• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.185-193
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• 2004

A physical model experiment was conducted using a sand and gravel-filled tank model, to investigate the influence on the GPR response of LNAPL vapor phase effects in the unsaturated zone and of residual phase of LNAPL trapped in the saturated zone. Background measurements of GPR were made with only water in the tank using a fluctuating water table model. Gasoline was, then, injected into the bottom of the model tank to simulate a subsurface discharge from a leaking pipe or tank at depth, obtaining GPR data with rising and lowering of water table. Results from the experiment show the GPR sensitivity to the changes in the moisture content in the vadose zone and its effectiveness for monitoring minor fluctuation of the water table. The results also demonstrate a potential of GPR for monitoring possible vapor phase effects of volatile hydrocarbons in the vadose zone as a function of time, and for detecting the effects of residual phase of hydrocarbons in the water saturated system. In addition, the results provide the basis for a strategy that has the potential to successfully detect and delineate residual LNAPL contamination in the water-saturated system at field sites where the conditions are similar to those simulated in the physcial models described herein.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.13-25
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• 2007

We investigated the undulation of Moho depth and the crustal structure of the continental margin in the East Sea along the Korea Peninsula from inversion and modelling using potential data and previous seismic results. Free-air gravity anomalies generally reflect topography effect. Bouguer gravity anomalies increase toward the Ulleung Basin, indicating that Moho depth is shallower under the Ulleung Basin. Positive magnetic anomalies exist along the continental margin and decrease toward the Ulleung Basin. In analytic signal, the small anomaly in the Hupo Bank infers that the Hupo Bank is uplifted by igneous intrusion and the strong anomaly on the continental slope denotes existence of SDR(seaward dipping reflectors), which are in accordance with the location of SDR detected in previous seismic studies. The inversion result of Bouguer gravity anomaly and the 2-dimensional gravity modelling indicate that the undulation of Moho depth shallows from the continental shelf toward the Ulleung Basin. This is in good agreement with the Moho depth calculated by the previous seismic velocity model using ocean bottom seismometer(OBS). The 2-dimensional gravity modelling infers magmatic underplating zone under the lower continental crust on the continental margin of the East Sea, indicating the possible rifiting of the continental margin.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.161-172
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• 2017

Clay minerals play a major role in the geochemical cycles of metals in the Critical Zone, the Earth surface-layer ranging from the groundwater bottom to the tree tops. Atomistic scale research of the very fine particles can help understand the fundamental mechanisms of the important geochemical processes and possibly apply to development of hybrid nanomaterials. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can provide atomistic level insights into the crystal structures of clay minerals and the chemical reactivity. Classical MD simulations use a force field which is a parameter set of interatomic pair potentials. The ClayFF force field has been widely used in the MD simulations of dioctahedral clay minerals as the force field was developed mainly based on dioctahedral phyllosilicates. The ClayFF is often used also for trioctahedral mineral simulations, but disagreement exits in selection of the interatomic potential parameters, particularly for Mg atom-types of the octahedral sheet. In this study, MD simulations were performed for trioctahedral clay minerals such as brucite, lizardite, and talc, to test how the two different Mg atom types (i.e., 'mgo' or 'mgh') affect the simulation results. The structural parameters such as lattice parameters and interatomic distances were relatively insensitive to the choice of the parameter, but the vibrational power spectra of hydroxyls were more sensitive to the choice of the parameter particularly for lizardite.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.127-137
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• 2019

Zr electrorefining is demonstrated herein using Zirlo tubes in a chloride-fluoride mixed molten salt in the presence of $AlF_3$. Cyclic voltammetry reveals a monotonic shift in the onset of metal reduction kinetics towards positive potential and an increase in intensity of the additional peaks associated with Zr-Al alloy formation with increasing $AlF_3$ concentration. Unlike the galvanostatic deposition mode, a radial plate-type Zr growth is evident at the top surface of the salt during Zr electrorefining at a constant potential of -1.2 V. The diameter of the plate-type Zr deposit gradually increases with increasing $AlF_3$ concentration. Scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses for the plate-type Zr deposit show that trace amount of Al is incorporated as Zr-Al alloys with different chemical compositions between the top and bottom surface of the deposit. Addition of $AlF_3$ is effective in lowering the residual salt content in the deposit and in improving the current efficiency for Zr recovery.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.111-123
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• 2023

The slope of an open cut tunnel is located above the exit of the Leijia tunnel on the Changgan high-speed railway. During the excavation of the open cut tunnel foundation pit, the slope slipped twice, a large landslide of 92500 m³ formed. The landslide body and unstable slope body not only caused the foundation pit of the open cut tunnel to be buried and the anchor piles to be damaged but also directly threatened the operational safety of the later high-speed railway. Therefore, to study the stability change in the slope of the open cut tunnel under heavy rain and excavation conditions, a 3D numerical calculation model of the slope is carried out by Midas GTS software, the deformation mechanism is analyzed, anti-sliding measures are proposed, and the effectiveness of the anti-sliding measures is analyzed according to the field monitoring results. The results show that when rainfall occurs, rainwater collects in the open cut tunnel area, resulting in a transient saturation zone on the slope on the right side of the open cut tunnel, which reduces the shear strength of the slope soil; the excavation at the slope toe reduces the anti-sliding capacity of the slope toe. Under the combined action of excavation and rainfall, when the soil above the top of the anchor pile is excavated, two potential sliding surfaces are bounded by the top of the excavation area, and the shear outlet is located at the top of the anchor pile. After the excavation of the open cut tunnel, the potential sliding surface is mainly concentrated at the lower part of the downhill area, and the shear outlet moves down to the bottom of the open cut tunnel. Based on the deformation characteristics and the failure mechanism of the landslides, comprehensive control measures, including interim emergency mitigation measures and long-term mitigation measures, are proposed. The field monitoring results further verify the accuracy of the anti-sliding mechanism analysis and the effectiveness of anti-sliding measures.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.146-156
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• 2024

Background: Children who use playground facilities are exposed to potential risks due to the high concentration of heavy metals contained in the finishing materials of facilities in children's playgrounds. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the concentration of heavy metals in the finishing materials of outdoor children's playgrounds where harmful heavy metals exist in Gwangju and to conduct human risk assessment for children and adults by age to find the risks and limitations. Methods: The bottom and top layers of double-painted paint were peeled off and collected together from the finishing materials of children's play facilities such as slides, swings, and seesaws in 147 children's parks in Gwangju. Heavy metals were analyzed using ICP-OES, etc., and human risk assessment was performed using the concentrations of heavy metals. Results: Based on 1.0E-04, which requires legal regulation, CTE was found to pose a carcinogenic risk for preschool children and no carcinogenic risk for the rest of the age groups. However, RME showed that both men and women of all ages had a carcinogenic risk. For reference, when the carcinogenic risk was based on 1.0E-06, CTE was found to pose a carcinogenic risk from infants to elementary school students, and RME was found to have a carcinogenic risk in all age groups. It was judged that there is a non-carcinogenic risk if the non-carcinogenic risk exceeds 1 based on the hazard index (HI) 1. In CTE, there was no non-carcinogenic risk, and RME for preschooler males (1.49E+00) and females (1.56E+00) were found to have non-carcinogenic risk. Conclusions: This study was meaningful in that it examines the differences in the current management of heavy metals concentration standards and potential carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks to the human body and discusses the relationship between heavy metals and human health effects.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.233-247
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• 2020

This study was carried out at 5 sites 11 times over two years to identify the variation of benthic environments and benthic polychaetous community and analyze the benthic healthiness in Dangdong Bay, a small semi-enclosed inner bay of Jinhae Bay. The temperature of bottom water showed the typical temporal fluctuation of a temperate zone and was in the range of 5.94 ~ 23.94℃. The salinity did not change significantly during the study period and was in the range of 32.93 ~ 35.72 psu. The concentration of dissolved oxygen of bottom water fluctuated a great deal and was in the range of 0.31 ~ 10.20 mg/L. The lowest DO value was recorded in July 2015, as 0.31±0.04 mg/L corresponding to the hypoxic water mass. The hypoxic water mass was formed continuously at some sites also in July and August 2016. The mean grain size was in the range of 7.57 ~ 9.81Ø and the average was 8.89±0.20Ø. The surface sediments were mainly composed of fine sediment (mud) above 85%. The mean of TOC was 3.09±0.22% and LOI was 13.30±0.47%, showing very high levels in Korean coastal waters. The concentration of AVS was in the range of 0.33 ~ 1.28 mgS/g-dry. The high values of organic contents and AVS indicated that there had been the serious organic enrichment in Dangdong Bay. The number of species and the density of the benthic polychaetous community in Dangdong Bay were in the range of 2 ~ 38 species and 2 ~ 2,185 ind./㎡ during the study period. The number of species and density were highly sustained in winter and spring, and then decreased gradually with the formation of a hypoxic water mass in summer, and the lowest number of species and density were recorded in autumn. In September and November 2015, the dead zone expanded to almost the whole study area. Dominant polychaetous species were Capitella capitata, Lumbrineris longifolia, Paraprionospio patiens and Sigambra tentaculata, each known as opportunistic species and potential organic pollutant indicator species. In particular, Paraprionospio patiens showed a very high population density of 2,019 ind./㎡ in December 2016. Polychaetous communities at each sampling time were classified into 4 temporal groups according to dominant species in each period by cluster analysis and nMDS. 'Period Group AI' was formed in winter and spring of 2015, dominated by Capitella capitata, 'Period AII' in summer dominated by Lumbrineris longifolia, 'Period B' in autumn with no fauna in the dead zone, and particularly 'Period C' in winter of 2016 dominated by Paraprionospio patiens. As a result of analysis of benthic healthiness, the study area was estimated to be in a Fair~Very Poor condition by AMBI and in a Poor~Very Poor condition by BPI during the study period. Both AMBI and BPI showed that the study area was in a Very Poor condition in September and November 2015, and when the dead zone occurred. In Dongdong Bay, the fact that the formation of a hypoxic water mass occurred in summer and a dead zone in autumn were confirmed. In addition, the dominance of opportunistic and organic pollutant indicator species was also observed clearly. The benthic healthiness indexes such as AMBI and BPI showed that organic enrichment was serious in Dangdong Bay.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.176-184
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• 2011

Cold air on sloping surfaces flows down to the valley bottom in mountainous terrain at calm and clear nights. Based on the assumption that the cold air flow may be the same as the water flow, current models estimate temperature drop by regarding the cold air accumulation at a given location as the water-like free drainage. At a closed catchment whose outlet is blocked by man-made obstacles such as banks and roads, however, the water-like free drainage assumption is no longer valid because the cold air accumulates from the bottom first. We developed an empirical model to estimate quantitatively the effect of cold pool on nocturnal temperature in a closed catchment. In our model, a closed catchment is treated like a "vessel", and a digital elevation model (DEM) was used to calculate the maximum capacity of the cold pool formed in a closed catchment. We introduce a topographical variable named "shape factor", which is the ratio of the cold air accumulation potential across the whole catchment area to the maximum capacity of the cold pool to describe the relative size of temperature drop at a wider range of catchment shapes. The shape factor is then used to simulate the density profile of cold pool formed in a given catchment based on a hypsometric equation. The cold lake module was incorporated with the existing model (i.e., Chung et al., 2006), generating a new model and predicting distribution of minimum temperature over closed catchments. We applied this model to Akyang valley (i.e., a typical closed catchment of 53 $km^2$ area) in the southern skirt of Mt. Jiri National Park where 12 automated weather stations (AWS) are operational. The performance of the model was evaluated based on the feasibility of delineating the temperature pattern accurately at cold pool forming at night. Overall, the model's ability of simulating the spatial pattern of lower temperature were improved especially at the valley bottom, showing a similar pattern of the estimated temperature with that of thermal images obtained across the valley at dawn (0520 to 0600 local standard time) of 17 May 2011. Error in temperature estimation, calculated with the root mean square error using the 10 low-lying AWSs, was substantially decreased from $1.30^{\circ}C$ with the existing model to $0.71^{\circ}C$ with the new model. These results suggest the feasibility of the new method in predicting the site-specific freeze and frost warning at a closed catchment.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.553-562
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• 2017

In these days, agricultural reservoirs are considered as a useful resource for recreational purposes, tour and cultural amenity for vicinity communities as well as irrigation water supply. However, many of the agricultural reservoirs are showing a eutrophic or hyper-eutrophic state and high level of organic contamination. In particular, about 44.7% of the aged agricultural reservoirs that constructed before 1945 exceed the water quality criteria for irrigational water use. In addition to external loading, internal nutrient loading from bottom sediment may play an important role in the nutrient budget of the aged reservoirs. The objectives of this study were to characterize variations of thermal structure of a shallow M reservoir (mean depth 1.7 m) and examine the potential of internal nutrient loading by continuous monitoring of vertical water temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration profiles in 2015 and 2016. The effect of internal loading on the total loading of the reservoir was evaluated by mass balance analysis. Results showed that a weak thermal stratification and a strong DO stratification were developed in the shallow M Reservoir. And, dynamic temporal variation in DO was observed at the bottom of the reservoir. Persistent hypoxic conditions (DO concentrations less than 2 mg/L) were established for 87 days and 98 days in 2015 and 2016, respectively, during the no-rainy summer periods. The DO concentrations intermittently increased during several events of atmospheric temperature drop and rainfall. According to the mass balance analysis, the amount of internal $PO_4-P$ loading from sediment to the overlying water were 37.9% and 39.7% of total loading during no-rainy season in 2015 and 2016, respectively on August when algae growth is enhanced with increasing water temperature. Consequently, supply of DO to the lower layer of the reservoir could be effective countermeasure to reduce nutrient release under the condition of persistent DO depletion in the bottom of the reservoir.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.223-235
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• 2002

Since weak Bones or geological lineaments are likely to be eroded, there may develop weak Bones beneath rivers, and a careful evaluation of ground condition is important to construct structures passing through a river. DC resistivity method, however, has seldomly applied to the investigation of water-covered area, possibly because of difficulties in data aquisition and interpretation. The data aquisition having high quality may be the most important factor, and is more difficult than that in land survey, due to the water layer overlying the underground structure to be imaged. Through the numerical modeling and the analysis of a case history, we studied the method of resistivity survey at the water-covered area, starting from the characteristics of measured data, via data acquisition method, to the interpretation method. We unfolded our discussion according to the installed locations of electrodes, ie., floating them on the water surface, and installing them at the water bottom, because the methods of data acquisition and interpretation vary depending on the electrode location. Through this study, we could confirm that the DC resistivity method can provide fairly reasonable subsurface images. It was also shown that installing electrodes at the water bottom can give the subsurface image with much higher resolution than floating them on the water surface. Since the data acquired at the water-covered area have much lower sensitivity to the underground structure than those at the land, and can be contaminated by the higher noise, such as streaming potential, it would be very important to select the acquisition method and electrode array being able to provide the higher signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ratio) data as well as the high resolving power. Some of the modified electrode arrays can provide the data having reasonably high S/N ratio and need not to install remote electrode(s), and thus, they may be suitable to the resistivity survey at the water-covered area.