• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.163-178
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• 2011

A test borehole was drilled in the Cheongwon area to investigate the relationship between geochemical environment and the natural occurrence of radioactive materials (uranium and Rn-222) in borehole groundwater. The borehole encountered mainly biotite schist and biotite granite, with minor porphyritic granite and basic dykes. Six groundwater samples were collected at different depths in the borehole using the double-packed system. The groundwater pH ranges from 5.66 to 8.34, and the chemical type of the groundwater is Ca-$HCO_3$. The contents of uranium and Rn-222 in the groundwater are 0.03-683 ppb and 1,290-7,600 pCi/L, respectively. The contents of uranium and thorium in the rocks within the borehole are 0.51-23.4 ppm and 0.89-62.6 ppm, respectively. Microscope observations of the rock core and analyses by electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) show that most of the radioactive elements occur in the biotite schist, within accessory minerals such as monazite and limenite in biotite, and in feldspar and quartz. The high uranium content of groundwater at depths of -50 to -70 m is due to groundwater chemistry (weakly alkaline pH, an oxidizing environment, and high concentrations of bicarbonate). The origin of Rn-222 could be determined by analyzing noble gas isotopes (e.g., $^3He/^4He$ and $^4He/^{20}Ne$).

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.399-412
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• 2011

A DEM (digital elevation model) is produced using a digital topographic map and is now a commonly used tool in geologic surveys. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between knickpoints and faults in the Namdae stream by analyzing a DEM of the area. The Namdae drainage basin was divided into three subbasins (S1, S2 and S3) and their knickpoints developed for the middle to mid-upper regions were extracted from the DEM. The relative steepness Ks and concavity depending on the incision rate was higher in S1 than in S2 and S3 regions. We assumed that the incision rate caused by active erosion resulted from several faults crossing the basins rather than differences in rock types. There are 77 knickpoints in the Namdae drainage area, including the low-ranking branch, and 24 of thses are on the main river system (S1, S2, S3). Of these 77 knickpoints, 27 (38%) are matched by faults, and from the three basins, 13 (54%) correspond with faults, indicating that the knickpoints are connected closely with the faults. For example the average Ks (relative steepness), was 38.8, but in the overlapping area of the Samdang and Doocheon faults the Ks value was 42.99~43.39. We suggest that the faults resulted in geomorphic deformation such as the high-Ksn knickpoints. There was little evdence of relationship between the knickpoints and rock boundaries, with 54% of the knickpoints distributed on the S1, S2, and S3 subbasins. We concluded that the drainage basin knickpoints are the result of fault movement and are a type of geomorphologic deformation that could be useful for surveying Quaternary faults or fault extension.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.67-76
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• 2018

This study reviews three eco-friendly energy towns with hybrid thermal energy supply systems and borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) in Canada and Denmark. The district heating and cooling systems were designed by using multi-source energy for the higher efficiency and reliability as well as environment. ADEU (Alexandra District Energy Utility) located at the developing area in the city of Richmond, Canada was designed to supply district energy with the installation of 726 borehole heat exchangers (BHEs) and a backup boiler using natural gas. DLSC (Drake Landing Solar Community) located in the town of Okotoks, Canada is a district system to store solar thermal energy underground during the summer season by seasonal BTES with 144 BHEs. Brædstrup Solpark district heating system located in Denmark has been conducted energy supply from multiple energy sources of solar thermal, heat pump, boiler plants and seasonal BTES with 48 BHEs. These systems are designed based on social and economic benefits as well as nature-friendly living space according to the city based energy perspective. Each system has the energy center which distribute the stored thermal energy to each house for heating during the winter season. The BHE depth and ground thermal storage volume are designed by the heating and cooling load as well as the condition of ground water flow and thermophysical properties of the ground. These systems have been proved the reliance and economic benefits by providing consistent energy supply with competitive energy price for many years. In addition, the several expansions of the service area in ADEU and Brædstrup Solpark have been processed based on energy supply master plan. In order to implement this kind of project in our country, the regulation and policy support of government or related federal organization are required. As well as the government have to make a energy management agency associated with long-term supply energy plan.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.381-392
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• 2018

This study examines strategies and implementation plans for commercializing $CO_2$ capture and storage, which is an effective method to achieve the national goal of reducing greenhouse gas. In order to secure cost-efficient business model of $CO_2$ capture and storage, we propose four key strategies, including 1) urgent need to select a large-scale storage site and to estimate realistic storage capacity, 2) minimization of source-to-sink distance, 3) cost-effectiveness through technology innovation, and 4) policy implementation to secure public interest and to encourage private sector participation. Based on these strategies, the implementation plans must be designed for enabling $CO_2$ capture and storage to be commercialized until 2030. It is desirable to make those plans in which large-scale demonstration and subsequent commercial projects share a single storage site. In addition, the plans must be able to deliver step-wised targets and assessment processes to decide if the project will move to the next stage or not. The main target of stage 1 (2019 ~ 2021) is that the large-scale storage site will be selected and post-combustion capture technology will be upgraded and commercialized. The site selection, which is prerequisite to forward to the next stage, will be made through exploratory drilling and investigation for candidate sites. The commercial-scale applicability of the capture technology must be ensured at this stage. Stage 2 (2022 ~ 2025) aims design and construction of facility and infrastructure for successful large-scale demonstration (million tons of $CO_2$ per year), i.e., large-scale $CO_2$ capture, transportation, and storage. Based on the achievement of the demonstration project and the maturity of carbon market at the end of stage 2, it is necessary to decide whether to enter commercialization of $CO_2$ capture and storage. If the commercialization project is decided, it will be possible to capture and storage 4 million tons of $CO_2$ per year by the private sector in stage 3 (2026 ~ 2030). The existing facility, infrastructure, and capture plant will be upgraded and supplemented, which allows the commercialization project to be cost-effective.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.359-370
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• 2018

The batch and column experiments were performed to overcome the limitation of the neutralization process using the $scCO_2$-water-recycled aggregate, reducing its treatment time to 3 hour. The waste cement mortar and two kinds of recycled aggregate were used for the experiment. In the extraction batch experiment, three different types of waste mortar were reacted with water and $scCO_2$ for 1 ~ 24 hour and the pH of extracted solution from the treated waste mortar was measured to determine the minimum reaction time maintaining below 9.8 of pH. The continuous column experiment was also performed to identify the pH reduction effect of the neutralization process for the massive recycled aggregate, considering the non-equilibrium reaction in the field. Thirty five gram of waste mortar was mixed with 70 mL of distilled water in a high pressurized stainless steel cell at 100 bar and $50^{\circ}C$ for 1 ~ 24 hour as the neutralization process. The dried waste mortar was mixed with water at 150 rpm for 10 min. and the pH of water was measured for 15 days. The XRD and TG/DTA analyses for the waste mortar before and after the reaction were performed to identify the mineralogical change during the neutralization process. The acryl column (16 cm in diameter, 1 m in length) was packed with 3 hour treated (or untreated) recycled aggregate and 220 liter of distilled water was flushed down into the column. The pH and $Ca^{2+}$ concentration of the effluent from the column were measured at the certain time interval. The pH of extracted water from 3 hour treated waste mortar (10 ~ 13 mm in diameter) maintained below 9.8 (the legal limit). From XRD and TG/DTA analyses, the amount of portlandite in the waste mortar decreased after the neutralization process but the calcite was created as the secondary mineral. From the column experiment, the pH of the effluent from the column packed with 3 hour treated recycled aggregate kept below 9.8 regardless of their sizes, identifying that the recycled aggregate with 3 hour $scCO_2$ treatment can be reused in real construction sites.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.235-246
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• 1996

Placer gold in collected heavy minerals from several localities in Huongkhe area, is consistently very finegrained (${\leq}100$ to $400{\mu}m$). The size and size distribution show somewhat differences at Dongdo and Hoahai : at Dongdo, predominant relatively larger and wide distribution; at Hoahai, characteristic relatively finer and narrow distribution range. The morphology of gold grains is divided into the four groups assumed by the dimension ratio : spherical, subprismoidal, prismoidal, and irregular. The gold grains at Dongdo show wide morphological distribution, whereas, at Hoahai, spherical form is predominant (${\approx}75%$). Three main types of gold are classified based on their chemical composition and mode of occurrence: type I (electrum; fineness=568~931), type II (amalgam; fineness=671~927), and type III (native gold; fineness=923~999). Type I gold contains, relatively high and variable silver contents (${\approx}11$ to 58 atomic % Ag), and has been classified into two subtypes based on their silver contents (type IA, ${\approx}11{\sim}39$ atomic % Ag; type IB, ${\approx}40{\sim}58$ atomic % Ag). However, type I gold would have been generally original compositions of electrum which originated at the provenance deposits. Mercury reacts with gold and silver to form amalgam (type II gold) which has variable Hg contents (1.2~30.5 atomic % Hg). The mercury contents in gold grains at Hoahai (10.9~30.5 atomic % Hg) are higher than those at Dongdo (5.8~21.1 atomic % Hg). The gold grains from the area generally exhibit a high-purity gold (type III) rim. The individual rims on the various grains range from <1 to $80{\mu}m$ in thickness and have silver contents of <10 atomic percent Ag, even though the core compositions range from ${\approx}11$ to 58 atomic percent Ag. The rim of gold most likely is responsible for the commonly cited cases of gold from placer deposits assaying at higher values of fineness than the gold in the corresponding source lode. The gold-rich rim in the Huongkhe area apparently forms by a combination of self-electrorefining and preferential dissolution of silver under oxidizing nature during the weathering and transport process. All data of gold grains in the Huongkhe area suggest that the transport distances and/or time of placer gold at Hoahai are generally farther than those at Dongdo. The mercurian gold bearing provenance deposits at Dongdo and Hoahai would be suggest nearest epithermal gold-silver vein-type.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.651-660
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• 2007

Acid drainage has been recognized as an environmental concern in abandoned mine sites for long time. Recently, the environmental and structural damage by acid drainage is a current issue in construction sites in Korea. Here, the author introduces the type of damages by acid drainage in construction sites and emphasizes the importance of geoscience discipline in solving the problem. Metasedimentary rock of Okcheon group, coal bed of Pyeongan group, Mesozoic volcanic rock. and Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks are the major rock types with a high potential for acid drainage upon excavation in Korea. The acid drainage causes the acidification and heavy metal contamination of soil, surface water and groundwater, the reduction of slope stability, the corrosion of slope structure, the damage on plant growth, the damage on landscape and the deterioration of concrete and asphalt pavement. The countermeasure for acid drainage is the treatment of acid drainage and the prevention of acid drainage. The treatment of acid drainage can be classified into active and passive treatments depending on the degree of natural process in the treatment. Removal of oxidants, reduction of oxidant generation and encapsulation of sulfide are employed for the prevention of acid drainage generation.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.445-466
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• 2017

Yeongdong area is located in the contact zone between central southeastern Ogcheon belt and Yeongnam massif, in which Cretaceous Yeongdong basin exists. Therefore, the study area has complex geological environment of various geological age and rock types such as Precambrian metamorphic rocks, age-unknown Ogcheon Supergroup, Paleozoic/Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, Mesozoic igneous rocks and Quaternary alluvial deposits. This study focuses on the link between the various geology and water type, and discussed the source of some major ions and their related water-rock interaction. For this study, the field parameters and ion concentrations for twenty alluvial/weathered and eighty bedrock aquifer wells were used. Statistical analysis indicates that there was no significant differences in groundwater quality between wet and dry seasons. Although various types were observed due to complex geology, 80 to 84 % of samples showed $Ca-HCO_3$ water type. Some wells placed in alluvial/weathered aquifers of Precambrian metamorphic and Jurassic granitic terrains showed somewhat elevated $NO_3$ and Cl concentrations. $Mg-HCO_3$ typed waters prevailed in Cretaceous Yeongdong sedimentary rocks. The deeper wells placed in bedrock aquifers showed complicated water types varying from $Ca-HCO_3$ through $Ca-Cl/SO_4/NO_3$ to $Na-HCO_3$ and Na-Cl type. Groundwater samples with $Na-HCO_3$ or Na-Cl types are generally high in F concentrations, indicating more influences of water-rock interaction within mineralized/hydrothermal alteration zone by Cretaceous porphyry or granites. This study revealed that many deep-seated aquifer had been contaminated by $NO_3$, especially prominent in Jurassic granites area. Based on molar ratios of $HCO_3/Ca$, $HCO_3/Na$, Na/Si, it can be inferred that Ca and $HCO_3$ components of most groundwater in alluvial/weathered aquifer wells were definitely related with dissolution of calcite. On the other hand, Ca and $HCO_3$ in bedrock aquifer seem to be due to dissolution of feldspar besides calcite. However, these molar ratios require other mechanism except simple weathering process causing feldspar to be broken into kaolinite. The origin of $HCO_3$ of some groundwater occurring in Cretaceous Yeongdong sedimentary rock area seems to be from dissolution of dolomite($MgCO_3$) or strontianite($SrCO_3$) as well.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.277-290
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• 2016

Deep geological cross-sectional data is generally not common nor easy to construct, because it is expensive and requires a great deal of time. As a result, geological interpretations at depth are limited. Many scientists attempt to construct geological cross-sections at depth using geological surface data and geophysical data. In this paper, we suggest a method for constructing cross-sections from limited geological surface data in a target area. The reason for this study is to construct and interpret geological cros-sections at depth to evaluate heat flow anomaly along the Yangsan fault. The Yangsan Fault passes through the south-eastern part of the Korean Peninsula. The cross-section is constructed from Sangbukmyeon to Unchonmyeon passing perpendicularly through the Yangsan Fault System trending NW-SE direction. The geological cross-section is constructed using the following data: (1) Lithologic distributions and main structural elements. (2) Extensity of sedimentary rock and igneous rock, from field mapping. (3) Fault dimension calculated based on geometry of exposed surface rupture, and (4) Seismic and core logging data. The Yangsan Fault System is composed of the Jain fault, Milyang fault, Moryang fault, Yangsan fault, Dongnae fault, and Ingwang fault which strike NNE-SSW. According to field observation, the western section of the Yangsan fault bounded by igneous rocks and in the eastern section sedimentary rocks are dominant. Using surface fault length we infer that the Yangsan Fault System has developed to a depth of kilometers beneath the surface. According to seismic data, sedimentary rocks that are adjacent to the Yangsan fault are thin and getting thicker towards the east of the section. In this study we also suggest a new method to recognize faults using core loggings. This analysis could be used to estimate fault locations at different scales.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.261-276
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• 2016

The occurrence of natural radioactive materials such as uranium and radon-222 in groundwater was examined with hydrogeochemistry and geology at ○○ village in the Yongin area. Two rounds of 19 groundwater and 5 surface water sampling were collected for analysis. The range of pH value in groundwaters was 5.81 to 7.79 and the geochemical types of the groundwater were mostly Ca(Na)-HCO₃ and Ca(Na)-NO₃(Cl)-HCO₃. Uranium and radon-222 concentrations in the groundwater ranged from 0.06 to 411 μg/L and from 5.56 to 903 Bq/L, respectively. Two deep groundwaters used as common potable well-water sources exceeded the maximum contaminant levels of the uranium and radon-222 proposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). Three groundwater samples from residential areas contained unsuitable levels of uranium, and 12 groundwater samples were unsuitable due to radon-222 concentrations. Radioactive materials in the unsuitable groundwater are naturally occurring in a Jurassic amphibole- and biotite-bearing granitic gneiss. High uranium and radon-222 groundwater concentrations were only observed in two common wells; the others showed no relationship between bedrock geology and groundwater geochemical constituents. With such high concentrations of naturally occurring radioactive materials in groundwater, the affected areas may extend tens of meters for uranium and even farther for radon-222. Therefore, we suggest the radon-222 and the uranium did not originate from the same source. Based on the distribution of radon-222 in the study area, zones of higher radon-222 concentrations may be the result of diffusion through cracks, joint, or faults. Surface radioactivity and uranium concentrations in the groundwater show a positive relationship, and the impact areas may extend for ~200m beyond the well in the case of wells containing high concentrations of uranium. The highest uranium and thorium concentrations in rock samples were detected in thorite and monazite.