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A Preliminary Investigation of Radon Concentrations in Groundwater of South Korea  

Cho, Byong-Wook (Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources)
Sung, Ig-Hwan (Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources)
Cho, Soo-Young (Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources)
Park, Sun-Ku (National Institute of Environmental Research)
Publication Information
Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment / v.12, no.5, 2007 , pp. 98-104 More about this Journal
Abstract
A survey was performed to evaluate the distribution of radon concentrations in groundwater of South Korea. Groundwaters of 615 wells were sampled for this study during the four years from 1999 to 2002. The results showed radon values ranging from 4 pCi/L to 40,010 pCi/L with a mean and a median of 1,862 pCi/L and 920 pCi/L, respectively. The samples were classified into five groups according to the rock types; granite, sedimentary rocks, metamorphic rocks, Ogcheon metamorphic rocks, and Cheju volcanics. Mean radon concentrations were highest (2,595 pCi/L) in granites and lowest (238 pCi/L) in Cheju volcanic rocks. The groundwaters generally showed the highest radon content (2,298 pCi/L) in the weathered and the fractured bedrock complex and the lowest level (672 pCi/L) in the alluvium. The results showed that the radon concentrations in South Korea are low relative to those reported from other countries. But further investigations are suggested to confirm our results.
Keywords
Groundwater; Aquifer; Radon concentration;
Citations & Related Records
Times Cited By KSCI : 1  (Citation Analysis)
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