• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.115-132
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• 2002

To distinguish the anthropogenic inputs from the chemical weathering with water-rock interaction on the chemical compositons of groundwater in Kwangju city, four different water groups were established based on the landuse type, lithology and topology. The sample from greenbelt area belongs to Group Ⅰ, whereas those from green buffer zone, urban area and industrial area belong to Group II, Group Ⅲ and Group Ⅳ, respectively. The geology of this city mainly consists of biotite granite and granitic gneiss. The concentration of main cations is subject to the behavior of feldspars, micas and carbonate minerals. Cl$\^$-/ and NO$_3$$\^$-/ are supplied by anthropogenic inputs such as domestic sewage whose concentration of these anions is highest in the Group Ⅲ samples. With the Piper diagram, the groundwaters of Group Ⅲ are mainly plotted in CaSO$_4$-CaCl$_2$ type, whereas those of other groups are plotted in Ca(HCO$_3$)$_2$ type, The calculation for the activities of ions and saturation indices of some minerals shows that most of the minerals are undersaturated and plotted in the area of equlibrium with kaolinite. Three factors were extracted from the factor analysis for chemical data. Factor 1 controlled by HCO$_3$$\^$-/, Ca$\^$2-/, SO$_4$$\^$2-/, Mg$\^$2+/ and Na$\^$+/, explains the dissolution of carbonate minerals. mica and plagioclase. Factor 2, controlled by Cl$\^$-/ and NO$_3$$\^$-/, explains the influence of artificial pollution. Factor 3, controlled by Mn, Fe and Zn is subject to the industrial waste water, but the evidence is not clear. Factor 1 is dominant in the Group I and II, indicating that those samples are subjected to natural chemical weathering, The higher scores of factor 2 in the Group Ⅲ samples indicate the potential artificial pollution.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.301-306
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• 2005

Asian dust was collected in Korea and soils in the arid area of northern China were analysed for its physical and chemical properties, and mineral compositions for in order to interpret the origin of Aeolian soils and estimate the effect of dust wind on the soil environment in Korea. Asian dust was collected at Suwon in Korea from 2002 to 2004. Soil samples were collected from the desert and Loess plateaus around Gobi desert in China. As a result of analysis of desert soil distributed on northern region and Loess soils in China, it was observed that soil pH was about 9, organic matter 11 to $23g\;kg^{-1}$, and CEC 7.1 to $18.4cmolc\;kg^{-1}$, showing a high spatial variation among different sampling locations. About 62 to 80% of particles were composed of quartz and feldspars, 2 to 14% calcite ($CaCO_3$) and dolomite [$Ca{\cdot}Mg(CO_3)_2$], and trace other clay minerals. All the dust particles in Korea were below 50 m in diameter, and the mineral compositions were quartz, mica, feldspar and some clay minerals. Major components of clay mineral of Asian dust was mainly illite as compared to the kaolin of soils in Korea. The base saturation of exchangeable Ca, Mg, K and Na in the Asian dust was above 250% due to the high content calcite. Most of upland soil in Suwon was thin and sharp type, but Asian dust in Korea was the spherical shape. Asian dusts in Suwon, Korea, did not show a definite mineralogical variation of the dust during the collection period. Difference between the Asian dust collected in Korea and the soils in arid area of China was observed in the physical and chemical properties, especially for particle size distribution, cations such as Ca, Mg, K and Na. However, some similarities were found on the mineral compositions and chemical properties between Asian dust collected in Korea and the loess of China.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.565-583
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• 2020

In recent years, various social issues related to the natural radioactive elements detected in household goods and building materials are addressed, and should be solved promptly. In Korea, for more than 20 years, the Ministry of Environment has investigated the natural radioactive materials such as heavy metals, uranium, and radon in soil or groundwater. The origins of natural radioactive materials in them may have a close correlation with the geological factors including classification of rocks, petrogenetic origins, and deformation characteristics, but the exact geological correlations are not clarified because of the absence of the government policy preserved in the basement rocks, soils as well as groundwater in fault-related reservoirs. This study aims to perform a research on the correlation between the petrogeneses of the Phanerozoic plutonic rocks and natural radioactive concentrations in rocks (radon, uranium, thorium, potassium etc.) in Korea. Among the Phanerozoic plutonic rocks, alkaline plutonic rocks (syenite, monzonite and monzodiorite and alkali granite) show high U and Th concentrations by high solubilities of U, Th, Zr, REE, and Nb until the most extreme stages of magmatic fractionation (viz. crystal fractionation) due to high magma temperature and high alkalinity tendency. The highly fractionated high-K calalkaline and peraluminous granitic rocks (leucogranite, two-mica granite and leucocratic pegmatite are also U and Th concentrations compared with other less or medium fractionated granitic rocks (diorite, granodiorite and granite). The alkaline plutonic rocks are associated with intracontinental rifting and extensional environment after crustal thickening by collisional and subductional processes. In contrast, the dominant calc-alkaline granitic rocks in Korea are related to the arc environment of the subduction zone. In summary, the trends of the U, Th and K concentration from the Phanerozoic plutonic rocks in Korea are closely linked to the petrogenesis of the rocks in tectonic environment. The preliminary data for gamma-spectrometric mesurments of natural radionuclide contents (²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K) in the Phanerozoic plutonic rocks show high values in the alkaline and highly fractionated granitic rocks.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Groundwater Environment
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.10-20
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• 1998

Heavy metal contamination in subsurface soils and stream sediments at the Suggok mine area were investigated on the basis of major, trace and rare earth elements geochemistry and mineralogy. The Sanggok mine area is mainly composed of Cambro-Ordovician carbonate rocks. The mine had been mined for Pb-Zn-Fe and Au- Ag, but already closed in past. For major elements, especially Fe (mean value=18.58 wt.%) and Mn (mean value=4. 18 wt.%) are enriched in soils, and the average enrichment indices of soils and sediments are 6.84 and 1.54, respectively. The average enrichment index of rare earth elements are 0.92 of mining drainage sediments and 0.52 of subsurface soils on the tailing dam. Concentrations of minor and/or environmental toxic elements in those samples range from 29 to 3400 for As,1 to 11 for Cd, 35 to 292 for Cu, 50 to 1827 for Pb, 1 to 22 for Sb and 112 to 2644 for Zn. Extremely high concentrations (mean values) are found in subsurface soils on the tailing dam (As=2278, Cd=7, Cu=206, Pb=1372, Sb=14 and Zn=2231 ppm, respectively). Average enrichment index normalized by composition of non-mining drainage sediments is 2.42 in mining drainage sediments and 25.47 in subsurface soils on the tailing dam. Based on EPA value, enrichment index of toxic elements is 0.53 in non-mining drainage sediments, 1.84 in mining drainage sediments and 23.71 in subsurface soils on the tailing dam. As a results from X-ray powder diffraction method, mineral composition of soils and sediments near the mine area varied in part, and are calcite, dolomite, magnesite, quartz, mica, chlorite and clay minerals. With the separation of heavy minerals, soils and sediments of highly concentrated toxic elements included some pyrite, arsenopyrite, sphalerite, galena, goethite and hydroxide minerals on the polished sections.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.477-497
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• 2004

In the Hongseong and Kwangcheon areas, two ultramafic rocks are exposed as isolated bodies in the Precambrian Kyeonggi gneiss complex. The ultramafic rocks extend for several hundred meters to NNE direction and are contact with adjacent metasediments by steeply dipping faults. The rocks are dunite or harzburgite showing dominantly equigranular-mosaic and protogranular textures with a minor amount of porphyroclastic textures. They contain varying amounts of fosteritic olivine (F$o_{0.91-0.93}$), magnesian pyroxene (E$n_{0.89-0.93}$) and tremolitic to magnesian hornblende with minor amounts of spinel, serpentine, chlorite, magnetite, phlogopite and talc. The rocks are in contrast with adjacent gneiss complex or metabasite (amphibole, biotite, plagioclase, alkali-feldspar and quartz). Geochemically, these ultramafic rocks are characterized by high magnesium number (M$g_#$> 0.88) and transitional element (mainly, Ni>1716 ppm, Cr>1789 ppm), low alkali element (e.g. $K_2$O<0.09 wt.%, Na$_2$O<0.19 wt.%) and depletion of incompatible elements. The calculated correlation coefficients showed good positive correlations among the ferrous (e.g. Sc, V, Zn) elements, incompatible elements (e.g. REE), and among SiO$_2$ or $Al_2$O$_3$ with ferrous elements, whereas negative correlations are appeared between Ni and major elements. These results involve increasing of the ferrous- and $Al_2$O$_3$-bearing minerals(e.g. amphibole and mica) with decreasing of Mg-bearing minerals (e.g. olivine) depending on the degree of alteration. Calculated geothermometries and mineral assemblages suggest that the ultramafic rocks have been metamorphosed through the condition from the greenschist to amphibolite facies. Compared with ultramafic rocks elsewhere, it is thought that those of the Hongseong and Kwangcheon areas are derivatives of the depleted sources since they are depleted in incompatible elements including REE abundances. Moreover overall characteristics of the ultramafic rocks are similar to the those of orogenic related Alpine type ultramafic rocks, especially, shallow mantle slab varieties.