• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.383-389
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• 2021

Several studies investigating the behavior and environmental distribution of rare earth elements (REEs) have been reviewed to determine the geochemical processes that may affect their concentrations and fractionation patterns in groundwater and whether these elements can be used as tracers for groundwater-rock interactions and groundwater flow paths in small catchments. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), equipped with an ultrasonic nebulizer and active-film multiplier detector, is routinely used as an analytical technique to measure REEs in groundwater, facilitating the analysis of dissolved REE geochemistry. This review focuses on the distribution of REEs in groundwater and their application as tracers for groundwater geochemistry. Our review of existing literature suggests that REEs in ice cores can be used as effective tracers for atmospheric particles, aiding the identification of source regions.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.169-181
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to develop geochemical tracers to identify a specific source desert of mineral dust in China using the published data. In addition, we tested the applicability of these tracers to wet-deposits and soil samples collected in Jeju, Korea. Because of similarity in trace elemental compositions of mineral dust from the major arid regions in China, such as Taklimakan, West Ordos (Badain Jaran), East Ordos (Mu Us and Hobq), East Northern China (Horqin), West Northern China (Gurbantunggut), and Chinese Loess Plateau, there has been limited to the use of geochemical data for source identification. Here we propose the four (4) plots using combination of seven (7) geochemical variables as a source indicator to distinguish one from other source regions in China: $\frac{Y}{Tb_N}$ vs. $\frac{Th}{{\Sigma}REE_N}$, $\(\frac{La}{Gd}\)_N$ vs. $\frac{Y}{{\Sigma}REE_N}$, $\frac{Th}{Tb_N}$ vs. $\frac{Y}{Nd_N}$, and $\frac{Th}{Tb_N}$ vs. $\(\frac{Ce}{Ce}\)_N^*$, where $_N$ and $\(\frac{Ce}{Ce}\)_N^*$ stand for values normalized to Post-Archean Average Shale composition and Ce anomaly, respectively. Mineral dusts from aforementioned six major deserts are distinguished one from the others by the combined use of these variables. Jeju rock and soil samples form a separate domain from Chinese mineral dusts in all four plots. In contrast, most of Jeju dust samples were comparable with the West Ordos desert (Badain Jaran) domain, indicative of strong influence of Badain Jaran dust in Jeju in spring season when the mineral dust was collected. A weak positive Ce anomaly in Jeju samples implies minimal local contribution. Our study suggests that the combination of $\frac{Y}{Tb_N}$ vs. $\frac{Th}{{\Sigma}REE_N}$, $\(\frac{La}{Gd}\)_N$ vs. $\frac{Y}{{\Sigma}REE_N}$, $\frac{Th}{Tb_N}$ vs. $\frac{Y}{Nd_N}$, and $\frac{Th}{Tb_N}$ vs. $\(\frac{Ce}{Ce}\)_N^*$ can be used to identify a specific source region of mineral dust in China as well as Jeju mineral particles.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.96 no.5
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• pp.561-566
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• 2007

This study was conducted to clarify runoff production processes in forested catchment through hydrograph separation using three-component mixing model based on the End Member Mixing Analysis (EMMA) model. The study area is located in the coniferous-forested experimental catchment, Gwangneung Gyeonggido near Seoul, Korea (N 37 45', E 127 09'). This catchment is covered by Pinus Korainensis and Abies holophylla planted at stocking rate of 3,000 trees $ha^{-1}$ in 1976. Thinning and pruning were carried out two times in the spring of 1996 and 2004 respectively. We monitored 8 successive events during the periods from June 15 to September 15, 2005. Throughfall, soil water and groundwater were sampled by the bulk sampler. Stream water was sampled every 2-hour through ISCO automatic sampler for 48 hours. The geochemical tracers were determined in the result of principal components analysis. The concentrations of $SO_4{^{2-}$ and $Na^+$ for stream water almost were distributed within the bivariate plot of the end members; throughfall, soil water and groundwater. Average contributions of throughfall, soil water and groundwater on producing stream flow for 8 events were 17%, 25% and 58% respectively. The amount of antecedent precipitation (AAP) plays an important role in determining which end members prevail during the event. It was found that ground water contributed more to produce storm runoff in the event of a small AAP compared with the event of a large AAP. On the other hand, rain water showed opposite tendency to ground water. Rain water in storm runoff may be produced by saturation overland flow occurring in the areas where soil moisture content is near saturation. AAP controls the producing mechanism for storm runoff whether surface or subsurface flow prevails.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.311-323
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• 2007

The Yellow and East China seas received a vast amount of sediment $(>10^9ton/yr)$, which comes mainly from the Changjiang and Huanghe rivers of China and the Korean rivers. However, there are still no direct sedimentological-geochemical indicators, which can distinguish these two end-members (Korean and Chinese river sources) in these seas. The purpose of this study is to provide the potential geochemical-tracers enabling these river materials to be identified within the sediment load of the Yellow and East China seas. The compositions of major elements (Al, Fe, Mg, K, Ca, Na, and Ti) of Chinese and Korean river sediments were analyzed. To minimize the grain-size effect, furthermore, bulk sediments were separated into two groups, silt $(60-20{\mu}m)$ and clay $(<20{\mu}m)$ fractions, and samples of each fraction were analyzed for major and strontium isotope $(^{87}Sr/^{86}Sr)$ compositions. In this study, Fe/Al and Mg/Al ratios in bulk sediment samples, using a new Al-normalization procedure, are suggested as an excellent tool for distinguishing the source of sediments in the Yellow and East China seas. This result is clearly supported by the concentrations of these elements in silt and clay fraction samples. In silt fraction samples, Korean river sediments have much higher $^{87}Sr/^{86}Sr$ ratio $(0.7229{\sim}0.7253)$ than Chinese river sediments $(0.7169{\sim}0.7189)$, which suggests the distribution pattern of $^{87}Sr/^{86}Sr$ ratios as a new tracer to discriminate the provenance of shelf sediments in the Yellow and East China seas. On the basis of these geochemical tracers, clay fractions of southeastern Yellow Sea mud (SEYSM) patch may be a mixture of two sediments originated from Korea and China. In contrast, the geochemical compositions of silt fractions are very close to that of Korea river sediments, which indicates that the silty sediments of SEYSM are mainly originated from Korean rivers.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.167-177
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• 2007

We measured the salinity, pH, and concentrations of $^{222}Rn$ and nutrients in groundwater in the southeastern coastal aquifer off Busan from March to September 2005 to evaluate its submarine discharge and geochemical characteristics. Salinity in coastal groundwater increased sharply at 20 m depth and exceeded 25 ppt below 40 m during the study period, indicating that a strong transition zone between fresh groundwater and seawater developed between 20 and 40 m depths. Fresh groundwater in the upper layer of this transition zone was characterized by high pH, $^{222}Rn$, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) and low dissolved inorganic silicate (DSi) relative to seawater in the lower layer. In addition, the vertical profiles of the $^{222}Rn$, DIN, and DIP concentrations imply that a strong advective groundwater flow occurs along the interface of fresh groundwater and seawater near 20 m depth. The geochemical constituents in coastal groundwater also showed strong seasonal variation, with the highest concentrations in summer (June 2005) due to the changes of groundwater recharge and sea level. This implies that the input of terrestrial chemical species into the coastal ocean through submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) could change seasonally. To ascertain the seasonal variation of SGD and SGD-driven chemical species fluxes, and associated ecological responses in the coastal ocean, more extensive studies are necessary using various SGD tracers or seepage meters in the future.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.289-302
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• 2013

In order to determine the provenance of the Huksan Mud Belt sediments in the southeastern Yellow Sea, the major and rare earth elements of the same sediments were analyzed. The surface sediments were sampled from top of piston-cores and box-cores taken at 51 sites within the Huksan Mud Belt. With the mean grain size of $5-6{\phi}$, the sediments of the study area are mud-dominated. The spatial distribution patterns show that silt content is high in the northern Mud Belt, whereas clay content increases as it moves toward the southern Mud Belt. Interestingly, the geochemical compositions both of major and rare earth elements have resulted in differences of sediment provenance. Among the major elements, plots of Fe/Al vs. Mg/Al ratios, $Al_2O_3$ vs. MgO ratios, and $Al_2O_3$ vs. $K_2O$ reveal that the Huksan Mud Belt sediments are dominated by the Korean river-derived sediments. However, the characteristics of rare earth elements infer sediments originating from the Chinese rivers. This discrepancy between the above provenances is attributed to the different contributory factors in the content of chemical elements. Considering strong correlation between major elements with grain sizes, the contents of the major elements are thought to be influenced by the grain size. However, there is a weak correlation between rare earth elements and grain sizes. The behaviour of rare earth elements may be controlled by heavy minerals, rather than grain sizes. Further study requires to solve the discrepancy arose from the difference in applied chemical tracers.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.16-23
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• 2020

In this work, ²²²Rn activity, major dissolved ions, and microbial community in ground- and surface waters were investigated to characterize groundwater inflow to the stream located in an urban area, Daejeon, Korea. The measured ²²²Rn activities in groundwater and stream water ranged from 136 to 231 Bq L^-1 and 0.3 to 48.8 Bq L^-1, respectively. The spatial distributions of ²²²Rn activity in the stream strongly suggested groundwater inflow to the stream. The change of geochemical composition of the stream water indicated the effect of groundwater discharge became more pronounced as the stream flows downstream. Furthermore, microbial community composition of the stream water had good similarity to that of groundwater, which is another evidence of groundwater discharge. Although groundwater inflow could not be estimated quantitatively in this study, the results can provide useful information to understand interactions between groundwater and surface water, and determine hydrological processes governing groundwater recharge and hydrogeological cycles of dissolved substances such as nutrients and trace metals.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.179-187
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• 2014

Directly searching for undiscovered hydrothermal vent sites is inefficient due to the practical difficulty of comprehensively imaging vent fields. Thus, most searches for hydrothermal vent sites rely on the detection of hydrothermal plumes from water column observation. Detecting and measuring the hydrothermal plumes are the most efficient way to infer the presence and distribution of hydrothermal vents. Both the array of vertical casting and lateral towing are the most common methods to discover hydrothermal plumes. In this study, we compared results of cast and tow-yo operations along the same section of a spreading center with a distance of 20.5 km in the North Fiji Basin for mapping hydrothermal plumes. Operation of CTD tow-yo provides a detailed pattern of plumes which enable us to locate the hydrothermal vents. On the other hand, identification of hydrothermal activity can be determined effectively by CTD cast with additional analysis of geochemical tracers. Reduction in the operating time is another advantage of CTD cast operation, especially for regional-scale survey. Our results show that the combination of CTD cast and tow-yo would improve the efficiency of the hydrothermal plume survey to locate new hydrothermal vent sites.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.89-95
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• 2016

Mo isotope, one of highly redox-sensitive isotopes, has been shown to be useful tracers of geochemical processes. Many studies for Mo isotope have documented with the help of recently developed analysis tools, but it has not yet been documented in the Korea. In this study, we introduce two-stage column separation method of Mo using column tube (BioRad PolyPrep(R) column, 10 ml) and anion exchange resin (BioRad Resin AG(R) 1-X8, 200-400 mesh). Mo isotope ratios in the solid SRMs (BHVO-2, SDO-1, PACS-2) and liquid SRM (IAPSO) were measured on MC-ICP-MS (Multi-collector Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer) and then compared with reference Mo isotope ratios. Mo isotope ratios in our study overlap with reference Mo isotope ratios within analytical error.