• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.196-202
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• 2004

KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) is at present preparing a preliminary performance assessment to set up the HLW disposal concept of Korea. The solubility of the radionuclides contained in HLW is necessary as a source term in order to predict their potential migration in both the near and far fields. The solubility of actinides (Th, Am, U, Np and Pu) for a reference deep groundwater of Korea has been calculated using a geochemical code with thermodynamic data selected by a peer review of existing thermodynamic databases and literature. The solubilities from the experimental study and/or field observations from natural analogue studies are compared. The sensitivity of solubility to the variability of three main parameters of groundwater (pH, Eh, and carbonate concentration) is also investigated. The results of the sensitivity analysis show that the solubility of actinides strongly depends on the parameters considered. Within the range of parameter values studied (pH=7 to 10, Eh=-0.4 to -0.1V, and carbonate concentration=1.E-5 to 1.E-2 mol/L), the solubility of each actinide exists between 1.4E-10 and 1.6E-6 mol/L for Am, 4.9E-9 and 2.8E-6 mol/L for Th, 3.2E-9 and 5.7E-4 mol/L for U, 1.1E-9 and 1.0E-7 mol/L for Np, and 4.0E-11 and 2.8E-6 mol/L for Pu, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.462-472
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• 2023

We investigated the physio-chemical and geochemical parameters in the spraying shellfish aquacultures (Yeoja and Gangjin Bay) to establish the systematic strategy for effective environmental management. Spatial variation of each parameter showed partially significant difference (P<0.05) between Yeoja and Ganjin Bay, inferring the discriminative progress (i.e., accumulation and degradation) of the autochthonous organic matter within the aquaculture environments. We additionally integrated various properties (e.g., water/sediment quality, natural hazard, and biological health) which may affect the biological growth within the aquaculture habitats based on the biogeochemical cycles related to environmental components and aquaculture species. We used a screening approach (i.e., one out-all out; OOAO) which can permit the assessment of the health levels of aquaculture species, the scoring for other parameters (seawater, sediment, and natural hazard) as three levels (excellent, moderate and poor) depending on the complex interactive properties occurring in the aquaculture environments. Actual, discriminative scores obtained via our case studies may confirm that these stepwise processes are effectively evaluated for optimal health conditions within the aquaculture habitats. Thus, this approach may provide valuable insights for effective environmental management and sustainable growth of aquaculture operation.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.553-565
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• 2002

Seasonal variations in vertical distributions of metals were investigated in the contaminated paddy soils around Siheung Cu-Pb-Zn and Deokeum Au-Ag mines. Geochemical behavior of metals was also evaluated with respect to redox changes during the cultivation of rice. Two microcosms simulating the rice-growing paddy field were set up in the laboratory. The raw paddy soils from two sites showed differences in mineralogy, metal concentrations and gecochemical parameters, and it is suggested that high proportions of exchangeable fractions in metals may give high dissolution rates at Deokeum. In both microcosms of Siheung and Deokeum, redox differences between surface and subsurface of paddy soils were maintained during the flooded period of 18 weeks. Siheung soil had neutral to alkaline pH conditions, while strongly acidic conditions and high Eh values were found at the surface soil of Deokeum. The concentrations of dissolved Fe and Mn were higher in the subsurface pore waters than in interface and upper waters from both microcosms, indicating reductive dissolution under reducing conditions. On the contrary, dissolved Pb and Zn had high concentrations at the surface under oxidizing conditions. From the Siheung microcosm, release of dissolved metals into upper waters was decreased. presumably by the trap effect of Fe- and Mn-rich layers at the interface. However, in the Deokeum microcosm, significant amounts of Pb and Zn were released into upper water despite the relatively lower contents in raw paddy soil, and seasonal variations in the chemical fractionation of metals were observed between flooded and drained conditions. Under acidic conditions, rice may uptake high amounts of metals from the surface of paddy soils during the flooded periods, and increases of exchangeable phases may also increase the bioavailability of heavy metals in the drained conditions.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.472-472
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• 2004

Numerous studies on urban groundwater have been carried out in many other countries. Urban groundwater shows a unique hydrologic system because of complex urban characteristics such as road pavement, sewers and public water supply systems. These urban facilities may change the characteristics of groundwater recharge but contaminate its quality as well. There have been several researches on urban groundwater in Seoul. Seoul has been industrialized very rapidly so that the city has large population. The recent population in Seoul amounts to more than ten millions, corresponding to a very high density of about 17, 000 people/km$^2$. Therefore, many factors affect the groundwater quality and quantity in Seoul. Nowadays, groundwater in Seoul is being extracted for construction, industrial use, and drinking and so on. There are 15, 714 wells in Seoul and its annual usage is 41, 425, 977m$^3$(in 2001). Therefore, systematic studies are needed to properly manage and use the groundwater in Seoul. The purposes of this study in progress are to identify geochemical characteristics of groundwater in Seoul and to determine the extent of groundwater contamination and its relationship with urban characteristics. For this study, groundwater was sampled from more than 400 preexisting wells that were randomly selected throughout the Seoul area. For all samples, major cations together with Si, Al, Fe, Pb, Hg For 200 samples among them, TCE, PCE, BTEX were also analyzed by GC. Our study shows that groundwater types of Seoul are distributed broadly from Ca-HCO$_3$ type to Ca-Cl＋NO$_3$ type. The latter type indicates anthropogenic contamination. Among cations, Ca is generally high in most samples. In some samples, Na and K are dominant. The dominant anions change widely from HCO$_3$ to Cl＋NO$_3$. The anion composition is considered to effectively indicate the contribution of distinct anthropogenic sources. In addition, major ions are positively proportional to total dissolved solid (TDS) except K and NO$_3$. Thus, we consider that TDS may be used as an effective indicator of the extent of pollution. However, the increase of TDS may result from increased water-rock interaction. To determine the extent of groundwater contamination, it is needed to figure out the baseline water quality in Seoul. Furthermore, detailed geochemical studies are required to find out pollution sources and their corresponding hydrochemical parameters.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.146-158
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• 2010

In order to evaluate the characteristics of sediments and pollution by organic matter and metallic elements in intertidal sediments along the southwestern coast of Korea, we measured various geochemical parameters, including the mean grain size (Mz), water content (WC), ignition loss (IL), chemical oxygen demand (COD), acid volatile sulfide (AVS), and metallic elements (Al, Fe, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Mn, Hg, As), in intertidal surface sediments. The Mz of the surface sediments ranged from 2.1 to 8.3$\phi$, indicating that the surface sediments consist of various sedimentary facies, such as sand, slightly gravelly mud, sandy mud, and silt. The IL and COD in surface sediment ranged from 0.8 to 5.5% (mean $2.9\pm1.2%$) and from 3.9 to $13.8\;mgO_2/g{\cdot}dry$ (mean $8.5\pm2.6\;mgO_2/g{\cdot}dry$), respectively, which were lower than the values for surface sediment in areas near fish and shellfish farms or industrial complexes. No AVS was detected at any sampling station, despite various sedimentary facies. Most of metallic elements in surface sediments showed relatively good positive correlations with Mz and IL, which imply that the concentrations of metallic elements are mainly controlled by grain size and the organic matter content. The concentrations of metallic elements, except As, at some stations were considerably lower than those in the Sediment Quality Guideline (Effect Range Low, ERL) proposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States. Similarly, the geoaccumulation index (Igeo) class indicated that pollution by metallic elements in intertidal surface sediment, except As, was moderate or non-existent. Our results imply that the intertidal surface sediments along the southwestern coast of Korea are not polluted by organic matter and metallic elements and are healthy for benthic organisms.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.723-734
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• 2010

To understand temporal variations in geochemical characteristics of intertidal surface sediments around Byeonsan Peninsula (in the middle of the western coast, Korea) after the construction of Saemanguem dyke, the sedimentation rate and various geochemical parameters, including mean grain size (Mz), water content (WC), ignition loss (IL), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and acid volatile sulfide (AVS), were measured along four transects (A.D lines) at monthly intervals from February 2008 to March 2009. The average monthly sedimentation rate ranged from -5.3 to 3.8 mm/month (mean $-0.8{\pm}2.7\;mm$/month), which showed an erosion-dominated environment in the lower part of the intertidal zone. In addition, surface sediments were eroded in summer and autumn, but were deposited in spring and winter. The Mz of surface sediments ranged from -0.8 to $3.4{\varnothing}$ (mean $2.8{\pm}0.5{\varnothing}$), indicating that the surface sediments consist of coarser sediments (sand and slightly gravelly sand). The Mz of surface sediments did not show large monthly and/or seasonal variations, although the sedimentation rates of surface sediment showed large seasonal variation. This may be due to lateral shifting and effective dispersion of surface sediments by wind, tide, and longshore current. The concentrations of IL and COD in the surface sediments ranged from 0.2 to 2.9% (mean $1.4{\pm}0.4%$) and from 0.2 to $18.5\;mgO_2$/g-dry (mean $3.9{\pm}3.4\;mgO_2$/g-dry), respectively, which were slightly higher in spring than in the other seasons. This may be related to spring blooms of phytoplankton in seawater and/or benthic microalgae in surface sediments. On the other hand, no AVS concentrations were detected in surface sediments at any of the sampling stations during the study period.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.121-131
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• 2021

Magnesium (Mg) present in carbonate minerals as impurities has been used as a geochemical proxy to infer the environmental conditions where the minerals precipitated. The reliability of Mg geochemical proxies requires fundamental understanding of Mg incorporation into minerals based on accurate speciation of Mg ²⁺ in the crystal structure, which is determined mainly by application of X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). However, high uncertainties are involved in interpreting the XAS spectra of minerals containing trace amount of Mg ²⁺. Because density function theory (DFT) can predict an XAS spectrum for a crystal structure, DFT calculations can reduce the uncertainties in the interpretation of the XAS spectrum. In this study, we calculated ab initio Mg K-edge absorption spectra of Mg silicates and (hydr)oxides based on DFT and analyzed the correlation between the calculated spectra and Mg structural parameters. Our ab initio Mg K-edge absorption spectra well reproduced the key features of the experimental spectra. The absorption-edge positions of the calculated spectra showed the weak positive correlation with the average Mg-O bond distance or Mg effective coordination number. The current study shows that DFT-based core-level spectroscopy method is a powerful tool in providing standard Mg K-edge spectra of diverse Mg minerals and determining the Mg chemical species within carbonate minerals.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.555-566
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• 2008

Hydrogeochemical study in Samseung area (Boeun, Chungbuk) and waterrock interaction experiment using rock samples from the area were performed to elucidate the fluoride source in groundwater and explaining geochemical behavior of fluoride ion. Fluoride concentration of public water supply mostly using groundwater in Boeun area was significantly higher in South Korea. The maximum fluoride concentration of the study area was 3.9 mg/L, and 23% of samples exceeded the Korean Drinking Water Standard of fluoride (1.5 mg/L). The average concentration of fluoride was 1.0 mg/L and median was 0.5 mg/L. Because of high skewness (1.3), median value is more appropriate to represent fluoride level of this area. The relationships between fluoride ion and geochemical parameters ($Na^+$, $HCO_3$, pH, etc.) indicated that the degree of waterrock interaction was not significant. However, high fluoride samples were observed in $NaHCO_3$ type on Piper's diagram. The negative relationship between fluoride and $NO_3$ ion which might originate from surface contaminants was obvious. These results indicate that fluoride ion in groundwater is geogenic origin. The source of fluoride was proved by waterrock interaction batch test. Fluoride concentration increased up to 1.2 mg/L after 96 hours of reaction between water and biotite granite. However, the relationship between well depth and fluoride ion, and groundwater age and fluoride ion was not clear. This indicates that fluoride ion is not correlated with degree of waterrock interaction in this area but local heterogeneity of fluoriderich minerals in granite terrain. High fluoride concentration in Boeun area seems to be correlated with distribution of permeable structures in hard rocks such as lineaments and faults of this area. This entails that the deep bedrock groundwater discharges through the permeable structures and mixed with shallow groundwater.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.25-37
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• 2014

To understand the degradation processes of organic matter related to sulfate reduction by Sulfate Reduction Bacteria (SRB) in the tidal flat sediments of Hwang-do and Sogeun-ri, Tae-an Peninsula in Chungnam-do, biogeochemical characteristics were analyzed and highlighted using specific microbial biomarkers. The organic geochemical parameters (TOC, ${\delta}^{13}C_{org}$, C/N ratio, long-chain-n-alkane) indicate that most of the organic matter has been derived from marine phytoplankton and bacteria in the fine-grained sediment of Sogeun-ri, although terrestrial plant components have occasionally been incorporated to a significant degree in the coarse-grained sediment of Hwang-do. The concentration of sulfate in pore water is a constant tendency with regard to depth profile, while methane concentration appears to be slightly different with regard to depth profile at the two sites. Especially, the sum of bacteria fatty acid (a-C15:0 + i-C15:0 + C16:1w5) confirms that the these concentrations in Sogeun-ri are related to the degradation of Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene (BTEX) compounds from the crude oil retained in the sediments as a result of the Hebei Spirit oil-spill accident in 2007. The methane-related microbial communities as shown by lipid biomarkers (crocetane, PMI) are larger in some sedimentary sections of Hwang-do than in the Sogeunri tidal flat. These findings suggest that methane production by microbiological processes is clearly governed by SRB activity along the vertical succession in organic-enriched tidal flats.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.886-891
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• 2013

We analyzed surface sediments to explain the substrate characteristics of sea cucumber Stichopus japonicus habitat. The analyses included grain-size determination, water content (WC), loss on ignition (IL), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and acid volatile sulfide (AVS) content. We obtained data on sea cucumber density, weight, and length at each station in a marine farming area in the middle of Korea's Taean coast on the West (Yellow) Sea in May, 2012. The apparent density of S. japonicus was high in coarse and bimodal sediments, whereas it was low in fine and unimodal sediments. The mass of S. japonicus was greater in fine than in coarse sediments, showing a different trend from sea cucumber density. The values for WC, IL, COD, and AVS in surface sediments were higher in areas with high densities of S. japonicus than in areas with low sea cucumber densities. In particular, the concentration of AVS was much higher than the value proposed in Japanese criteria for areas with high S. japonicus density.