radioactive waste disposal facility in Korea, we reviewed and analyzed the entire list of FEPs and how to handle each FEP from a general point of view, which are selected for the geosphere region in the radiological safety assessment performed for the license application of the KBS-3 type deep geological repository in Finland and Sweden. In Finland, five FEPs (i.e., stress redistribution, creep, stress redistribution, erosion and sedimentation in fractures, methane hydrate formation, and salt exclusion) were excluded or ignored in the radionuclide release and transport assessment. And, in Sweden, six FEPs (i.e., creep, surface weathering and erosion, erosion/sedimentation in fractures, methane hydrate formation, radiation effects (rock and grout), and earth current) were not considered for all time frames and earthquake out of a total of 25 FEPs for the geosphere. Based on these results, an FEP list (draft) for the geosphere was derived, and the relative importance of each item was evaluated for conducting the radiological safety assessment of the domestic deep geological disposal facility. Since most of information on the disposal facility in Korea has not been determined as of now, it is judged that all FEP items presented in Table 3 should be considered for the radiological safety assessment, and the relative importance derived from this study can be used in determining whether to apply each item in the future.