• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.13-24
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• 2024

The purpose of this study is to identify the geology, geologic structure, hydrogeology and geomorphic characteristics of the Nari Basin and establish the controls on the discharge of water 20,000~40,000 m³/day from the Choosan Yongchulso, Ulleung Island, South Korea. Pumice and lapilli tuffs showing well-developed stratification are the predominant rock types surrounding the spring. The spring shows a structure whereby discharge occurs along a lens-like erosion cave formed by differential erosion of strata comprising tuff or pumice tuff. The Choosan Yongchulso is located at the point where the planation surface of the Nari Basin' ends and steep slopes begin. The basin is bounded on all sides by these steep slopes, except in the north, where the Choosan Yongchulso is located. Given these geomorphic characteristics, the Choosan Yongchulso is regarded as the ultimate outlet of the basin catchment area.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.269-277
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• 2024

Scientific forensic techniques are used to verify environmental impact of groundwater pollution, surface water pollution, air pollution, noise, and vibration according to residents' complaints in connection with construction and civil engineering works. In this study, we investigated the contamination of groundwater and the lowering of the groundwater level in an area surrounding a tunnel excavation site for the Andong-Yeongdeok national road, using a forensic hydrogeological technique. We reviewed the groundwater level and water quality of well GW1 in the area surrounding the tunnel excavation site as well as tunnel construction information and then we analyzed the correlations among the obtained data. Before tunnel excavation, the water level of well GW1 was lower than the tunnel elevation. Considering the relationship between the precipitation, tunnel discharge, tunnel depth, and groundwater level of well GW1, the groundwater flowed from the tunnel to well GW1. Moreover, the tunnel discharge and groundwater levels were not related to each other. The pH of well GW1 was 8.4 before tunnel excavation. During excavation, the pH declined to 8.1-8.2 at the beginning, and increased to 8.8 at the end of the excavation. The fluorine concentration in well GW1 was 2.49 mg/L, 1.91-3.22 mg/L, and 1.7-2.67 mg/L, respectively, before, during, and after the excavation. The sulfate ion concentration was very high, over 2,000 mg/L, before and during the excavation; after the excavation, it was between 200 and 323 mg/L. Turbidity was 1.47, 10.5, and 4.51 NTU before, during, and after tunnel excavation, respectively. Therefore, the excavation of this tunnel is not related to the groundwater quality of well GW1.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.509-523
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• 2015

This study introduces newly implemented geological well logs database for Jeju public water wells, built for a research project focusing on integrated hydrogeology database of Jeju Island. A detailed analysis of the existing 1,200 Jeju Island geological logs for the public wells developed since 1970 revealed six major indications to be improved for their use in Jeju geological logs DB construction: (1) lack of uniformity in rock name classification, (2) poor definitions of pyroclastic deposits and sand and gravel layers, (3) lack of well borehole aquifer information, (4) lack of information on well screen installation in many water wells, (5) differences by person in geological logging descriptions. A new Jeju geological logs DB enabling standardized input and output formats has been implemented to overcome the above indications by reestablishing the names of Jeju volcanic and sedimentary rocks and utilizing a commercial, database-based input structured, geological log program. The newly designed database structure in geological log program enables users to store a large number of geology, well drilling, and test data at the standardized DB input structure. Also, well borehole groundwater and aquifer test data can be easily added without modifying the existing database structure. Thus, the newly implemented geological logs DB could be a standardized DB for a large number of Jeju existing public wells and new wells to be developed in the future at Jeju Island. Also, the new geological logs DB will be a basis for ongoing project 'Developing GIS-based integrated interpretation system for Jeju Island hydrogeology'.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.279-294
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• 2024

Large-scale civil engineering structures such as dams require a systematic approach to jointed rock-mass grouting to prevent water leakage into the foundations and to ensure safe operation. In South Korea, rock grouting design often relies on the experience of field engineers that was gained in similar projects, highlighting the need for a more systematic and reliable approach. Rock-mass grouting is affected mainly by hydrogeology and the presence of discontinuities, involving factors such as the rock quality designation (RQD), joint spacing (Js), Lugeon value (Lu), and secondary permeability index (SPI). This study, based on data from field investigations of 14 domestic sites, analyzed the correlation between hydrogeological factors (Lu and SPI), discontinuity characteristics (RQD and Js), and grout take, and systematically established a design method for rock grouting. Analysis of correlation between the variables RQD, Js, Lu, and SPI yielded Pearson correlation (r) values as follows: Lu-SPI, 0.92; RQD-Lu, -0.75; RQD-Js, 0.69; RQD-SPI, -0.65; Js-Lu, -0.47; and SPI-Js, -0.41. The grout take increases with Lu and SPI values, but there is no significant correlation between RQD and Js. The proposed approach for grouting design based on SPI values was verified through analysis and comparison with actual curtain-grouting construction, and is expected to be useful in practical applications and future studies.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.339-344
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• 2013

Water vapor isotopes can be excellent tools for understanding complex mechanisms in the water cycle and atmospheric hydrological cycle and they can be applied to various fields of paleoclimatology, atmospheric science, hydrogeology, oceanography, and ecohydrology. Thus, studies of global or local transport of water vapor may be able to provide a very useful clue to better understand the movements of water and energy in the atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. In this study, the isotopic compositions of water vapor have been observed for moisture transport during the passage of Typhoon Bolaven at Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI), Incheon, in the western part of Korea, from August 27 to August 29, 2012. In the clear sky, the isotopic compositions of water vapor at KOPRI exhibited relatively higher isotopic ratios, which were near isotopic equilibrium with sea surface water (${\delta}^{18}O$=-14‰). On the other hand, a largely depleted isotopic ratios in surface water vapor were observed in association with the passage of Typhoon Bolaven (approximately 10‰ depleted compared to the clear sky). The fact that the isotopic minima in water vapor are encountered during the onset period of the Typhoon Bolaven with increases of relative humidity, which is consistent with, so called, "the amount effect".

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.149-165
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• 1993

Nowadays, the field hydraulic test is still an only method to evaluate groundwater characteristics in subsurface. The results of hydraulic test are very important for the concept model of fracture hydrogeology as well as the geometric pattern of fractures. The hydraulic tests performed in Korea are generally analysed under such assumption as steady radial flow in homogeneous aquifer or along simple geometry of fractures. Also the transmissivity measured in a fixed interval length is equivalent to a sum of individual fracture transmissivities in test legth. The boundary effects of weH hydraulics and the geometry of flow paths are hardly obtained from the test results analysed by a steady flow method. To circumvent this problem, the flow dimensional analysis was attempted from the results of constant pressure injection test carried out in a fractured granite area. A comparison of the hydraulic conductivity values from the transient and steady analysis shows that the latter is about a factor of 2~3 higher than the former. However, it was possible to analyse a flow dimension of each test interval from flow rate variation with time. The upper part of the bedrock(<10m deep) indicates an open boundary and the flow dimension shows nearly steady states, while the lower part of the bedrock(>25m deep) is characterized as sublinear flow dimension with a dosed boundary. In one of the test sections(15m deep), the flow dimension was changed from linear flow to spherical flow. From the experience of this study, one of the immediate problems to be solved is to enhance the field testing equipments, i.e., an accurate flowmeter with autorecording and a pressure detecting device to be able to install in the test section.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.38 no.7 s.156
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• pp.517-526
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• 2005

In Korea, the methods of estimating groundwater recharge can categorized into two groups. One is baseflow separation method by means of groundurater recession curve, the other is water level fluctuation method by using the data from groundwater monitoring wells. Baseflow separation method is based on annual recharge and lumped concept, and water-table fluctuation method is largely dependent on monitoring wells rather than water budget in watershed. However, groundwater recharge rate shows the spatial-temporal variability due to climatic condition, land use and hydrogeological heterogeneity, these methods have various limits to deal with these characteristics. For this purpose, the method of estimating daily recharge rate with spatial variability based on distributed rainfall-runoff model is suggested in this study. Instead of representative recharge rate of large watershed, the subdivided recharge rate with heterogeneous characteristics can be computed in daily base. The estimated daily recharge rate is an advanced quantity reflecting the heterogeneity of hydrogeology, climatic condition, land use as well as physical behaviour of water in soil layers. Therefore, the newly suggested method could be expected to enhance existing methods.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.626-633
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• 2006

Bucheon city has been rapidly urbanized and steadily enlarged. Also, the city depends on groundwater as an alternative water resource. The objective of this study is to characterize the hydrogeology in this city including the recharge of groundwater and hydraulic property of an aquifer in order to investigate the chemical characteristics and contamination of groundwater in the Bucheon area. Eleven groundwater wells in the Bucheon area were selected for applying certain hydraulic tests, such as pumping and recovery tests. Theis method and Theis recovery method were used to obtain hydraulic parameters, such as hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity by applying recovery tests. The playground of school and uncovered areas layed a major function of recharging areas. The groundwater well in these areas showed high recharge, transmissivity, and hydraulic conductivity. In a downtown area, groundwaier wells showed low pumping capacity and hydraulic parameters. Groundwater samples were collected from 48 different locations in the Bucheon area and that showed very various chemical composition in groundwater Their electrical conductivity showed various ranges from 70.4 to $1,287{\mu}S/cm$. The composition more significantly affected the groundwater due to the land use and urbanization than that of the aquifer rock type.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.50-59
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• 2007

The advent of towed geo-electrical array surveying on water and land has resulted in datasets of magnitude approaching that of airborne electromagnetic surveying and most suited to 1D inversion. Robustness and complete automation is essential if processing and reliable interpretation of such data is to be viable. Sharp boundaries such as river beds and the top of saline aquifers must be resolved so use of smoothness constraints must be minimised. Suitable inversion algorithms must intelligently handle low signal-to-noise ratio data if conductive basement, that attenuates signal, is not to be misrepresented. A noise-level aware inversion algorithm that operates with one elastic thickness layer per electrode configuration has been coded. The noise-level aware inversion identifies if conductive basement has attenuated signal levels so that they are below noise level, and models conductive basement where appropriate. Layers in the initial models are distributed to span the effective depths of each of the geo-electric array quadrupoles. The algorithm works optimally on data collected using geo-electric arrays with an approximately exponential distribution of quadrupole effective depths. Inversion of data from arrays with linear electrodes, used to reduce contact resistance, and capacitive-line antennae is plausible. This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the algorithm using theoretical examples and an example from a salt interception scheme on the Murray River, Australia.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.5-16
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• 2002

A hydrogeomechanical numerical model is presented to evaluate rainfall impacts on groundwater flow in slopes and slope stability. This numerical model is developed based on the fully coupled poroelastic governing equations for groundwater flow in deforming variably saturated geologic media and the Galerkin finite element method. A series of numerical experiments using the model developed are then applied to an unsaturated slope under various rainfall rates. The numerical simulation results show that the overall hydromechanical slope stability deteriorates, and the potential failure nay initiate from the slope toe and propagate toward the slope crest as the rainfall rate increases. From the viewpoint of hydrogeology, the pressure head and hence the total hydraulic head increase as the rainfall rate increases. As a result, the groundwater table rises, the unsaturated zone reduces, the seepage face expands from the slope toe toward the slope crest, and the groundwater flow velocity increases along the seepage face. From the viewpoint of geomechanics, the horizontal displacement increases, and the vertical displacement decreases toward the slope toe as the rainfall rate increases. This may result from the buoyancy effect associated with the groundwater table rise as the rainfall rate increases. As a result, the overall deformation intensifies toward the slope toe, and the unstable zone, in which the factor of safety against shear failure is less than 1, becomes thicker near the slope toe and propagates from the slope toe toward the slope crest. The numerical simulation results also suggest that the potential tension failure is likely to occur within the slope between the potential shear failure surface and the ground surface.