• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.231-240
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• 2017

Recently, there have been frequent occurrences of ground sink in the urban area, which have resulted in human and material damage and are accompanied by economic losses. This is caused by artificial factors such as soil loss, poor compaction, horizontal excavation due to the breakage of the aged sewage pipe, and lack of water proof at vertical excavation. The ground sink can be prevented by preliminary restoration and reinforcement through exploration, but it can be considered that it is not suitable for urgent restoration by the existing method. In this study, a model experiment was carried out to simulate the in-ground cavities caused by groundwater flow for developing non-excavation urgent restoration in underground cavity and the range of the relaxation zone was estimated by detecting the around the cavity using a relaxation zone detector. In addition, disturbance region and relaxation region were separated by injecting gypsum into cavity formed in simulated ground. The shape of the underground cavity due to the groundwater flow was similar to that of the failure mode III formed in the dense relative density ground due to water pipe breakage in the previous study. It was confirmed that the relaxed region detected using the relaxation zone detector is formed in an arch shape in the cavity top. The length ratio of the relaxation region to the disturbance region in the upper part of the cavity center is 2: 1, and it can be distinguished by the difference in the decrease of the shear resistance against the external force. In other words, it was confirmed that the secondary damage should not occur in consideration of the expandability of the material used as the injecting material in the pre-repair and reinforcement, and various ground deformation states will be additionally performed through additional experiments.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Groundwater Environment
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.130-143
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• 1997

To investigate geochemical characteristics and the sources of the dissolved ion species in the river water in the Han river drainage basin, samples were collected at 60 sites from the Han river drainage basin. The data for. pH, conductivity, TDS (total dissolved solid), temperature, and concentrations of dissloved ions were obtained as follows : (1) The geochemical characteristics of the surface water in the South and North Han river drainage basins are mainly controlled by bed rock geology in the drainage basin and in the main stream of the Han river considerably affected by anthropogenic pollution. The South Han river water samples have high concentrations of $Ca^{2＋}$ (ave. 15.42 ppm), $Mg^{2＋}$ (ave. 2.74 ppm), HC $O_3$$^{[-10]}$ (ave. 51.9 ppm), which evidently indicates that the bed rock geology in a limestone area mainly controls the surface water chemistry. The concentration of S $O_4$$^{2-}$ is remarkably high (SHR10-2 : 129.9 ppm) because of acid mine drainage from the metal and coal mines in the upper reaches of the South Han river. (2) The South Han river and the North Han river join the Han river. in the Yangsuri, Kyounggido and flow through Seoul metropolitan city. The mixing ratio is about 60:40 at the meeting point (sample number HRl0). (3) The result of factor analysis suggests that the pollution factor accounts for about 79% and the bed rock type factor accounts for about 7% of the data variation. This means that the geochemical characteristics of the Han river water mainly controlled by anthropogenic pollution in the South Han river and main stream of the Han river drainage basin. (4) The chemical data for four tributaries such as the Wangsukcheon, the Tancheon, the Zunuangcheon, and the Anyangcheon show that the concentration of pollution elements such as N $O_2$, C $l^{－}$, P $O_4$$^{3-}$, S $O_4$$^{2-}$ and Mn are high due to municipal waste disposal.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Groundwater Environment
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.44-55
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• 1998

Imgok creek is the most severly polluted one out of the streams which have been being polluted by acid drainages from the abandoned coal mines in the Gangdong-Myeon area, the central part of the so called Gangreung coal field. Imgok creek is being mainly polluted by the drainage from Youngdong coal mine, which supplies such pollutants as Mg, Fe, Al, Si, Ca, Mn, and SO$_4$as major dissolved components and Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Cd, Pb, and U as minor dissolved components. After the influx, the pollutants migrate mainly as dissolved solid, rather than as suspended solids along Imgok creek. The suspended solids in Imgok creek are very rich in Fe and Al, indicating that they mainly consist of the precipitates of present and past from the polluted water. Most of the dissolved components in the stream waters of Imgok creek removed from the aqueous phase by precipitation and dilution before reaching the East Sea, so that water quality of the downstreams of Imgok creek is very similar to that of unpolluted tributaries. It suggests that Imgok creek itself is now being severly polluted by the acid drainages from the abandoned coal mines, but the East Sea is relatively safe from the same pollution. The estuary and sea waters around the Goonseon estuary, which accepts Imgok creek water, certainly show no significant difference in chemical compositions from the mean oceanic water. The bottom sediments at the sampling sites of the sea waters also show no significant trend of their component variation, especially the variations of Fe, SO$_4$ and Al concentrations. These facts again supper that the acid mine drainage is not considerablly polluting the East Sea. However, the tributaries supplying the fresh water to the Imgok creek will be certainly polluted by the acid mine drainage as time passes and pollutants will have more chance to migrate in significant amount to the downstream area, which all can be a real threats to the East Sea on the pollution possibility. Therefore, it is suggested that urgently required are not only water quality and environmental improvement of the severely polluted Imgok creek but also preparation of the measures on the possible future pollution of the East Sea by the acid drainage from the abandoned coal mines in the area, while the East Sea is still not much affected by the pollution of the same kind.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.101-110
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• 2013

Due to the large specific surface area and great reactivity toward environmental contaminants, nanocrystalline mackinawite (FeS) has been widely applied for the remediation of contaminated groundwater and soil. Furthermore, nanocrystalline FeS is rather thermodynamically stable against anoxic corrosion, and its reactivity can be regenerated continuously by the activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria. However, nanocrystalline mackinawite is prone to either spread out along the groundwater flow or cause pore clogging in aquifers by particle aggregation. Accordingly, this mineral should be modified for the application of permeable reactive barriers (PRBs). In this study, coating methods were investigated by which mackinawite nanoparticles were deposited on the surface of alumina or activated alumina. The amount of FeS coating was found to significantly vary with pH, with the highest amount occurring at pH ~6.9 for both minerals. At this pH, the surfaces of mackinawite and alumina (or activated alumina) were oppositely charged, with the resultant electrostatic attraction making the coating highly effective. At this pH, the coating amounts by alumina and activated alumina were 0.038 and 0.114 $mmol{\cdot}FeS/g$, respectively. Under anoxic conditions, arsenite sorption experiments were conducted with uncoated alumina, uncoated activated alumina, and both minerals coated with FeS at the optimal pH for comparison of their reactivity. Uncoated activated alumina showed the higher arsenite removal compared to uncoated alumina. Notably, the arsenite sorption capacity of activated alumina was little changed by the coating with FeS. This might be attributed to the abundance of highly reactive hydroxyl functional groups (${\equiv}$AlOH) on the surface of activated alumina, making the arsenite sorption by the coated FeS unnoticeable. In contrast, the arsenite sorption capacity of alumina was found to increase substantially by the FeS coating. This was due to the consumption of the surface hydroxyl functional groups on the alumina surface and the subsequent occurrence of As(III) sorption by the coated FeS. Alumina, on the surface area basis, has about 8 times higher FeS coating amount and higher As(III) sorption capacity than silica. This study indicates that alumina is a better candidate than silica for the coating of nanocrystalline mackinawite.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.219-228
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• 2010

It has been well known that concrete structures exposed to acid and sulfate environments such as sewer, sewage and wastewater, soil, groundwater, and seawater etc. show significant decrease in their durability due to chemical attack. Such deleterious acid and sulfate attacks lead to expansion and cracking in concrete, and thus, eventually result in damage to concrete matrix by forming expansive hydration products due to the reaction between portland cement hydration products and acid and sulfate ions. Objectives of this experimental research are to investigate the effect of mineral admixtures on the resistance to acid and sulfate attack in concrete and to suggest high-resistance concrete mix against acid and sulfate attack. For this purpose, concretes specimens with three types of cement (ordinary portland cement (OPC), binary blended cement (BBC), and ternary blended cement (TBC) composed of different types and proportions of admixtures) were prepared at water-biner ratios of 32% and 43%. The concrete specimens were immersed in fresh water, 5% sulfuric acid, 10% sodium sulfate, and 10% magnesium sulfate solutions for 28, 56, 91, 182, and 365 days, respectively. To evaluate the resistance to acid and sulfate for concrete specimens, visual appearance changes were observed and compressive strength ratios and mass change ratios were measured. It was observed from the test results that the resistance against sulfuric acid and sodium sulfate solutions of the concretes containing mineral admixtures were much better than that of OPC concrete, but in the case of magnesium sulfate solution the concretes containing mineral admixtures was less resistant than OPC concrete due to formation of magnesium silicate hydrate (M-S-H) which is non-cementitious.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.118-126
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• 2019

Background: Government conducts environmental radioactivity surveillance for verification purpose around nuclear facilities based on the Nuclear Safety Law and issues a surveillance report every year. This study aims to evaluate the short and the long-term fluctuation of radionuclides detected above MDC and their origins using concentration ratios between these radionuclides. Materials and Methods: Sample media for verification surveillance are air, rainwater, groundwater, soil, and milk for terrestrial samples, and seawater, marine sediment, fish, and seaweed for marine samples. Gamma-emitting radionuclides including $^{137}Cs$, $^{90}Sr$, Pu, $^3H$, and $^{14}C$ are evaluated in these samples. Results and Discussion: According to the result of the environmental radioactivity verification surveillance in the vicinity of nuclear power facilities in 2017, the anthropogenic radionuclides were not detected in most of the environmental samples except for the detection of a trace level of $^{137}Cs$, $^{90}Sr$, Pu, and $^{131}I$ in some samples. Radioactivity concentration ratios between the anthropogenic radionuclides ($^{137}Cs/^{90}Sr$, $^{137}Cs/^{239+240}Pu$, $^{90}Sr/^{239+240}Pu$) were similar to those reported in the environmental samples, which were affected by the global fallout of the past nuclear weapon test, and Pu atomic ratios ($^{240}Pu/^{239}Pu$) in the terrestrial sample and marine sample showed significant differences due to the different input pathway and the Pu source. Radioactive iodine ($^{131}I$) was detected at the range of < $5.6-190mBq{\cdot}kg-fresh^{-1}$ in the gulfweed and sea trumpet collected from the area of Kori and Wolsong intake and discharge. A high level of $^3H$ was observed in the air (Sangbong: $0.688{\pm}0.841Bq{\cdot}m^{-3}$) and the precipitation (Meteorology Post: $199{\pm}126Bq{\cdot}L^{-1}$) samples of the Wolsong nuclear power plant (NPP). $^3H$ concentration in the precipitation and pine needle samples showed typical variation pattern with the distance and the wind direction from the stack due to the gaseous release of $^3H$ in Wolsong NPP. Conclusion: Except for the detection of a trace level of $^{137}Cs$, $^{90}Sr$, Pu, and $^{131}I$ in some samples, anthropogenic radionuclides were below MDC in most of the environmental samples. Overall, no unusual radionuclides and abnormal concentration were detected in the 2017's surveillance result for verification. This research will be available in the assessment of environment around nuclear facilities in the event of radioactive material release.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.23-31
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• 2005

This study was performed to investigate the effect of humic acid on the adsorption of arsenic onto hematite and its binding mechanism through the chemical speciation modeling in the binary system and the adsorption modeling in the ternary system. The complexation modeling of arsenic and humic acid was suitable for the binding model with the basis of the electrostatic repulsion and the effect of bridging metal. In comparison with the experimental adsorption data in the ternary system, the competitive adsorption model from the binary intrinsic equilibrium constants was consistent with the amount of arsenic adsorption. However, the additive rule showed the deviation of model in the opposite way of cationic heavy metals, because the reduced organic complexation of arsenic and the enhanced oxyanionic competition diminished the adsorption of arsenic. In terms of the reaction mechanism, the organic complex of arsenic, neutral As(III) and oxyanionic As(V) species were transported and adsorbed competitively to the hematite surface forming the inner-sphere complex in the presence of humic acid.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.339-352
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• 2022

As environmental criteria items are increased or strengthened, cases of heavy metal contamination by geogenic origin are increasing, and the need to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic origins in soil or groundwater exceeding the standard is increasing. In this study, geochemical occurrences of geogenic heavy metals were identified through statistical processing of the national geochemical map data and evaluation of geochemical characteristics of regions with high geoaccumulation indices. Cobalt, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn were targeted for which the national geochemical maps were prepared, and Co, Cr, Ni, and V derived from ultrabasic or ultramafic rocks were classified as factor 1. Copper, Pb and Zn of non-ferrous sulfide origin were classified as factor 2. In particular, enrichment of heavy metals by factor 1 occurs mainly in the serpentine distribution areas of the Chungcheong region, and there is a risk of contamination in neighboring areas. In the case of factor 2, geogenic occurrence is concerned not only in non-ferrous metal mineralization areas such as Taebacksan and Gyeongnam mineralization zones, but also in Au-Ag mineralization areas distributed nationwide.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.207-211
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• 2016

This study focuses on the categorization of the phenomenon of vegetative recruitment on riparian channels, so called, the phenomenon from "white river" to "green river", and proposes for the corresponding research direction. According to the literature review and research outputs obtained from the authors' previous research performed in Korea within a limited scope, the necessary and sufficient conditions for the recruitment and retrogression of riparian vegetation may be the mechanical disturbance (riverbed tractive stress), soil moisture (groundwater level, topography, composition of riverbed material, precipitation etc.), period of submergence, extreme weather, and nutrient inflow. In this study, two categories, one for the reduction in spring flood due to the change in spring precipitation pattern in unregulated rivers and the other for the increase in nutrient inflow into streams, both of which were partially proved, have been added in the categorization of the vegetative recruitment and retrogression on the riparian channels. In order to scientifically investigate further the phenomenon of the riparian vegetative recruitment and retrogression and develop the working riparian vegetative models, it is necessary to conduct a systematic nationwide survey on the "white to green" rivers, establishment of the categorization of the vegetation recruitment and retrogression based on the proof of those hypotheses and detailed categorization, development of the working mathematical models for the dynamic riparian vegetative recruitment and retrogression, and adaptive management for the river changes.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.481-487
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• 2016

In this research, a pilot scale hybrid rain garden system was developed in order to investigate the efficiency in the different components of the hybrid rain garden system and at the same time evaluate the initial efficiency of the system in treating urban stormwater runoff prior to its actual use in the field. Experimental runs were conducted using synthetic runoff having target concentrations similar to that of the typical runoff characteristics found in different countries and in Korea. With the employment of the hybrid rain garden system, hydrologic improvement was observed as the system demonstrates an approximately 95% reduction in the influent runoff volume with 80% retained in the system, and 15% recharged to groundwater. The reduction was contributed by the retention capabilities of ST and infiltration capabilities in PB and IT. With the combined mechanisms such as filtration-infiltration, biological uptake from plants and soil and phytoremediation that are incorporated in PB and IT, the system effectively reduces the amount of pollutant concentration wherein the initial mean removal efficiency for TSS is 87%, while an approximate mean removal efficiency of 76%, 46% and 56% was observed in terms of organics, nutrients and heavy metal, respectively. With these findings, the research helps in the further improvement, innovation and optimization of rain garden systems and other facilities as well.