• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.141-158
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• 2019

The quantity of heavy metals in agricultural surface and subsurface soils around coal-fired power plants located in Samcheonpo and Hadong, Gyeongnam Province, were determined. The analytical results for 48 and 61 soils in Samcheonpo and Hadong, respectively, showed that the concentrations of Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn were below the warning criteria regulated by Korean Soil Conservation Act; however, Cd in 38 and 13 soils in Samcheonpo and Hadong, respectively, exceeded the criterion. As a result of calculation of the geoaccumulation index and the enrichment factor, the soils were extremely contaminated with Cd and such high loading of Cd to the soils was due to anthropogenic source(s). Sequential extraction of the soils, however, showed that heavy metals including Cd existed as hardly extractable phases, which represented a low bioavailability of the heavy metals. Our results indicated that Cd contamination around the coal-fired power plants was due to artificial source(s) and may unlikely deteriorate nearby ecosystems.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.897-899
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• 2012

In this study, spatial analyses of chemical properties were studied to find inter-relation among these properties from 5 year old general paddy field after arable land rearrangement and remodeled paddy field near 4 river project. In addition, comparison of spatial variations between two paddy fields was performed to characterize paddy fields by different formation and provide interpretation of these variations and parameters (Semivariogram and Kriging) from spatial analyses. Total of 400 ($20{\times}20$) soil samples were taken at 5 m interval from 1 ha of 5 year old general paddy field and analyzed. Total number of 54 ($6{\times}9$) soil samples were taken from remodeled paddy fields at 10m interval for the analyses. The results of pH, available Phosphate and organic matter among the analyzed results were used for interpretation. The pH values were relatively high from Gumi region. The values of available Phosphate and organic matter showed greater variant coefficients and this represented that there were greater heterogeneity in available phosphate and organic matter distributions across one paddy field. The values of skewness and kurtosis as absolute values, showed almost normal distributions. The paddy field in Ansung had available Phosphate (72.8) ${\fallingdotseq}$ pH (73.8) and greater values of organic matter (159.3), while upland in Gumi had the range value of organic (6.5) < available Phosphate (33.5) < pH (46.6). Based on these results, younger soils (0 year old) require more sampling to characterize the whole field than 5 year old soils.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.73-80
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• 2015

Arsenic which is found in several different chemical forms and oxidation states and causes acute and chronic adverse health effects is a toxic trace element widely distributed in soils and aquifers from both geologic and anthropogenic sources. Arsenic which has a mysterious ability to change color, behavior, reactivity, and toxicity has diverse chemical behavior in the natural environment. Arsenic which has stronger ability to readily change oxidation state than nitrogen and phosphorus due to a consequence of the electronic configuration of its valence orbitals with partially filled states capable of both electron donation and acceptance although the electronegativity of arsenic is greater than that of nitrogen and similar to that of phosphorus. Arsenate (V) is the thermodynamically stable form of As under aerobic condition and interacts strongly with solid matrix. However, it has been known that adsorption and oxidation reactions of arsenite (III) which is more soluble and mobile than As(V) in soils are two important factors affecting the fate and transport of arsenic in the environment. That is, the movement of As in soils and aquifers is highly dependent on the adsorption-desorption reactions in the solid phase. This article, however, focuses primarily on understanding the fate and speciation of As in soils and what fate arsenic will have after it is incorporated into soils.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.117-124
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• 2016

Researches on soil microbial community are increasing to assess ecosystem responses to anthropogenic disturbances and to provide an indicator of ecosystem recovery. Microbial communities are able to respond more rapidly to environmental changes than plants and therefore they may provide an early indication of the ecosystem recovery trajectory. This study was conducted using 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing of soil samples to compare soil bacterial community composition between artificially covered soils of the Baedudaegan ridgeline and their adjacent forest soils in two restoration project sites, Ihwaryeong and Yuksimnyeong, which were completed in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Richness of the Phylum level was 29.3 in Ihwaryeong and 32.3 in Yuksimnyeong. Significant difference in the richness between artificial restored soils and adjacent forest soils(p<0.01) was observed, however no significant difference was observed for site location and soil depth. Acidobacteria(37.3%) and Proteobacteria(31.1%) were more abundant than any other phylum in collected soil samples. Also, we found the significant difference in the relative abundance of the two abundant phyla between artificially restored soils and their adjacent forest soils (Proteobacteria, 38.1% in restored soils vs 24.2% in adjacent forest soils, p<0.01; Acidobacteria, 55.4% in restored soils vs 19.2% in adjacent forest soils, p<0.001). The results support the previous researches indicating that soil bacterial community composition is affected by nutritional status of soils and that Acidobacteria is also strongly influenced by pH, thus favoring soils with lower pH. This study could be utilized to monitor and evaluate restoration success of forest soil environment quantitatively.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.8-25
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• 2014

The aims of this study were to determine concentrations of selected metals in Asian and non-Asian dust collected in Daejeon, Korea between February 2008 and December 2008 and to estimate the pollution level. The geochemical analyses of Asian dust (AD) and Non Asian dust (NAD) show that the mean concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Zr, Sb, Mo and S reached levels up to 16, 209, 31, 43, 81, 28, 31, 122 and 302 times higher, respectively, than those in uncontaminated Chinese desert soils. These results indicate that both AD and NAD serve as an atmospheric repository for trace and heavymetal accumulation. The the enrichment factor (EF) and pollution index (PI) show that AD and NAD were severely contaminated by S, Mo, Zr, Cd, Pb, Zn, Sb, Cu, and As. All indices for these metals showed either strong or notably high level of pollution relative to Chinese desert soil, principally due to the severe atmospheric pollution derived from anthropogenic activities in heavily industrial Chinese cities. Therefore, Mo, Cd, Zr, As, Cu, Sb, Pb, and Zn are the ones most strongly affected by anthropogenic inputs such as airborne pollutants.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.855-863
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• 2012

This study analyzed mass concentrations of TSP, PM10 and PM2.5 and elemental constituents according to the isentropic backward trajectories of air parcel from Cheongwonin East Asia during the period January - October, 2011. Mass concentrations of the continental polluted airflow (CP) showed levels of TSP and PM10 mass concentrations higher than the continental background airflow (CB). Also, PM2.5 mass concentrations of anthropogenic fine particles ran higher in CP than in CB. The elemental constituents and elemental constituent ratio ended up varying depending on the origin of atmospheric aerosols generated. The average absolute content of elemental constituents reached its height in CB, the ratio of anthropogenically originating elements (PE) among the all elements (AE) analyzed marked a high in CP, and Mg+Na/AE reached its height in the oceanic airflow (OA). At the same time, TSP, PM10 and PM2.5 mass concentrations, the ratio of PM2.5/TSP and PE/AE element ratio ran higher in CP than CB. Episodes of large-scale transport of atmospheric pollutants as observed at Cheongwon were 8 cases and 22 days. The ratios of PM10, PM2.5 among TSP mass concentrations showed different results and the ratios of PM2.5 showed an increasing trend in the episodes of anthropogenic air pollution transport. Overall, dustfall episodes show a level of elemental constituents higher than those of anthropogenic air pollution.Dustfall episodes were observed to contain more of Fe, Al and Ca originating from continental soils and those of air pollution were observed to contain more of Zn, Mn, Cu and Pb. By difference in contents of absolute elemental constituents, episodes of anthropogenic air pollution showed a high PE/AE rate, and dustfall episodes a high SE/AE rate.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.379-384
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• 2014

In general, fractal analysis which is based on self-similarity as a basic theory has been mainly used to define the characteristics of complex mathematical figures, however, considering its basic theory, it can be also used to analyze the surface ununiformity of unknown materials. In this study, the soil samples were collected from the reclaimed (remodelled) agricultural fields which mean that the external soil is artificially piled up (mainly up to 1m) on the lands, Naju, Jellanam-do and Gumi, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and the conventional agricultural fields, Anseong, Gyeonggi-do and Hwasoon, Jellanam-do, and compared using fractal dimension analysis on the basis of the results of chemical properties. The score of fractal dimension ($D_0$) for organic matter was lower in Hwasoon (1.46) and Naju (1.58) than Anseong (1.86) and Gumi (1.96), and this trend showed similarly in soil pH. On the basis of the results of chemical properties, fine textured-soils (Hwasoon and Naju) and conventional agricultural fields were chemically uniform compared to coarse textured-soils (Anseong and Gumi) and the reclaimed. Therefore, it is required to develop technical methods for integrated soil management to the reclaimed lands.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.48-59
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• 2018

Beryllium (Be), cobalt (Co), thallium (Tl) and vanadium (V) are candidates of 21 priority soil pollutants in Korea. The distribution of their concentration in soils from three contamination sources including industrial, roadside and mining areas was investigated. Concentrations of the metals were evaluated quantitatively using pollution indices and the fractionation of metals was conducted using modified SM&T (Standards Measurements and Testing programme) sequential extraction. Concentrations of the metals for all samples from industrial and roadside soils were within the range of natural background levels, while some of Be in soils from abandoned mines exceeded that the range. Enrichment Factor (EF) and Nemerow Integrated Pollution Index (NIPI) for Be, Co, Tl and V showed that there are effects or possibilities of anthropogenic activities. Pollution Load Index (PLI) analyses indicated all investigated sites needed further monitoring. The results of sequential extractions indicated mobile fractions (F1+F2) of Be, Tl and V were below 30% except some of Co in soil, which implies their low mobility to neighboring environment media. Variable tools like sequential extraction, comparison with background/actual concentration and pollution indices, as well as aqua regia extraction should be considered when evaluating Be, Co, Tl, V in soil.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.59 no.6
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• pp.51-60
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• 2017

In this study, the concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in agricultural soils across a region of South Korea (Buyeo County) were investigated. Their pollution sources were assessed using multivariate statistical analysis, and Geographic Information System (GIS) technology was used to determine the distribution of these elements. Surface soil samples were collected from 114 locations across the agricultural fields in the study site. Cu and Zn were derived from natural sources (i.e., parent rocks of the soil), whereas As, Cd, and Pb were found to be originated from abandoned mines. The results of this study clearly show that the transport of anthropogenic As, Cd, and Pb is governed mostly by the specific environment of the paddy soil. Our approach was effective in clearly identifying the sources of metals and analyzing their contamination characteristics. We believe this study will provide useful information to future studies on soil pollution by anthropogenic sources.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.283-299
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• 2001

The middle cover soils and clay liners collected from the Kumheung landfill in Gongiu City were analysed for As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, Ti and Zn concentrations using 0.] N HCl digestion and total/sequential extraction experiments followed by ICP-AES determination. The uncontaminated soil and sediment samples were also analyzed for the comparison. The results of sequential extraction showed that Cu was dominant in the oxidizable fraction, and As, Ni, Sr, Ba, and Mn were in the exchangeable fraction. Zinc and Mn occurred mostly in association with reducible, residual and carbonate fractions. Most of Cd and Pb were bound to the reducible and oxidizable fractions. The main carrier of Co, Cr, Fe and 11 was the residual fraction and another important carrier was the reducible fraction. The percentage of the metals of organically-bound form in the middle cover soils and clay liner was in the order of Cu(48%) > Ti(42%) > Pb(27%) > As(25%) > Cd(20%). As deduced from sequential extraction analysis, potential order of metal mobility in the middle cover soils and clay liner from the landfill was proposed: Cd > Sr > As > Ni > Mn > Ba > Cu > Pb > Zn » Co > 11 > Fe > Cr. Based on the 'geoaccumulation index' and the 'enrichment factor' normalized to A], the level of contamination of Cu, Ni and C1' was significant in the samples from Kumheung landfill and surrounding farmland. Their enrichments were attributed partly to anthropogenic pollutions.