• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.33-51
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• 2013

Spatial and temporal characteristics of nitrate contamination and hydrogeochemical parameters were investigated for springs and surficial and bedrock groundwaters in northeastern part of Hongseong. Two field investigations were conducted at dry and wet seasons in 2011 for 120 sites including measurement of field parameters with chemical analyses of major dissolved constituents. Nitrate concentrations were at background levels in springs while 45% of bedrock groundwater and 49% of surficial groundwater exceeded the drinking water standard of nitrate (10 mg/L as $NO_3$-N). The difference in nitrate concentrations between surficial and bedrock groundwater was statistically insignificant. Cumulative frequency distribution of nitrate concentrations revealed two inflection points of 2 and 16 mg/L as $NO_3$-N. Correlation analysis of hydrogeochemical parameters showed that nitrate had higher correlations with Sr, Mg, Cl, Na, and Ca, in surficial groundwater in both dry and wet season. In contrast, nitrate had much weaker correlations with other hydrogeochemical parameters in bedrock groundwater compared to surficial groundwater and had significant correlations only in wet season. Temporally, nitrate and chloride concentrations decreased and dissolved oxygen (DO) increased from dry season to wet season, which indicates that increased recharge during the wet season affected groundwater quality. Aerobic conditions were predominant for both surficial and bedrock groundwater indicating low natural attenuation potential of nitrate in the aquifers of the study area.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.501-511
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• 2017

Natural radionuclides such as uranium and radon from 170 groundwater wells in Jeonnam Province were investigated, together with hydrogeochemical properties, and concentration maps of uranium and radon were also constructed in this study. Characteristics of their concentrations and occurrence were discussed using hydrogeochemical factors and geostatistical methods based on individual geological units. Though uranium and radon in groundwater show a wide range in the concentration, most of which occur as low levels except a few sites. Based on factor analysis, correlation coefficients between uranium and radon are very low. Such results verify that these radionuclides behave independently, well consistent with most previous results investigated nationwide in groundwater. Besides uranium and radon, most hydrochemical components in groundwater show a close relation to indicate the water-rock interaction taken place actively in aquifer.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.737-760
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• 2022

For the geological disposal of high-level radioactive wastes (HLW), an understanding of deep subsurface environment is essential through geological, hydrogeological, geochemical, and geotechnical investigations. Although South Korea plans the geological disposal of HLW, only a few studies have been conducted for characterizing the geochemistry of deep subsurface environment. To guide the hydrogeochemical research for selecting suitable repository sites, this study overviewed the status and trends in hydrogeochemical characterization of deep groundwater for the deep geological disposal of HLW in developed countries. As a result of examining the selection process of geological disposal sites in 8 countries including USA, Canada, Finland, Sweden, France, Japan, Germany, and Switzerland, the following geochemical parameters were needed for the geochemical characterization of deep subsurface environment: major and minor elements and isotopes (e.g., ³⁴S and ¹⁸O of SO₄^2-, ¹³C and ¹⁴C of DIC, ²H and ¹⁸O of water) of both groundwater and pore water (in aquitard), fracture-filling minerals, organic materials, colloids, and oxidation-reduction indicators (e.g., Eh, Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺, H₂S/SO₄^2-, NH₄⁺/NO₃^-). A suitable repository was selected based on the integrated interpretation of these geochemical data from deep subsurface. In South Korea, hydrochemical types and evolutionary patterns of deep groundwater were identified using artificial neural networks (e.g., Self-Organizing Map), and the impact of shallow groundwater mixing was evaluated based on multivariate statistics (e.g., M3 modeling). The relationship between fracture-filling minerals and groundwater chemistry also has been investigated through a reaction-path modeling. However, these previous studies in South Korea had been conducted without some important geochemical data including isotopes, oxidationreduction indicators and DOC, mainly due to the lack of available data. Therefore, a detailed geochemical investigation is required over the country to collect these hydrochemical data to select a geological disposal site based on scientific evidence.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.101-113
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• 2016

To properly manage and remediate groundwater contaminated with chlorinated hydrocarbons such as trichloroethylene (TCE), it is necessary to assess natural attenuation processes of contaminants in the aquifer along with investigation of contamination history and aquifer characterization. This study evaluated natural attenuation processes of TCE at an industrial site in Korea by delineating hydrogeochemical characteristics along the flow path of contaminated groundwater, by calculating reaction rate constants for TCE and its degradation products, and by using geochemical and reactive transport modeling. The monitoring data showed that TCE tended to be transformed to cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cis-1,2-DCE) and further to vinyl chloride (VC) via microbial reductive dechlorination, although the degree was not too significant. According to our modeling results, the temporal and spatial distribution of the TCE plume suggested the dominant role of biodegradation in attenuation processes. This study can provide a useful method for assessing natural attenuation processes in the aquifer contaminated with chlorinated hydrocarbons and can be applied to other sites with similar hydrological, microbiological, and geochemical settings.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.70-86
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• 2003

Despite its usability, TCE has been managed as a hazardous material due to the toxicity and many contamination cases were surveyed in some developed countries. U.S.EPA(Kram et al., 2001) suggested DNAPL characterization methods and approaches based on survey experiences at several sites. However, Korea has not the least assessment of contamination and trial of remediation, although there are a lot of doubtable areas where ground water would be contaminated with TCE. In this study, we try to assess the volume and extent of ground water contamination with TCE and delineate the contamination source zones in an industrial area. Ground water in this area flows through fractures and the contaminant TCE has the properties of high volatility, high density and low partitioning to soil material. Thus, we applied a variety of technical approaches to identify the contamination status; documentary, hydrogeochemical, hydrogeological and geological surveys. In addition, additional survey was performed based on the interim findings, which showed that ground water contamination was limited to the relatively small area with high concentrations to the deep place. The contamination source zone is estimated to be the asphalt test institute where a great deal of TCE has been used to analyze the amount of asphalt soluble in TCE since 1984. Based on the contamination characterization and a myriad of documents about ground water remediation, appropriate site remediation management options will be recommended later. This study is now under way and this paper was focused on describing the technical approaches used to achieve the goals of this study.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.60-71
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• 2007

Groundwater from public wells was monitored during one year with two month interval for hydrogeochemical parameters and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as environmental tracers in Jeju Island. Concentrations of major cations and $SiO_2$ show variation less than 10% whereas $NO_3$ and dissolved oxygen (DO) showed larger variation though DO variation did not change oxic or suboxic condition. $NO_3$ concentration has no consistent seasonal pattern with the largest variation of 35%. Groundwater ages determined by CFCs became temporarily younger by 5 years in October for groundwater with ages of 15 to 25 years, which can be attributed to infiltrating water in rainy season. Compared to air temperature, groundwater temperature has much smaller variation with no phase difference, which can be accounted for by a two-component model consisting of infiltrating water from surface and deeper groundwater with negligible temperature variation. The relatively small variation in groundwater age and temperature indicates that groundwater recharge through fast flow-paths is much smaller compared with basal groundwater in terms of aquifer storage.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.4 s.173
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• pp.435-450
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• 2005

The purpose of the study is to analyze the hydrogeochemical characteristics by multivariate statistical method, to interpret the hydrogeochemical processes for the new variables calculated from principal components analysis (PCA), and to infer the groundwater flow and circulation mechanism by applying the geostatistical methods for each element and principal component. Chloride and nitrate are the most influencing components for groundwater quality, and the contents of $NO_3$ increased by the input of agricultural activities show the largest variation. The results of PCA, a multivariate statistical method, show that the first three principal components explain $73.9\%$ of the total variance. PC1 indicates the increase of dissolved ions, PC2 is related with the dissolution of carbonate minerals and nitrate contamination, and PC3 shows the effect of cation exchange process and silicate mineral dissolution. From the results of experimental semivariogram, the components of groundwater are divided into two groups: one group includes electrical conductivity (EC), Cl, Na, and $NO_3$, and the other includes $HCO_3,\;SiO_2,$ Ca, and Sr. The results for spatial distribution of groundwater components showed that EC, Cl, and Na increased with approaching the coastal line and nitrate has close relationship with the presence of agricultural land. These components are also correlated with the topographic features reflecting the groundwater recharge effect. The kriging analysis by using principal components shows that PC 1 has the different spatial distribution of Cl, Na, and EC, possibly due to the influence of pH, Ca, Sr, and $HCO_3$ for PC1. It was considered that the linear anomaly zone of PC2 in western area was caused by the dissolution of carbonate mineral. Consequently, the application of multivariate and geostatistical methods for groundwater in the study area is very useful for determining the quantitative analysis of water quality data and the characteristics of spatial distribution.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.611-626
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• 2023

Overseas examples of the characterization stage of site selection proposed by the International Atomic Energy Agency were reviewed to highlight the factors necessary for consideration in the deep disposal of high-level radioactive waste. Studies in Sweden, Finland, the USA, and Canada were considered. Site investigations in Sweden and Finland commonly covered the fields of geology, hydrogeology, and hydrogeochemistry using similar field investigation techniques. The USA considered survey groups and factors under pre- and post-lockdown guidelines, as well as those for desaturated and saturated surveys. involving geophysical, hydrological, hydrogeological, hydrogeochemical, mechanical/physical, and thermal-characterization investigations. Canada provided a list of investigative methods for both preliminary and detailed site assessments including geological, physical, boring, hydrological, laboratory testing, and chemical analysis studies. Results of this study should elucidate site-selection investigation factors and survey methods applicable to Korea.