• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.25-41
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• 2002

In order to investigate the hydrogeochemical characteristics and contamination of dissolved major ions and heavy metals in the Tancheon River, river water and sediment samples were collected at 18 locations, along a distance of 69 km, between Yongin-si in Kyunggi-do and Samsung-dong in Seoul on October in 2000 and April in 2001. After appropriate sample preparation, waters were analyzed for the dissolved constituents and sediments. The pH values of river waters were in the range of 7.0 to 9.3 and could be plotted in the area of surface environment. The level of $Ca^{2+}$, , CI-, sol-, N0$_{3}$ and HC0$_{3}$ in the Tancheon River were higher than those in world average river water. Most of dissolved constituents in the river waters increased toward downstream from upstream. In particular, high concentrations of Zn2+, Na$_{+}$, CI$^{-}$, SO$_{4}^{2-}$ and N03- were found near densely residential areas and the Sungnam waste water treatment plant. The relative ion enrichment was caused by the inflow of local domestic and industrial sewages. Also, Ca2+ and HC03- concentrations were enriched in the middle of the Tancheon River due to the dissolution of cements. This indicates that the apartment complexes were built on a large scale in the upriver since these ten years and large amounts of construction materials such as cements were flowed into the Tancheon River. Concentrations of heavy metals (Mn, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) in sediments from the Tancheon River exceeded the lower limit of tolerence level in bottom sediment established by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (OME) of Canada. In particular, these metals were highly elevated in sediment (TSM-12) collected from near the Sungnam waste water treatment plant. Heavy metals were higher enriched in sediments collected from dry period rather than wet period.