• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.261-269
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• 2001

In this study, sorption experiments of uranium onto silica colloids were carried out and the effects of important geochemical parameters such as pH, ionic strength, carbonate concentration, colloid concentration, and total concentration of uranium were investigated. The sorption coefficients of uranium for silica colloids named as pseudo-colloid formation constants were about 10$^4$~ 10$^{5}$ mL/g depending on the experimental conditions. The effects of the geochemical parameters were found to be important in the sorption of uranium onto silica colloids. A Langmuir type sorption isotherm of uranium between silica colloids and the solution phase was also presented. The sorption mechanisms were explained by analyzing the effects of the geochemical parameters.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2018.11a
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• pp.247-248
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• 2018

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.379-391
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• 1991

The studied Cretaceous granties are widely distributed at the southern Mungyeong area in the southwestern part of Ogcheon Fold Belt. From the mineralogical and geochemical compositions, it is suggested that they show the characteristics of I-type and magnetite-series and formed under the conditions of high oxygen fugacity. The mineral chemistry of plagioclase, alkali feldspar and biotite in the granites by EMPA, was revealed as albite to oligoclase, microcline to microcline perthite and orthoclase perthite, and annite compositions, respectively. The granites have the distribution patterns of enriched LREE and depleted HREE, and show Eu negative anomalies suggesting mainly due to the feldspar fractionation in the residual magma. The geochemical data of Eu, EU/$^*Eu$, Sm and Gd suggest that the granites of the area have more abundant alkali feldspar crystallization than plagioclase. From the geochemical characteristics of Sr/Ba, La/Sm vs. Ce/Yb and other trace element evidences, the granites were the late stage products of differentiation and fractionated from a homogeneous parental granitic magma.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.179-180
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• 2017

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1541-1554
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• 2016

To understand the characteristics of vanadium leaching from soils formed by the weathering of basalts, paleo soil at Gosan, Jeju Island, Korea, and several present-day soils from neighboring areas were collected. Leaching experiments were carried out by two approaches: 1) batch experiments under various geochemical conditions (redox potential (Eh) and pH) and 2) continuous leaching experiments under conditions similar to those of natural environments. From the batch experiments, leached vanadium concentrations were highest under alkaline (NaOH) conditions, with a maximum value of $2,870{\mu}g/L$, and were meaningful (maximum value, $114{\mu}g/L$) under oxidizing ($H_2O_2$) conditions, whereas concentrations under other conditions (acidic-HCl, $neutral-NaHCO_3$, and $reducing-Na_2S_2O_3$) were negligible. This indicated that the geochemical conditions, in which soil-water reactions occurred to form groundwater with high vanadium concentrations, were under alkaline-oxidizing conditions. From the continuous leaching experiments, the pH and leached vanadium concentrations of the solution were in the ranges of 5.45~5.58 and $6{\sim}9{\mu}g/L$, respectively, under $CO_2$ supersaturation conditions for the first 15 days, whereas values under $O_2$ aeration conditions after the next 15 days increased to 8.48~8.62 and $9.7{\sim}12.2{\mu}g/L$, respectively. Vanadium concentrations from the latter continuous leaching experiments were similar to the average concentration of groundwater in Jeju Island ($11.2{\mu}g/L$). Furthermore leached vanadium concentrations in continuous leaching experiments were highly correlated with pH and Al, Cr, Fe, Mn and Zn concentrations. The results of this study showed that 1) alkaline-oxidizing conditions of water-rock (soil) interactions were essential to form vanadium-rich groundwater and 2) volcanic soils can be a potential source of vanadium in Jeju Island groundwater.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.99 no.5
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• pp.755-761
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• 2010

This study analyzed water quality data from a coniferous forest catchment in order to quantify the contributions of runoff components to stormflow, and to understand the effects of antecedent moisture conditions within catchment on the contributions of runoff components. Hydrograph separation by the twocomponent mixing model analysis was used to partition stormflow discharge into pre-event and event components for total 10 events in 2005 and 2008. To simplify the analysis, this study used single geochemical tracer with Na+. The result shows that the average contributions of event water and pre-event water were 34.8% and 65.2% of total stormflow of all 10 events, respectively. The event water contributions for each event varied from 18.8% to 47.9%. As the results of correlation analysis between event water contributions versus some storm event characteristics, 10 day antecedent rainfall and 1 day antecedent streamflow are significantly correlated with event water contributions. These results can provide insight which will contribute to understand the importance of antecedent moisture conditions in the generation of event water, and be used basic information to stormflow generation process in forest catchment.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.139-145
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• 2022

Manganese nodules were recovered within the deep subseafloor sediments (118.22 mbsf) at Site U1371 during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) expedition 329 from the South Pacific Gyre (SPG). Because most manganese nodules exist on the seabed surface, nodules present in deep sediments are uncommon. Therefore, the growth origin of manganese nodules was identified through mineralogical and geochemical analyses. The manganese nodule was divided into the concentric layer outside the manganese region and the inner part of the phosphatized region consisting of manganese oxide minerals and carbonate fluorapatite (CFA) minerals, respectively. The two-dimensional element distribution analysis of Mn, Co, Ni, Sr and Cu, Zn with low Mn/Fe ratio confirmed that manganese nodules were formed predominantly by a hydrogenetic process and a biogenic process in certain manganese layers. As a result, the manganese nodule was continuously precipitated in SPG environments of oligotrophic open paleoocean conditions and rapidly buried with siliceous ooze sediments when the SPG changed to a eutrophic environment. It has been confirmed that manganese nodules found within deep subseafloor sediments could be used as a new proxy for the reconstruction of paleooceanographic conditions.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.399-410
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• 2022

The solubility and species distribution of radionuclides in groundwater are essential data for the safety assessment of deep underground spent nuclear fuel (SNF) disposal systems. Americium is a major radionuclide responsible for the long-term radiotoxicity of SNF. In this study, the solubility of americium compounds was evaluated in synthetic groundwater (SynDB3), simulating groundwater from the DB3 site of the KAERI Underground Research Tunnel. Geochemical modeling was performed using the ThermoChimie_11a thermochemical database. Concentration of dissolved Am(III) in Syn-DB3 in the pH range of 6.4-10.5 was experimentally measured under over-saturation conditions by liquid scintillation counting over 70 d. The absorption spectra recorded for the same period suggest that Am(III) colloidal particles formed initially followed by rapid precipitation within 2 d. In the pH range of 7.5-10.5, the concentration of dissolved Am(III) converged to approximately 2×10^-7 M over 70 d, which is comparable to that of the amorphous AmCO₃OH(am) according to the modeling results. As the samples were aged for 70 d, a slow equilibrium process occurred between the solid and solution phases. There was no indication of transformation of the amorphous phase into the crystalline phase during the observation period.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.545-554
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• 2017

Birnessite is one of the dominant Mn (oxyhydr)oxide phases commonly found in soil and deep ocean environments. It typically occurs as nano-sized and poorly crystalline aggregates in the natural environment. It is well known that birnessite participates in a wide variety of bio/geochemical reactions as a reactive mineral phase with structural defects, cation vacancies, and mixed valences of structural Mn. These various bio/geochemical reactions control not only the fate and transport of inorganic and organic substances in the environment, but also the formation of diverse Mn (oxyhydr)oxides through birnessite transformation. This review assessed and discussed about the phase transformation of birnessite under a wide range of environmental conditions and about the potential geochemical factors controlling the corresponding reactions in the literature. Birnessite transformation to other types of Mn (oxyhydr)oxides were affected by dissolved Mn(II), dissolved oxygen, solution pH, and co-existing cation (i.e., $Mg^{2+}$). However, there still have been many issues to be unraveled on the complex bio/geochemical processes involved in the phase transformation of birnessite. Future work on the detail mechanisms of birnessite transformation should be further investigated.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.149-155
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• 2016

To assess the effects of environmental factors on the sustainability of cultured ark shell Scapharca broughtonii production, we investigated the habitat characteristics of shellfish-farming bays (Gangjin Bay, Yeoja Bay, Keoje Bay and Deukryang Bay). We measured the physiochemical parameters (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, chemical oxygen demand and Chlorophyll a) and the geochemical characteristics (chemical oxygen demand, ignition loss, C/N ratio and C/S ratio). Surface sediments were collected from several shellfish-farming bays to examine the geochemical characteristics of both the benthic environment and heavy metal pollution. The grain sizes for Gangjin Bay, Yeoja Bay and Keoje Bay were similar, at the ratio of silt and clay in comparison with Deukryang bay of it. The C/N ratio was more than 5.9, reflecting the range arising from the mix of marine organisms and organic matter. The C/S ratio (more than 4.2) showed that the survey area had anoxic or sub-anoxic bottom conditions. The index of accumulation rate (Igeo) of the metals showed that those research areas can be classified as heavily polluted, heavily to moderately polluted, or more or less unpolluted, respectively. We suggested that the growth of ark shell Scapharca broughtonii in the shellfish-farming bay was effected by the various environmental conditions.