• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.119-128
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• 1988

The purpose of this research is to quantify the effects of water content(0.3~1.255%) and temperature ($4{\sim}40^{\circ}C$) on the equilibrium distribution of toxic organic pollutant in unsaturated soil. The priority pollutants, Dichloromethane and 1, 1, 1-Trichloroethane were selected as toxic organic pollutants and the Korean decomposed granite soil as the experimental soil media. Two models were developed on the basis of shapes of soil water distribution in unsaturated soil and compared; complete surface coating(model I) vs. spot clustering (model II). From the experiment, a large decrease in the values of effective partition coefficient ($K_{eff}$) was observed as the water content increased. As the temperature increased, the $K_{eff}$ values decreased, and this effect was magnified at lower water contents. The values of $K_{eff}$ were correlated better with the estimated values using model II. Thus it was experimentally proved that the soil water tends to enclose the soil grain partly at lower water contents.