• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.137-144
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• 2012

Soil pan typically presents the problems in soil water movement or in aeration which is not appropriate for a plant root growth, In this study physico-chemical characteristics of soils and micromorphological characteristic of clay accumulated zone were investigated to identify redox characteristic and evolution of a fragipan of Gangreung series commonly developed in coastal terraces. Gangreung series is classified as Aquic Fragiudalfs according to the USDA soil taxonomy. It is known that sedimentary ocean floor results in soil pan having parallel liner soil structure due to landscape evolution around 200 to 250 million years ago. it is considered that illite, kaolinite, and vermiculite are major clay minerals contained in a fragipan of Gangreung series. Mixed gray and reddish brown colored band around soil pores was found and would be the redoxmorphic features of fragipan. It is possibly due to accumulated illuvial clay and ferriargillans in soil pores and aggregates in reducing conditions eluding ferrous material. Therefore, mixed colored band around pores in soils of Gangreung series would be developed from the eluted ferrous materials which were accumulated in fragipan during the emerged land formation.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.205-210
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• 1986

A soil micromorphological study of clayey terrace soils in Yeongnam area was carried out to investigate the soil genetic features and to distinguish the soil parent materials. Dominant plasmic fabrics in the terrace soils were vosepic, mosepic, insepic, and masepic of sepic fabrics but the Geugrag and Upyeong in Yeongil sequence have an asepic fabrics. Embedded grain cutans in the terrace soils were characterized by having porphyroskelic related distribution. Among pedological features of the B horizons of the terrace soils, the argillic cutans of ferriargillans and glaebules of manganiferrous concretions were the dominant in mineralogical composition, and the papules are abundant in the most terrace soils indicating that the soils are generally old. The substrata of the Bancheon in Yeongcheon and Upyeong in Yeongil area were so different from the terrace deposits in plasmic fabrics that these soils were believed to be composed of bisequum profiles. Because of having the free grain cutans, it was considered that the substrata of Bancheon in Yeongcheon and Upyeong in Yeongil area might have a period of soil formation before deposition of the terrace materials.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.86 no.2
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• pp.186-199
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• 1997

The soils derived from granite gneiss occupy almost one third of the land area in Korea. The soils under forest vegetation, formed on granite gneiss, in Sun chon-shi, Chollanam-do in southern part of Korea, were studied to evaluate the weathering and the transformation of primary minerals into secondary minerals, clay minerals. The studied soils contained large amounts of ferromagnesian minerals, weathered biotites and were well weathered, strongly acid and low in organic matters and in ration exchange capacity. The clay contents in the Bt horizon were almost two times higher than those in the C horizon. The O horizon had a thin layer which consisted of a little decomposed plant components with a granic fabric and high porosity, and showed the micromorphological characteristics of moder humus. The related distribution pattern of the E horizon were enaulic and large amounts of silts and small amounts of sand grains were another characteristics of the E horizon. The most striking micromorphological features were multilaminated clay coating and infillings in the voids in the Bt and C horizons, and generally limpid ferriargillans ejected from the biotites and imparted red color to the soils in the Bt horizon. High clay contents in the Bt horizon was not only due to clay translocation, but also due to intensive in situ mineral weathering in this horizon. The most significant pedogenic process, revealed by the petrographic microscope and SEM, was the formation of iron oxides from biotites, the formation of tubular halloysites and the weathering models of biotites; wedge weathering and layer weathering. The thick coating on the weathering biotites showed the characteristics of the weathering process and the synthetic hematites were revealed in clays by TEM. Total chemical analysis of clays revealed extensive loss of Ca, and Na and the concentration of Fe and Al. Mineralogical studies of clays by XRD showed that micas were almost completely weathered to kaolinite, vermiculite-kaolinite intergrade, hematite, gibbsite, while halloysites from other primary minerals. Some dioctahedral mica appeared to be resistant in the soils. Parent rock of the soils contained a considerable amounts of biotites and this forest soils showed especially a dominant characteristics of biotite weathering.