• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2001

Enormous volumes of mining wastes from the abandoned and closed mines are disposed without a proper treatment in the upper Okdong River basin at Southeastern part of Kangwon Province. Erosion of these wastes contaminates soil, surface water, and sediments with heavy metals. Objectives of this research were to fractionate heavy metals in the mine tailing stored in the Sangdong Tungsten tailing dams and to assess the potential pollution index of each metal fraction. Tailing samples were collected from tailing dams at different depth and analyzed for physical and chemical properties. pH of tailings ranged from 7.3 to 7.9. Contents of total N and organic matter were in the ranges of 3.2~5.5%, and 1.3~9.1%, respectively. Heavy metals in the tailings were higher in the newly constructed tailing dam than those in the old dam. Total concentrations of metals in the tailings were in the orders of Zn > Cu > Pb > Ni > Cd, exceeded the corrective action level of the Soil Environment Conservation Law and higher than the natural abundance levels reported from uncontaminated soils. Relative distribution of heavy metal fractions was residual > organic > reducible > carbonate > adsorbed, reversing the degree of metal bioavailability. Mobile fractions of metals were relatively small compared to the total concentrations. Distribution of metals in the tailing dam profiles was metal specific. Concentrations of Cu at the surface of tailing dams were higher than those at the bottom. Pollution index (PI) values of each fraction of metals were ranged from 4.27 to 8.51 based on total concentrations. PI values of mobile fractions were lower than those of immobile fractions. Results on metal fractions and PI values of the tailing samples indicate that tailing samples were contaminated with heavy metals and had potential to cause a detrimental effects on soil and water environment in the lower part of the stream. A prompt countermeasure to prevent surface of tailings in the dams from water and wind erosions is urgently needed.

• Journal of the Geological Society of Korea
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.529-544
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• 2018

Dongrae hot spring belongs to the residual magma type and has a long history of bathing since the Silla dynasty in Korea. Due to long development of hot spring water, it is expected that the amount of hot spring water in Dongrae hot spring has been changed. In this study, long-trem water level data of Dongrae hot spring were examined for recognizing the change of the hot spring. By the fluctuation analysis of the hot spring water level from January 1992 to July 2018, the maximum and minimum annual drawdowns of no. 27 well were 137.70 and 71.60 meters, respectively, with an average drawdown of 103.39 m. On the other hand, the maximum and minimum annual drawdowns of no. 29 well were 137.80 and 71.70 meters, with an average drawdown of 103.49 m. Besides, drawdown rate became bigger in recent years. As a result of analyzing autocorrelation of the two wells, the correlation coefficient ranged from 0.919 to 0.991, showing seasonal groundwater level fluctuation. The cross correlation analysis between water level and precipitation as well as water level and hot spring discharge resulted in the correlation coefficients of -0.280 ~ 0.256 and 0.428 ~ 0.553, respectively. Therefore, using Dongnae hot-spring water level data from 1992 to 2018, the Mann-Kendall test and Sen's test showed that the continuous decline of water level was mainly caused by the pumping of the hot spring water among various reasons.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.241-259
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• 2022

In general, the REE were produced by mining conventional deposits, such as the carbonatite or the clay-hosted REE deposits. However, because of the recent demand increase for REE in modern industries, unconventional REE deposits emerged as a necessary research topic. Among the unconventional REE recovery methods, the REE-bearing coal deposits are recently receiving attentions. R-types generally have detrital originations from the bauxite deposits, and show LREE enriched REE patterns. Tuffaceous-types are formed by syngenetic volcanic activities and following input of volcanic ash into the basin. This type shows specific occurrence of the detrital volcanic ash-driven minerals and the authigenic phosphorous minerals focused at narrow horizon between coal seams and tonstein layers. REE patterns of tuffaceous-types show flat shape in general. Hydrothermal-types can be formed by epigenetic inflow of REE originated from granitic intrusions. Occurrence of the authigenic halogen-bearing phosphorous minerals and the water-bearing minerals are the specific characteristics of this type. They generally show HREE enriched REE patterns. Each type of REE-bearing coal deposits may occur by independent genesis, but most of REE-bearing coal deposits with high REE concentrations have multiple genesis. For the case of the US, the rare earth oxides (REO) with high purity has been produced from REE-bearing coals and their byproducts in pilot plants from 2018. Their goal is to supply about 7% of national REE demand. For the coal deposits in Korea, lignite layers found in Gyungju-Yeongil coal fields shows coexistence of tuff layers and coal seams. They are also based in Tertiary basins, and low affection from compaction and coalification might resulted into high-REE tuffaceous-type coal deposits. Thus, detailed geologic researches and explorations for domestic coal deposits are required.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.168-177
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• 2008

Trafficablility of a miner and potential environmental impacts due to mining activities should be considered in the selection of a commercial manganese nodule mining site. These two factors can be evaluated comparatively with physical properties and shear strength of sea-bed sediments. For the qualitative comparison of potential minig sites in terms of these two factors, physical properties such as water contents, void ratios, porosities, and grain densities, and shear strengths of surface sediments were determined for the three potential manganese nodule mining sites(KR1, KR2, and KR5) in the Korean manganese nodule contract area, northeast Pacific. For the study, sediment samples were collected from 107 stations from 2004 to 2006. The physical properties of surface sediments showed more significant differences between northern(KR1, KR2) and southern(KR5) blocks than between northern blocks(KR1 vs. KR2). Water content, void ratio, and porosity of sediments from KR5 were relatively higher than those from KR1 and KR2. Grain density of sediments from KR5 was relatively lower than those from KR1 and KR2. Shear strengths of the top 10cm sediments were higher in KR1 and KR2, whereas those of the deeper part were highest in KR5 block. Generally, sediments of high water contents are less suspendible than those of the low water contents by benthic disturbances, thus less disturbance is expected in the sediments of high water content by mining activities. In terms of trafficability, the shear strength of sediment below 10 cm deep is more important than shallower part because miner will disturb at least top 10 cm interval of the surface sediments. Base on these results, we conclude that KR5 area will be the best site for commercial mining among three investigated sites in this study.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.281-292
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• 2024

North Korea relies heavily on coal as the primary energy source, playing an important role in all energy demand sectors except for the transportation sector. Approximately half of the total electricity is generated through coal-fired power plants, and coal is used to produce heat and power for all industrial facilities. Furthermore, coal has been a significant contributor to earning foreign currency through long-term exports to China. Nevertheless, since the 1980s, indiscriminate mining activities have led to rapid depletion of coal production in most coal mines. Aging mine facilities, lack of investment in new equipment, shortages of fuel and electricity, difficulties in material supply, and frequent damage from flooding have collectively contributed to a noticeable decline in coal production since the late 1980s. North Korea's coal deposits are distributed in various geological formations from the Proterozoic to the Cenozoic, but the most critical coal-bearing formations are Ripsok and Sadong formations distributed in the Pyeongnam Basin of the Late Paleozoic from Carboniferous to Permian, which are called as Pyeongnam North and South Coal Fields. Over 90% of North Korea's coal is produced in these coal fields. The classification of coal in North Korea differs from the international classification based on coalification (peat, lignite, sub-bituminous coal, bituminous coal, and anthracite). North Korean classification based on industrial aspect is classified into bituminous coal, anthracite, and low-grade coal (Chomuyeontan). Based on the energy factor, it is classified into high-calorie coal, medium calorie coal, and low-calorie coal. In North Korea, the term "Chomuyeontan" refers to a type of coal that is not classified globally and is unique to North Korea. It is a low-grade coal exclusively used in North Korea and is not found or used in any other country worldwide. This article compares North Korea's coal classification and the international coal classification of coal and provides insights into the geological characteristics, reserves, utilization, and research trends of North Korean coal resources. This study could serve as a guide for preparing scientific and industrial agendas related to coal collaboration between North Korea and South Korea.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.321-327
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• 2006

In Korea, there is a growing competitive for water resources between industrial, domestic and agricultural consumer, and the environment as many other OECD countries. The demand on water use is also affecting aquatic ecosystems particularly where withdrawals are in excess of minimum environmental needs for rivers, lakes and wetland habits. OECD developed three indicators related to water use by the agriculture in above contexts : the first is a water use intensity indicator, which is expressed as the quantity or share of agricultural water use in total national water utilization; the second is a water stress indicator, which is expressed as the proportion of rivers (in length) subject to diversion or regulation for irrigation without reserving a minimum of limiting reference flow; and the third is a water use efficiency indicator designated as the technical and the economic efficiency. These indicators have different meanings in the aspect of water resource conservation and sustainable water use. So, it will be more significant that the indicators should reflect the intrinsic meanings of them. The problem is that the aspect of an overall water flow in the agro-ecosystem and recycling of water use not considered in the assessment of agricultural water use needed for calculation of these water use indicators. Namely, regional or meteorological characteristics and site-specific farming practices were not considered in the calculation of these indicators. In this paper, we tried to calculate water use indicators suggested in OECD and to modify some other indicators considering our situation because water use pattern and water cycling in Korea where paddy rice farming is dominant in the monsoon region are quite different from those of semi-arid regions. In the calculation of water use intensity, we excluded the amount of water restored through the ground from the total agricultural water use because a large amount of water supplied to the farm was discharged into the stream or the ground water. The resultant water use intensity was 22.9% in 2001. As for water stress indicator, Korea has not defined nor monitored reference levels of minimum flow rate for rivers subject to diversion of water for irrigation. So, we calculated the water stress indicator in a different way from OECD method. The water stress indicator was calculated using data on the degree of water storage in agricultural water reservoirs because 87% of water for irrigation was taken from the agricultural water reservoirs. Water use technical efficiency was calculated as the reverse of the ratio of irrigation water to a standard water requirement of the paddy rice. The efficiency in 2001 was better than in 1990 and 1998. As for the economic efficiency for water use, we think that there are a lot of things to be taken into considerations to make a useful indicator to reflect socio-economic values of agricultural products resulted from the water use. Conclusively, site-specific, regional or meteorogical characteristics as in Korea were not considered in the calculation of water use indicators by methods suggested in OECD(Volume 3, 2001). So, it is needed to develop a new indicators for the indicators to be more widely applicable in the world.

• The Korean Journal of Petroleum Geology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2008

As conventional oil and gas reservoirs become depleted, interests for oil sands has rapidly increased in the last decade. Oil sands are mixture of bitumen, water, and host sediments of sand and clay. Most oil sand is unconsolidated sand that is held together by bitumen. Bitumen has hydrocarbon in situ viscosity of >10,000 centipoises (cP) at reservoir condition and has API gravity between $8-14^{\circ}$. The largest oil sand deposits are in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. The reverves are approximated at 1.7 trillion barrels of initial oil-in-place and 173 billion barrels of remaining established reserves. Alberta has a number of oil sands deposits which are grouped into three oil sand development areas - the Athabasca, Cold Lake, and Peace River, with the largest current bitumen production from Athabasca. Principal oil sands deposits consist of the McMurray Fm and Wabiskaw Mbr in Athabasca area, the Gething and Bluesky formations in Peace River area, and relatively thin multi-reservoir deposits of McMurray, Clearwater, and Grand Rapid formations in Cold Lake area. The reservoir sediments were deposited in the foreland basin (Western Canada Sedimentary Basin) formed by collision between the Pacific and North America plates and the subsequent thrusting movements in the Mesozoic. The deposits are underlain by basement rocks of Paleozoic carbonates with highly variable topography. The oil sands deposits were formed during the Early Cretaceous transgression which occurred along the Cretaceous Interior Seaway in North America. The oil-sands-hosting McMurray and Wabiskaw deposits in the Athabasca area consist of the lower fluvial and the upper estuarine-offshore sediments, reflecting the broad and overall transgression. The deposits are characterized by facies heterogeneity of channelized reservoir sands and non-reservoir muds. Main reservoir bodies of the McMurray Formation are fluvial and estuarine channel-point bar complexes which are interbedded with fine-grained deposits formed in floodplain, tidal flat, and estuarine bay. The Wabiskaw deposits (basal member of the Clearwater Formation) commonly comprise sheet-shaped offshore muds and sands, but occasionally show deep-incision into the McMurray deposits, forming channelized reservoir sand bodies of oil sands. In Canada, bitumen of oil sands deposits is produced by surface mining or in-situ thermal recovery processes. Bitumen sands recovered by surface mining are changed into synthetic crude oil through extraction and upgrading processes. On the other hand, bitumen produced by in-situ thermal recovery is transported to refinery only through bitumen blending process. The in-situ thermal recovery technology is represented by Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage and Cyclic Steam Stimulation. These technologies are based on steam injection into bitumen sand reservoirs for increase in reservoir in-situ temperature and in bitumen mobility. In oil sands reservoirs, efficiency for steam propagation is controlled mainly by reservoir geology. Accordingly, understanding of geological factors and characteristics of oil sands reservoir deposits is prerequisite for well-designed development planning and effective bitumen production. As significant geological factors and characteristics in oil sands reservoir deposits, this study suggests (1) pay of bitumen sands and connectivity, (2) bitumen content and saturation, (3) geologic structure, (4) distribution of mud baffles and plugs, (5) thickness and lateral continuity of mud interbeds, (6) distribution of water-saturated sands, (7) distribution of gas-saturated sands, (8) direction of lateral accretion of point bar, (9) distribution of diagenetic layers and nodules, and (10) texture and fabric change within reservoir sand body.