• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.107-119
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• 2022

Excavation-Disturbed Zone (EDZ) is an important design factor in constructing final disposal facilities for spent nuclear fuel, since EDZ affects mechanical stability including a spacing between disposal holes, and the hydraulic properties within EDZ plays a significant role in estimating in-flow rate of groundwater as well as a subsequent corrosion rate of a canister. Thus, it is highly required to characterize in-situ EDZ with precision and control the EDZ occurrence while excavating disposal facilities and constructing relevant underground research facilities. In this report, we not only reviewed EDZ-related researches carried out in the ONKALO facility of Finland but also examined appropriate methods for field inspection and quality control of EDZ occurrence. From the review, GPR can be the most efficient method for in-situ characterization of EDZ since it does not demand drilling a borehole that may disturb a surrounding environment of caverns. And the EDZ occurrence was dominant at a cavern floor and it ranged from 0 to 70 cm. These can provide useful information in developing necessary EDZ-related regulations for domestic disposal facilities.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.61-68
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• 2010

A pilot-scale model test was performed to estimate the availability of new material, Fe-loaded zeolite, as the filling material in permeable reactive barrier (PRB) against the contaminated groundwater with both Cd and Cr(VI). Aquifer was simulated by filling up a large scale soil tank with sands, and mobilizing the water flow by the head difference of water level in both ends of the tank. Then, the mixture of concentrated Cd and Cr(VI) solution was injected into the aquifer to form a contaminant plume, and its behavior through Fe-loaded zeolite barrier was monitored. The test results showed that Fe-loaded zeolite barrier successfully treated the contaminant plume containing both Cd and Cr(VI) and that the immobilized contaminants in the barrier were not desorbed or released. The results indicated that the Fe-loaded zeolite could be a promising material in PRBs against the multiple contaminants with different ionic forms like Cr(VI) and Cd.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.142-152
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• 2023

Infiltration is a process by which precipitation infuses into subsurface soils. The process determines the surface flow and baseflow volume, and it is one of most important hydrological processes regarding nonpoint source pollution management. Therefore, the Ministry of Environment has developed a guideline to determine the impervious area ratio to understand the hydrological process in administrative districts and watersheds. The impervious area ratio can be determined using land use or land cover maps. Three approaches were explored to determine the impervious area ratio in 25 districts in Seoul. The impervious area ratio was determined by employing the Land registration map and Land property data in the first approach, Land property map in the second approach, and Land cover map in the third approach. The ratio ranged from 38.96% to 83.01% in the first approach, 38.98% to 83.02% in the second approach, and 37.62% to 76.63% in the third approach. Although the ranges did not provide any significant differences in the approaches, some districts displayed differences up to 9.48% by the approach. These differences resulted from the fact that the data were land use or land cover, especially in the area of airport, residential complex area, and school sites. In other words, division of the pervious and impervious areas in an individual plot was not allowed in the Land registration map, while it was allowed in the Land cover map. Therefore, it was concluded that there is a need to revise the guideline so that a reasonable impervious area ratio can be determined in the districts.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.388-398
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• 2023

The changes in groundwater flow due to mining development act as a contributing factor to major issues such as ground subsidence, strength reduction and collapse. For the sustainable mining development, measures for dealing with fluctuations in seasonal underground water inflow, power losses, pump damage, and unexpected increases in inflow must be put in place. In this study, the aim is to identify the causes of underground seepage through the examination of hydrological connectivity between the study area and nearby limestone mine. A tracer tes for assessing subsurface connectivity has been planned. A variety of tracers, such as dyes and ions, were applied in lab test to select the optimal tracer material, and a hydrological model of the study area was implemented through field test. Finally, the hydrological connectivity between the external stream and underground water in the mine was analyzed.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.415-427
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• 2024

This study undertook a quantitative analysis of the distribution of fractures in deep drillcore from a Precambrian metamorphic complex on the north face of Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon-do, Korea. The fracture distribution with depth, inclination of fractures, and grain size in the fracture zone were measured and statistical techniques applied to derive probability distributions of fracture intervals. Analysis of the inclination angles of fracture planes showed that sub-horizontal fractures are dominant, and fracture spacing is mainly ≤0.5 m, with a median of 0.09 m, first quartile of 0.04 m, and third quartile of 0.18 m, indicating very dense fracture development. Statistical analysis of joint properties was undertaken with fitting using five probability density functions (double Weibull, exponential, generalized logistic, gamma, and lognormal). The lognormal distribution (sum of squared errors, SSE = 2.80) yielded the best fit based on the sum of residual squares. Quantitative characterization of the fracture characteristics of deep bedrock in the Hongcheon area is important for various geotechnical applications such as groundwater flow modeling, slope stability assessment, and underground structure design. In future studies, it will be necessary to combine in situ stress measurements and geophysical surveys to determine the relationship between fracture development and the local stress field.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.3 s.108
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• pp.344-354
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• 2004

A pilot study was performed from September 2000 to April 2004 to examine the feasibility of the wetland-pond system for the agricultural reuse of reclaimed water. The wetland system was a subsurface flow type, with a hydraulic residence time of 3.5 days, and the subsequent pond was 8 $m^3$ in volume (2 m ${\times}$ 2 m ${\times}$ 2 m) and operated with intermittent-discharge and continuous flow types. The wetland system was effective in treating the sewage; median removal efficiencies of $BOD_5$ and TSS were above 70.0%, with mean effluent concentrations of 27.1 and 16.8 mg $L^{-1}$, respectively, for these constituents. However, they did often exceed the effluent water quality standards of 20 mg $L^{-1}$. Removal of T-N and T-P was relatively less effective and mean effluent concentrations were approximately 103.2 and 7.2 mg $L^{-1}$, respectively. The wetland system demonstrated high removal rate (92 ${\sim}$ 90%) of microorganisms, but effluent concentrations were in the range of 300 ${\sim}$ 16,000 MPN 100 $mL^{-1}$ which is still high for agricultural reuse. The subsequent pond system provided further treatment of the wetland effluent, and especially additional microorganisms removal in addition to wetland-pond system could reduce the mean concentration to 1,000 MPN 100 $mL^{-1}$ from about $10^5$ MPN 100 $mL^{-1}$ of wetland influent. Other parameters in the pond system showed seasonal variation, and the upper layer of the pond water column became remarkably clear immediately after ice melt. Overall, the wetland system was found to be adequate for treating sewage with stable removal efficiency, and the subsequent pond was effective for further polishing. This study concerned agricultural reuse of reclaimed water using natural systems. Considering stable performance and effective removal of bacterial indicators as well as other water quality parameters, low maintenance, and cost-effectiveness, wetland- pond system was thought to be an effective and feasible alternative for agricultural reuse of reclaimed water in rural area.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.18-30
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• 2023

Submarine mud volcanos are topographic features that resemble volcanoes, and are formed due to eruptions of fluidized or gasified sediment material. They have gained attention as a source of subsurface heat, sediment, or hydrocarbons supplied to the surface. In the continental slope of the Canadian Beaufort Sea, mud volcano exists at various water depths. The MV420, is an active mud volcano erupting at a water depth of 420 meters, and it has been the subject of extensive study. The Korea Polar Research Institute(KOPRI) collected high-resolution seismic data and heat flow data around the caldera of the mud volcano. By analyzing the multi-channel seismic data, we confirmed the reverse-polarity reflector assumed by a gas hydrate-related bottom simulating reflector(BSR). To further elucidate the relationship between the BSR and gas hydrates, as well as the thermal structure of the mud volcano, a numerical geothermal model was developed based on the steady-state heat equation. Using this model, we estimated the base of the gas hydrate stability zone and found that the BSR depth estimated by multi-channel seismic data and the bottom of the gas hydrate stability zone were in good agreement., This suggests the presence of gas hydrates, and it was determined that the depth of the gas hydrate was likely up to 50 m, depending on the distance from the mud conduit. Thus, this depth estimate slightly differs from previous studies.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.317-324
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• 2012

To reduce non-point source pollutants in Juam Lake eco-wetlands, purification efficiencies of pollutants were investigated at three different systems. The constructed wetlands (CWs) consisted of A system, B system and C system. A system consisted of $1^{st}$ free water surface (FWS) CW, $2^{nd}$ FWS CW, $3^{rd}$ FWS CW, $4^{th}$ subsurface flow (SSF) CW and $5^{th}$ SSF CW. B system consisted of $1^{st}$ FWS CW, $2^{nd}$ FWS CW, $3^{rd}$ FWS CW, $4^{th}$ FWS CW and $5^{th}$ SSF CW. C system consisted of $1^{st}$ FWS CW, $2^{nd}$ FWS CW, $3^{rd}$ FWS CW, $4^{th}$ FWS CW and $5^{th}$ SSF CW. The concentrations of BOD, COD, SS, T-N and T-P in inflow ranged 0.20 ~ 0.91, 1.24 ~ 8.00, 0.60 ~ 8.60, 0.04 ~ 2.50 and $0.001{\sim}0.685mg\;L^{-1}$ from March to October in 2011, respectively. Removal rates of BOD, SS, T-N and T-P were high in Autumn, Spring, Spring and Summer, respectively. In A system, $1^{st}$ FWS CW, $2^{nd}$ FWS CW and $3^{rd}$ FWS CW were dominated by Leersia oryzoides. In B system, $1^{st}$ FWS CW, $3^{rd}$ FWS CW and $4^{th}$ FWS CW were dominated by Leersia oryzoides. In C system, $2^{nd}$ FWS CW and $3^{rd}$ FWS CW were dominated by Nymphaea teragona.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.90 no.2
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• pp.197-209
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• 2001

TOPMODEL, semi-distributed hydrological model, is frequently applied to predict the amount of discharge, main flow pathways and water quality in a forested catchment, especially in a spatial dimension. TOPMODEL is a kind of conceptual model, not physical one. The main concept of TOPMODEL is constituted by the topographic index and soil transmissivity. Two components can be used for predicting the surface and subsurface contributing area. This study is conducted for the validation of applicability of TOPMODEL at small forested catchments in Korea. The experimental area is located at Gwangneung forest operated by Korea Forest Research Institute, Gyeonggi-do near Seoul metropolitan. Two study catchments in this area have been working since 1979 ; one is the natural mature deciduous forest(22.0 ha) about 80 years old and the other is the planted young coniferous forest(13.6 ha) about 22 years old. The data collected during the two events in July 1995 and June 2000 at the mature deciduous forest and the three events in July 1995 and 1999, August 2000 at the young coniferous forest were used as the observed data set, respectively. The topographic index was calculated using $10m{\times}10m$ resolution raster digital elevation map(DEM). The distribution of the topographic index ranged from 2.6 to 11.1 at the deciduous and 2.7 to 16.0 at the coniferous catchment. The result of the optimization using the forecasting efficiency as the objective function showed that the model parameter, m and the mean catchment value of surface saturated transmissivity, $lnT_0$ had a high sensitivity. The values of the optimized parameters for m and InT_0 were 0.034 and 0.038; 8.672 and 9.475 at the deciduous and 0.031, 0.032 and 0.033; 5.969, 7.129 and 7.575 at the coniferous catchment, respectively. The forecasting efficiencies resulted from the simulation using the optimized parameter were comparatively high ; 0.958 and 0.909 at the deciduous and 0.825, 0.922 and 0.961 at the coniferous catchment. The observed and simulated hyeto-hydrograph shoed that the time of lag to peak coincided well. Though the total runoff and peakflow of some events showed a discrepancy between the observed and simulated output, TOPMODEL could overall predict a hydrologic output at the estimation error less than 10 %. Therefore, TOPMODEL is useful tool for the prediction of runoff at an ungaged forested catchment in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.170-174
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• 1997

Constructed wetland system was studied to treat wastewater from industrial complex in rural area. Pilot plant at the Baeksuk Nongkong Danzi in Chunahn-City was used for field study. For the DO, the effluent concentration was higher than the influent concentration and it implies that natural reaeration supplies enough oxygen to the system. For the SS, the effluent concentration was consistently lower than the water quality standard even though the influent concentration varied significantly, which showed that SS was removed by the system effectively which is consist of soil and plants. For the BOD and COD, the average removal rate of them were 56% and 43%, respectively, therefore, the effluent concentration could not meet water quality standards when influent concentration was high. The removal rate of BOD and COD can be improved by supplemental treatment in addition to this system if necessary. For the T-N and T-P, the influent concentration of them were lower than the water quality standards than no further treatment was needed. Overall, the result showed that constructed wetland system is a feasible alternative for the treatment of wastewater from industrial complex in rural area. For actual application of this system, further study on design factors including loading rate, removal mechanism, and temperature effects is required to meet water quality standard consistently. Compared to existing systems, this system is quite competitive because it requires low capital cost, almost no energy and maintenance, and therefore, very cost effective.