• The Korean Journal of Ecology
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.65-70
• /
• 2003

Shihwa tidal freshwater marsh was constructed recently to treat pollutants entering Shihwa lake. In this study, we examined the spatial and temporal patterns of heavy metal accumulation in soils of Shihwa marsh and sought correlations between several soil variables (pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter, and acid ammonium oxalate-extractable Fe and Al contents) and the heavy metal concentration of soils. Surface soil samples (0∼20 cm) were collected in June 2000, November 2000, and July 2001, and were analyzed for heavy metals (Zn, Cd, Pb, Cu, Cr, As, and Hg) and soil chemical properties. The neutral pH and water-saturated conditions of Shihwa marsh appeared to favor immobilization of heavy metal through adsorption onto soils. The concentrations of heavy metal (especially Zn, Cu, and Cr) in soils of Shihwa marsh increased along the sampling occasions, suggesting that soils of Shihwa marsh serve as a sink of heavy metal. Among the sub-marshes, metal concentrations were highest in Banweol high marshes and lowest in Samhwa marshes. The temporal and spatial variations in the heavy metal concentrations of soils were correlated positively with organic matter and oxalate extractable Fe and Al contents, but negatively with electrical conductivity. These results suggest that organic matter and hydrous oxide of Fe/Al may playa key role in removing heavy metals in soils of Shihwa marsh, and that heavy metal removing capacity would increase with desalinization. However, the removal patterns of heavy metal by reeds warrant further studies to evaluate the total removal capacity of heavy metals by Shihwa marsh.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2019

Shallow failures occur frequently in both engineered and natural slopes in expansive soils. Rainfall infiltration is the most predominant triggering factor that contributes to slope failures in both expansive soils and clayey soils. However, slope failures in expansive soils have some distinct characteristics in comparison to slopes in conventional clayey soils. They typically undergo shallow failures with gentle sliding retrogression characteristics. The shallow sliding mass near the slope surface is typically in a state of unsaturated condition and will exhibit significant volume changes with increasing water content during rainfall periods. Many other properties or characteristics change such as the shear strength, matric suction including stress distribution change with respect to depth and time. All these parameters have a significant contribution to the expansive soil slopes instability and are difficult to take into consideration in slope stability analysis using traditional slope stability analysis methods based on principles of saturated soil mechanics. In this paper, commercial software VADOSE/W that can account for climatic factors is used to predict variation of matric suction with respect to time for an expansive soil cut slope in China, which is reported in the literature. The variation of factor of safety with respect to time for this slope is computed using SLOPE/W by taking account of shear strength reduction associated with loss of matric suction extending state-of-the art understanding of the mechanics of unsaturated soils.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.7-13
• /
• 1983

Laboratory determinations of saturated hydraulic conductivity were conducted with four soils varying in texture from sand to clay and with five waters with different salinity level. The waters varied in total dissolved solids from 1,250 to $15,000mg/{\ell}$ and in SAR from 16 to 57 and were representative of saline waters in New Mexico. Saturated hydraulic conductivities of the soils were not significantly affected by water salinity if these waters were the sole source of irrigation water. However, small additions of distilled water, assuming simulated to rain, to soils previously equilibrated with the saline waters significantly decreased soil permeability. Dispersion and short or long-distance transport of clay apparently clogged conducting pores when distilled water was introduced. Swelling was an important mechanism in reducing soil permeability only in the clay soil. The data suggest that, when saline water is the dominant irrigation source and is supplemented by rain, (1) all saline waters could be used on very sandy soils, (2) no saline waters should be used on very heavy soils, and (3) slightly saline, but not very saline, waters could be used on medium-textured soils.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.8 no.5
• /
• pp.687-706
• /
• 2015

Methods commonly used to evaluate the improvement of lime-treated expansive soil include swelling characteristics and unconfined compressive strength. In the field, lime-treated expansive soils are in compacted unsaturated state. Soil water characteristic curves (SWCCs) represent a key parameter to interpret and describe the behavior of unsaturated expansive soil. This paper investigates the use of SWCC as a technique to evaluate improvements acquired by expansive soil after lime treatment. Three different lime contents were considered 2%, 4% and 6% by dry weight of clay. Series of tests were performed to determine the SWCC for the different lime content under curing periods of 7 and 28 day. Correlations between key features of the soil water characteristic curves of lime treated expansive soils and basic engineering behavior such as swelling characteristics and unconfined compression strength were established. Test results revealed that initial slope ($S_1$), saturated water content ($w_{sat}$), and air entry value (AEV) play an important role in reflecting improvement in engineering behavior achieved by lime treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.23 no.10
• /
• pp.57-64
• /
• 2007

Since matric suction of unsaturated soil was related to soil and ground water contaminations, it is very important to analyze its mechanism that was represented by shear characteristics. In three phases of soil, a little air makes the condition of unsaturated soil on contract or shrinkage surface between water and air. Capillarity and suction in pore of unsaturated soil cause surface tension and surface force so it makes negative pore water pressure and increases effective stress as a result. Therefore, negative pore water pressure in partially saturated soil affects the soil structure and degree of saturation and it is important to evaluate accurately unsaturate flow and behavior. In this study, the shear strength characteristics of the seven sandy soils were investigated using consolidated drained triaxial tests with special emphasis on the effects of the negative pore pressure and the matric suction. These tests involved shearing under either a constant net confining pressure and varying matric suction or under a constant matric suction and varying net normal stress.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
• /
• v.11 no.5
• /
• pp.35-43
• /
• 2010

Partially saturated permeability should be defined by the function of suction (or degree of saturation) and porosity. However, commercial software and most researchers' model often describe as the function of suction. The stability of a soil slope can be affected by both hydraulic and shear strength properties of partially saturated soils. For both studies, we generally use an uncoupled seepage analysis program Seep/W(Geo-Slope, 2007) and a series stress-deformation analysis program Sigma/W, or slope stability analysis program Slope/W. Seep/W is performed for simulations of partially saturated flow problems in non-deformable soil media. However, under real situations, the water flow processes in a deformable soil are influenced by soil skeleton movement and the pore water pressure changed due to seepage will lead to changes in stresses and to deformation of a soil. Many researchers are currently developing their models for solving coupled hydro-mechanical problems to simulate slope stability during a rainstorm. For a proper implementation in the field, the developed model should be still needed in order to achieve appropriate accuracy of the solution for coupled hydro-mechanical problems in soil slope stability. Thus, the paper presents the comparison of slope stability between uncoupled and coupled analyses of seepage and stress deformation problems.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.199-210
• /
• 2004

In this study, the physical and mechanical properties of the weathered shale soils distributed in the Hwasun area have been measured in the laboratory. The physical and mechanical properties of the weathered shale soils in the study area as follows: the specific gravity is 2.66 to 2.68, the liquid limit is 36.39 to 36.92(%), the plastic limit is 18.53 to 19.48(%), the plasticity index is 17.44 to 17.86 and soil classification is CL. The maximum dry unit weight and optimum moisture content as calculated by compaction test is 22.5 to 23% and 1.58 to $1.61t/\textrm{m}^3$, respectively. The result of direct shear testing show that cohesion in saturated and unsaturated conditions increases according to the increase of dry unit weight. Internal friction angle in an unsaturated condition increases with an increase of dry unit weight, but in a saturated condition, it increases after decreasing. When compares with engineering characteristics of tile weathered shale soils in the Daegu area (Kim et al., 1995), specific gravity is found to be similar, but the liquid and plastic limit of soil samples in this study area is slightly higher than those of soil samples in the Daegu area.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.275-281
• /
• 2012

Thermal distribution in soils must be considered in engineering designs and constructions, including estimates of frost heave and thaw settlement, infrastructure in cold regions, and geothermal systems. Because thermal conductivity is a key parameter for evaluation of thermal distribution in soils, it must be accurately estimated. The thermal conductivity of fine-grained soils has been widely studied in recent years; however, few studies have reported a reliable method for experimental measurement. The present study presents the results of an experimental investigation of the thermal conductivity of a saturated kaolinite-silica mixture with respect to the variation of dry density. Thermal conductivities were measured in Constant Rate of Strain (CRS) consolidation tests, and the experimental data were analyzed to evaluate the accuracy of the new measurement system. In addition, we present an evaluation method for predicting thermal conductivity in fine-grained soils.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2003.11a
• /
• pp.703-710
• /
• 2003

In the sub-surface environments, detection of the movement of contaminant substances and recharge of groundwater by rainfall are very important factors which contain porosity and effective porosity of porous media. In this paper, the applicability of permittivity methods and proposed dielectric mixing models (DDMs) are discussed. This study showed that the ratio of effective porosity to porosity of Toyoura and River sands were 0.856 and 0.843. From the relationships between the relative porosity and effective porosity, all measured values can be confirmed to outside the range to about 0.800 for Toyoura and River sands under all experiments by FDR and FDR-V systems. In the study, this permittivity equipment can be considered to be good enough to measure determining the physical parameters of saturated soils. Consequently, this permittivity method can be contributed to estimate a porosity and effective porosity of saturated porous media because it is easy and instantaneous than previous in-situ methods.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
• /
• 1988.07a
• /
• pp.85-92
• /
• 1988

A model for the transient one-dimensional moisture movement in the saturated-unsaturated zone using a finite difference method is developed. Hysteresis in the soil water retention is incorporated. The model considers layered geologic formations. Monte Carlo simulation, together with the nearest neighbor model is used. Outputs of the model include pressure head, water content, and the water table elevation. Two Monte Carlo simulations of 100 realizations each are made for a 12-day simulation period with different input values. The simulation results show that the S.D. of the outputs increases with an increase in the input, the S.D. of the log K$$. The model is applied to predict a long term water table fluctuation, and the predicted water table agress well with the observed one.