• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.281-302
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• 2023

Carbon is not only an essential element for life but also a key player in climate change. The radiocarbon (¹⁴C) analysis using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is a powerful tool not only to understand the carbon cycle but also to track pollutants derived from fossil carbon, which have a distinct radiocarbon isotope ratio (Δ¹⁴C). Many studies have reported Δ¹⁴C of carbon compounds in streams, rivers, rain, snow, throughfall, fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), and wastewater treatment plant effluents in South Korea, which are reviewed in this manuscript. In summary, (1) stream and river carbon in South Korea are largely derived from the chemical weathering of soils and rocks, and organic compounds in plants and soils, strongly influenced by precipitation, wastewater treatment effluents, agricultural land use, soil water, and groundwater. (2) Unprecedentedly high Δ¹⁴C of precipitation during winter has been reported, which can directly and indirectly influence stream and river carbon. Although we cannot exclude the possibility of local contamination sources of high Δ¹⁴C, the results suggest that stream dissolved organic carbon could be older than previously thought, warranting future studies. (3) The ¹⁴C analysis has also been applied to quantify the sources of forest throughfall and PM_2.5, providing new insights. The ¹⁴C data on a variety of ecosystems will be valuable not only to track the pollutants derived from fossil carbon but also to improve our understanding of climate change and provide solutions.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.361-367
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• 2004

For assessment of tritium and radiocarbon ingestion dose to off site individuals, water, hydrogen, and carbon content of main farm produce of Korea were investigated to replace the existing data in K-DOSE60, the Offsite Dose Calculation Manual (ODCM) of Korea Hydro ＆ Nuclear Power Co. Ltd, (KHNP). Main items and weighting factors of farm produce were determined with the nationwide food intake data in 2001, 2002. Main farm produce were sampled around Kori, Wolsong, Ulchin, Younggwang nuclear power sites, Content of each produce was multiplied by weighting factor and summed up to make the weighted mean group value For grains, water, hydrogen, and carbon content was not much different from the existing data currently used in K-DOSE60, but root vegetables had 3.5 times more hydrogen, and leafy vegetables and fruits had 0.7∼1.3 times more or less water, hydrogen, and carbon contents than K-DOSE60.

• Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.63-76
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• 2010

The Jangdo wetland is located on a very gentle slope of the mountain area in Daejangdo island, Shinan-gun, Korea, in which the area of the watershed is estimated at 147,000 m². The wetland has been regarded as a peat bog without any sedimentological evidence. This study was conducted to analyze the geomorphological and sedimentological characteristics of the wetland. The geographic information system (GIS) was used to analyze the drainage system, and field surveys were conducted to measure the range and depth of wetland deposits. The grain size analysis, organic matter determination, elements analysis and radiocarbon dating were performed on samples from the wetland. As a result, the wetland deposits were about 30 cm deep on average, the mean grain sizes ranged from 50 to 500 μm, and the average C/N ratio was 11.5. The portion of organic matter it contained was only 5~26%, which did not satisfy the peat standards. The radiocarbon ages from the wetland deposits range 180±50 ¹⁴C yr BP to modern, which indicated that natural and anthropogenic interferences including agricultural activities have continuously happened. We conclude that the Jangdo wetland is still in its infancy, not a steady state, so that it could be very sensitive to a small disturbance.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.279-283
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• 1999

The purpose of this study was to optimize carbonate suspension counting method for the measurements of high level activity of $^{14}C$ in a reactor stack effluent gases. Although it is less sensitive method, the carbonate suspension counting method has been found to be a suitable technique for the $^{14}C$ monitoring of samples with small amount but with high specific activity and to be relatively simple and fast.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.20 no.1 s.26
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• pp.28-38
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• 2006

Since the radioactivity of U was discovered by Becquerel in 1896, a number of radiometric dating techniques based on radioactive decay have been developed with the help of precise and accurate instruments. Among them, radiocarbon dating was introduced as the most effective method in archeology in Korea. However, though the radiocarbon methods have contributed greatly to the development of archeology in Korea, it is limited to organics in a matrix of soil and sediment, including organic carbon, charcoal, bone and so on. If there are no organics in some paleolitic sites, other methods are required for dating. Therefore, we introduced OSL (Optically Stimulated Luminescence) dating method in this paper. The method is mainly based on quartz grains or other particles. The aim of this paper is to discuss about sampling method and the limitation of its application in archeology.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.81-87
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• 2015

This study was carried out in the peatland for estimating the paleoenvironment based on the analysis from its fossils plant and radiocarbon at the Hwayang-ri, Hyeondeok-myeon, Pyeongtaek-city, South Korea. Variety of fossil was collected from the peatland which could discriminated with naked eye and sorted into seeds, leaves, stems from four-stage of standard sieve. During analysis for the large plant fossil within the peatland, the dead plants were largely divided into 3 fossil zones according to its peatland. In the fossil zone III (the oldest layer; 6,970~6,070 yr $C^{14}$ B.P.), the observation of leaves of hydrophyte such as Trapa sp. and stems of Alnus japonica which appeared in wetland means that the environment was influenced by the climate changes such as rainfall increasing and sea level rise. In the fossil zone II (the middle layer; 6,070~5,800 yr C14 B.P.), the occurrence of Gramineae, Cyperaceae and Fagaceae indicate that the environmental condition might be more or less dry by decreasing rainfall and drop in sea level. The fossil zone I (the recent layer; 5,800~4,540 yr $C^{14}$ B.P.) where lots of herbaceous plants, increasing of Fagaceae, decreasing of A. japonica. and distribution of Pinaceae were showed, was inferred to be repeated both dry and wet environment due to human disturbance.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.481-492
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• 2018

We conducted TL/OSL dating for the earthenware kilns in the Bongsan-ri archaeological site, Osong, which was occupied from the late nineteenth to the late twentieth century. With the SAR-TL/OSL method, paleodose was determined from the equivalent dose during the burial period($ED_{burial}$), the background dose($ED_{BG}$), the fading correction factor(f), and the overestimation correction factor(C). The annual dose rates and their provenance were evaluated from the measurement of natural radionuclides $^{238}U$, $^{232}Th$, and $^{40}K$. Because the comprehensive absolute age was provided by combining the resulting TL/OSL and radiocarbon data, we concluded that, for the absolute chronology of a modern archaeological site, TL/OSL dating and radiocarbon dating must be carried out together and summed. The construction and occupation of earthenware kilns in the Bongsan-ri site had changed from stage I (No.5, 6 kilns), to stage II (No.1, 2, 3 kilns), to stage III (No.4) in chronological order. When Bayesian statistics were applied, we found that the absolute ages of occupation for stages I, II, and III correspond to AD $1910{\pm}23$, AD $1970{\pm}10$, and AD $1987{\pm}4$. These results were in good agreement with the archaeological context or chronology.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.55-58
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• 2005

A 120-cm core recovered from Lake Hovsgol, the northern Mongolia provides evidence for climate variability since the Marine Isotope Stage 3, representing a sharp lithological change. The lowermost part of the core consists of diatom-barren calcareous silty clay without coarse sands, framboidal pyrite, and biogenic components deposited during the MIS 3. Following the last glacial maximum, in-situ moss is included in the sediments, as lake-level was retreated by cold and dry environment with low precipitation. The AMS radiocarbon ages of the plant fragments match a marked lithologic boundary between 14,060 and 14,325 $^{14}C$ yr BP. The contents of coarse sands abruptly increase, indicating probably wind-derived sandy dust or coarse grains contributed from floating icebergs. And abundant framboidal pyrite grains were deposited in an anoxic environment, as reflected by high accumulation of organic matters at a low lake stand. During the deglaciation, quantities of coarse sands, ostracod, shell fragments, framboidal pyrite, and diatom markedly varies by regional and global scale climate regimes. Some allochthonous coarse sands were probably ice-rafted debris derived from floating icebergs. A rapid increase in diatom productivity probably marked the onset of Bolling-Allerod warming. Subsequent high concentration of framboidal pyrite probably represents a dry and cold condition, such as Younger Drays events. Consistent warm period with high precipitation at Holocene is documented by diatomaceous clayey ooze without framboidal pyrite, coarse sands, and ostracod.

• Proceedings of the Korean Quaternary Association Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.34-39
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• 2005

A 120-cm core recovered from Lake Hovsgol, the northern Mongolia provides evidence for climate variability since the Marine Isotope Stage 3, representing a sharp lithological change. The lowermost part of the core consists of diatom-barren calcareous silty clay without coarse sands, framboidal pyrite, and biogenic components deposited during the MIS 3. Following the last glacial maximum, in-situ moss is included in the sediments, as lake-level was retreated by cold and dry environment with low precipitation. The AMS radiocarbon ages of the plant fragments match a marked lithologic boundary between 14,060 and 14,325 $^{14}C$ yr BP. The contents of coarse sands abruptly increase, indicating probably wind-derived sandy dust or coarse grains contributed from floating icebergs. And abundant framboidal pyrite grains were deposited in an anoxic environment, as reflected by high accumulation of organic matters at a low lake stand. During the deglaciation, quantities of coarse sands, ostracod, shell fragments, framboidal pyrite, and diatom markedly varies by regional and global scale climate regimes. Some allochthonous coarse sands were probably ice-rafted debris derived from floating icebergs. A rapid increase in diatom productivity probably marked the onset of Bolling-Allerodwarming. Subsequent high concentration of framboidal pyrite probably represents a dry and cold condition, such as Younger Drays events. Consistent warm period with high precipitation at Holocene is documented by diatomaceous clayey ooze without framboidal pyrite, coarse sands, and ostracod.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.693-698
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• 2000

The object of this series of experiments was aimed for the systematic and long-term radioactivity monitoring through indirect search of C-14 concentration level changes in the natural conditions around the operating nuclear facilities. The result of environmental radioactivity level through tree-ring analysis is increased after operating nuclear facilities and such a level can be proved to relate power generation closely. The measured result of ${\delta}^{13}C$ through the treatment of cellulose can be showed the level -30‰. This figure is very different from one which is measured the -17‰ of air sample by passive air sampling and -8‰ of air sample by active air sampling. And these differences can be assumed as isotope fractionation by photosynthesis, but the problem is more study as needed.