• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.62-69
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• 2018

In the present study, long-term heavy metals (HMs) contaminated soil samples from a well-known Pb/Zn smelting area in the southwest of China were collected, and physicochemical and biological characteristics of these samples were evaluated. Soil samples contained different concentrations of HMs, namely Pb, Zn, Cu, and Cd. Enzyme activity analyses combined with microcalorimetric analysis were used for soil microbial activity evaluation. Results showed that two soil samples, containing almost the highest concentrations of HMs, also shared the greatest microbial activities. Based on correlation coefficient analysis, high microbial activity in heavily HMs contaminated soil might be due to the high contents of soil organic matter and available phosphorus in these samples. High-throughput sequencing technique was used for microbial community structure analysis. High abundance of genera Sphingomonas and Thiobacillus were also observed in these two heavily contaminated soils, suggesting that bacteria belonging to these two genera might be further isolated from these contaminated soils and applied for future studies of HMs remediation. Results of present study would contribute to the evaluation of microbial communities and isolation of microbial resources to remediate HMs pollution.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.369-375
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• 2000

Although urban soils must be well understood in order to ensure their conservation and optimum use, these intensively managed and disturbed soils have not been extensively investigated up to now. Urban soils from forest, lawn, streetside, and bare ground and under pavement in Inchon had high bulk density as a result of widespread trampling-induced soil compaction. The various urban soils including forests showed lower water content and higher temperature as compared with rural forest soil. Chemically, soils from urban areas had an unusual neutral pH and low organic matter content. Total bacterial numbers in urban soils was only 5∼50% of that in the rural forest soil. An analysis of stepwise multiple regression revealed that soil organic matter was the most important predictor variable on total bacterial number. The dehydrogenase activity of most urban soils was not significantly different from that of rural forest soil, whereas the microbial activity of soils under pavement was lower. Our investigations show that inadequate organic matter of highly compacted soils has adversely affected the abundance of microorganisms involving nutrient cycling in urban soils.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.259-269
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• 2021

The effects of the physicochemical properties of soil such as soil pH, cation exchange capacity, and organic matter content on single extraction of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn using CaCl2, HOAc, HNO3, and DTPA were statistically investigated for 69 agricultural soils in Korea. Correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were applied for soil samples which were grouped on the basis of average values of the physicochemical properties of the soil. Diluted HNO3 extracted higher concentrations of Cr, Cu, Ni, and Pb when compared with the other extractants, however, similar amounts of Cd and Zn were extracted by HOAc with HNO3. The results of correlation analysis indicated that DTPA extraction showed a high correlation with other single and pseudo-total extraction methods, and the physicochemical properties of soil influenced the concentrations of heavy metals leached by the single extraction methods. In the case of Zn, high correlations between pseudo-total and the studied single extraction methods were observed. As a result of regression analysis, it was found that the physicochemical properties of the soil could explain up to 74% of variances of the single extraction results. These results indicate that the physicochemical properties of the soil can have a direct influence on the concentrations of heavy metals extracted by the single extraction methods.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.247-262
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• 2024

Domestic sewage can greatly affect the macro-micro physical-mechanical properties of building foundation soils. In order to investigate the effect of domestic sewage on physical and mechanical properties of soils, the physicochemical properties of three groups of different concentrations of domestic sewage contaminated soil were tested through indoor experiments. Combined with scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction experiments, and grey relational analysis, the degree of influence of different concentrations of domestic sewage on the physicochemical properties of soil was compared and analyzed from multiple perspectives such as microstructure and mineral composition, revealing the influencing mechanism of soil pollution by domestic sewage. The results showed that under the immersion of contaminated water, the color of the soaking water turned black first and then yellow, and brownish yellow secretions appeared on the surface of the soil samples. The moisture content, specific gravity, density, and pore ratio index of the soil samples immersed in 50% and 100% domestic sewage decreased with the increase of sewage concentration, while the liquid limit of the soil samples changed in the opposite direction. The immersion time had little effect on the slope of the compression curve of the soil samples soaked in tap water. For the soil samples immersed in domestic sewage, the slope of the compression curve and the compression coefficient increased with the increase of domestic sewage concentration and immersion time, while the compression modulus showed the opposite trend. In the soil samples immersed in tap water, there were a large number of small particles and cementitious substances, and the structure was relatively dense. With the increase of domestic sewage concentration, the microstructure of the soil changed significantly, with the appearance of sigle particle structure, loose and disorderly arrangement of particles, increased and enlarged pores, gradual reduction of small particle substances and cementitious substances, and the soil structure transformed from compact to loose. The research findings can provide theoretical reference for contaminated geotechnical engineering.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.87-96
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• 2014

The objectives of this study were to characterize the physicochemical properties and mineralogy of Hwangto (yellow residual soils) from the southwestern part of Korea and to understand the soil-forming processes of the residual soils from their parent rocks. Both the yellowish residual soils as well as the unweathered and weathered parent rocks were obtained from Jangdong-ri, Donggang-myun, Naju, Jeollanam-do, Korea. The soil samples were examined to analyze the said soil's physicochemical properties such as color, pH, and particle size distribution. A scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis were performed in order to understand the mineralogy, chemical composition, and morphology of the soils. Two thin sections of a parent rock were analyzed to study its mineral composition. A particle size analysis of the soils indicates that the residual soil consists of mainly silt and clay (approximately 95%) and that soil textures are silty clay or silt clay loam. The soil colors of the residual soil are dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) through yellowish red (5YR 4/6). The pH of the residual soil ranges from 4.3 to 5.1. The major minerals of the parent rocks were quartz, biotite, chlorite, and plagioclase. The mineralogy of the sand fraction of the residual soil was quartz, biotite, muscovite and sanidine. The mineralogy of the silt fraction of the residual soil was quartz, biotite, muscovite, Na-feldspar, K-feldspar, and sanidine. The clay mineralogy of the soil was goethite, kaolinite, ilite, hydroxy-interlayed vermiculite(HIV), vermiculite, mica, K-feldspar and quartz. The mineral composition of the residual soil and the parent rock indicates that feldspar and mica in the parent rock weathered into illite, vermiculite and hydroxy-interlayed vermiculite(HIV), and finally changed into kaolinite and halloysite in the yellowish residual soils.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.16-22
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• 2010

Heavy metals in soils exist in various forms dependent upon surrounding conditions. As the Janghang smelter area is of concern for its high elevated heavy metal concentrations, Korean government decided to remediate the area. Main objectives of this research were; to analyze heavy metal concentrations and their existing forms in the vicinity of the smelter; and to understand differences made by analysis techniques of heavy metals. Top soils of rice field, crop field, bare field, and forestry in the area were sampled and analyzed for their physicochemical characteristics. Concentrations of Cu, Cd, Pb, and As were analyzed with two pretreatment techniques adopted using 0.1 N HCl and aqua regia. To analyze existing forms of heavy metals, Tessier's schemes for sequential extraction technique were adopted. Exchangeable fraction and carbonate bound fraction of heavy metals may pose potential threat to environment and were in the order of Pb > As > Cu > Cd. If assessing mobile fraction of heavy metals by land uses, the order was forestry > bare land > crop field > rice field. When analyzed using Tessier's scheme, high ratio of residual fractions to total arsenic concentration should be considered for remediation design of the area.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.61-68
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• 2023

This study analyzed and compared the physicochemical characteristics of topsoil and subsoil of Grade 1 soil from an igneous rock area on the ecological and nature map. The water content and pH of the collected soil samples were measured, and X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction analyses were performed. The results showed that the water content of the topsoil was higher than that of the subsoil, and its pH was more acidic than that of the subsoil. According to the X-ray fluorescence analysis results, sample I9 was closest to kaolinite, while sample I7 was most distant from kaolinite. All other samples were located between samples I7 and I9. The X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the average content of clay minerals was higher in the topsoil than in the subsoil. The most notable clay minerals produced included illite, vermiculite, kaolinite, chlorite, and gibbsite. The results of this study will be used as a basic data for topsoil restoration to convert subsoil into topsoil.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.314-320
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• 2014

The uptake and transportation patterns of the residual boscalid and chlorfenapyr were investigated from the soils to Korean cabbages. The recovery rates of the pesticides spiked in the soils and Korean cabbages were 87.5 to 105.2%. Korean cabbages were cultivated in soils treated with two different concentrations of the pesticides as low (3.0 mg/kg) and high (6.0 mg/kg) concentrations in greenhouse for 28 days. The initial level of boscalid was determined as 2.77 and 5.66 mg/kg for the low and high concentration of boscalid-treated soils, respectively. After 28 days of treatment, the residual boscalid in soils decreased to 0.53 and 1.60 mg/kg for the low and high concentration of boscalid-treated soils, respectively, and thus it was reduced to 71.7 to 81.9%. The initial level of chlorfenapyr was determined as 2.38 and 6.43 mg/kg for the low and high concentration of chlorfenapyr-treated soils, respectively. After 28 days of treatment, the residual chlorfenapyr in soils decreased to 1.36 and 2.91 mg/kg for the low and high concentration-treated soils, respectively, and thus it was reduced to 42.9 to 54.8%. The residual pesticide analysis was done with 2 day intervals from 21 days-cultivated Korean cabbages after seeding. Uptake rates of boscalid from the soil to Korean cabbages were 2.4 and 2.2% for the low- and high-concentration of boscalid-treated soil, respectively. However, the uptake rate of chlorfenapyr by the cabbages was 1.5 and 1.3% for the low and high concentration-treated soil, respectively. The uptake rate of chlorfenapyr by the cabbages was lower than that of boscalid. These results showed that the residual pesticides in soil could be absorbed by Korean cabbages depending on their physicochemical properties.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.389-398
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• 2022

Many studies have been conducted to accurately predict the correlations between As and heavy metals content in contaminated soil and cultivated crops; however, due to the low correlation between the two, few clear results were obtained to date. This study aimed to create statistical models that predict the As content transferred from soil to polished rice, considering the physicochemical properties of the soil, as well as the total content and the single-extracted content of As in the soil. Predictive models were derived through regression analysis while sequentially classifying soil samples according to pH, soluble As content by single extraction, and organic matter content of the soil. The correlation coefficients between the As content in 80 polished rice and total As content and Mehlich soluble As content in the soil were low, 0.533 and 0.493, respectively. However, the models derived after sequential classification of the soil by pH, a ratio of total As content to Mehlich soluble As content, and organic matter content greatly increased the predictive power; ① 0.963 for 13 soils with a pH higher than 6.5, ② 0.849 for 15 soils with pH lower than 6.5 and a high ratio of As_Tot/As_Mehlich, ③ 0.935 for 30 soils with pH lower than 6.5, a high ratio of As_Tot/As_Mehlich, and organic matter content lower than 8.5%. The suggested prediction model of As transfer from soil to polished rice derived by soil classification may serve as a statistically significant methodology in establishing a rice cultivation standard for arsenic-contaminated soil.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.68-77
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• 2023

The effect of soil damage on the physicochemical characteristics and activity of the soil microbial community is not well known. This study investigates this relationship by analyzing 11 soil samples collected from various points of soil damage across Gyeonggi-do. Soil damage resulted from forest fires, landslides, and development areas, with their impacts most severe on the topsoil layer (0-30 cm). Dehydrogenase and β-glucosidase activities were notably higher at locations damaged by forest fires compared to other sites. While enzyme activities in soils influenced by landslides and development areas were relatively low, sites with a pollution history exhibited elevated dehydrogenase activity, likely due to past microbial response to the pollution. Additionally, an assessment of carbon substrate usability by soil microorganisms indicated higher substrate availability in areas impacted by forest fires, contrasting with lower availability in landslide and development sites. Statistical analysis revealed a positive correlation between organic content of sand and clay and microbial activity. These findings provide valuable insights into soil damage and associated restoration research, as well as management strategies.