• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.46 no.7
• /
• pp.783-794
• /
• 2013

Saline groundwater, in addition to fresh groundwater, is actively developed for inland aqua culture in Jeju Island where groundwater is practically the only source of freshwater. In this work we analyzed impacts of saline and fresh groundwater development on groundwater systems in Sungsan subwatershed in Jeju. A sharp-interface model was used to simulate fresh and saline groundwater flows. Withdrawal of freshwater imparted adverse impacts by lowering groundwater level and inducing saltwater encroachment. Withdrawal of saline water imparted mixed results: on one hand it lowered groundwater level, on the other hand it reduced saltwater encroachments. However, freshwater development lowered groundwater level much more than salinewater development did. Modified Ghyben-Herzberg ratio was developed for a transition zone with finite width. Comparison against observed data resulted in fair agreement.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.144-156
• /
• 2021

This study examined hydrogeological characteristics of groundwater and surface water interaction in the fresh-saline water mixed zone of East Coast lagoon area, Korea, using several technical approaches including hydrological, lithological, and isotopic methods. In addition, the fresh-saline water interface was evaluated using vertical electrical conductivity (EC) data. For this purpose, three monitoring wells (SJ-P1, SJ-P2, and SJ-P3) were installed across the Songji lagoon at depths of 7.4 to 9.0 m, and water level, EC, and temperature at the wells and in the lagoon (SJ-L1) were monitored using automatic transducers from August 1 to October 21, 2021. Isotopic composition of the groundwater, lagoon water, and sea water were also monitored in the mid-September, 2013. The mixing ratios calculated from oxygen and hydrogen isotopic composition decreased with increasing depth in the monitoring wells, indicating saline water intrusion. In the study area, the interaction of groundwater-surface water-sea water was evident, and residual salinity in the sedimentary layers created in the past marine environment showed disorderly characteristics. Moreover, the horizontal flow at the lagoon's edge was more dominant than the vertical flow.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.20 no.7
• /
• pp.34-42
• /
• 2015

Feasibility tests for the hydraulic fracturing were conducted in order to secure additional saline groundwater for irrigating to the land-based aquaculture farm. Two boreholes were placed to the aquaculture farm A and B, respectively. A hydraulic fracturing using single packer was applied to major fracture zones within two boreholes. To identify effects of hydraulic fracturing on securing additional saline groundwater, some selective methods including well logging methods, pumping tests, and groundwater quality analysis were commonly applied to the boreholes before and after the hydraulic fracturing. Enlarging/creating fracture zones, increasing water contents in bedrock near boreholes, and increasing transmissivity were observed after the hydraulic fracturing. Even though the hydraulic fracturing could be an alternative to secure additional saline groundwater to the land-based aquaculture farm, salinity of the groundwater did not meet optimal thresholds for each fingerling in two farms: Fresh submarine groundwater discharge flowed the more into borehole of the farm A that resulted in decreasing a salinity value. Increased saline groundwater quantity in the borehole of the farm B rarely affect to the salinity. Although salinity problem of groundwater limited its direct use for the farms, the mixing with seawater could be effectively used for the fingerlings during the early stage. A horizontal radial collector well placed in the alluvial layer could be an alternative for the farms as well.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.95-105
• /
• 2021

Extensive groundwater abstraction has been recognized as one of the major challenges in management of coastal groundwater. The purpose of this study was to assess potential changes of groundwater distribution of northeastern Jeju Island over 10-year duration, where brackish water have been actively developed. To quantitatively estimate the coastal groundwater resources, numerical simulations using three-dimensional finite-difference density-dependent flow models were performed to describe spatial distribution of the groundwater in the aquifer under various pumping and recharge scenarios. The simulation results showed different spatial distribution of freshwater, brackish, and saline groundwater at varying seawater concentration from 10 to 90%. Volumetric analysis was also performed using three-dimensional concentration distribution of groundwater to calculate the volume of fresh, brackish, and saline groundwater below sea level. Based on the volumetric analysis, a quantitative analysis of future seawater intrusion vulnerability was performed using the volume-based vulnerability index adopted from the existing analytical approaches. The result showed that decrease in recharge can exacerbate vulnerability of coastal groundwater resources by inducing broader saline area as well as increasing brackish water volume of unconfined aquifers.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.55 no.6
• /
• pp.671-687
• /
• 2022

It has been reported that about 47% of groundwater wells within 10 km from the coastline in the western/southern coastal areas of Korea were affected by seawater. It has been interpreted that the cause of groundwater salinization is seawater intrusion. The Gilsan stream in the Seocheon area was a tidal stream until the Geumgang estuary dam was constructed and operated. Therefore, it is likely that the Gilsan stream catchment was deposited with sediments containing high-saline formation water prior to the use of landfill farmland at this catchment area. The groundwater in this study area showed EC values ranging from 111 to 21,000 µS/cm, and the water quality types were diverse including Ca(or Na)-HCO₃, Ca(or Na)-HCO₃(Cl), Na-Cl(HCO₃), Na-Cl types. It is believed that this diversity of water quality is due to the mixing of seawater and fresh groundwater generated by infiltration of precipitation and surface water through soil and weathered part. In this study, we discussed whether this water quality diversity and the presence of saline groundwater are due to present seawater intrusion or to remnant high-saline pore water in sediments during flushing out process. For this, rain water, surface water, seawater, and groundwater were compared regarding the water quality characteristics, tritium content, oxygen/hydrogen stable isotopic composition, and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio. The oxygen/hydrogen stable isotopic compositions indicated that water composition of saline groundwaters with large EC values are composed of a mixture of those of fresh groundwater and surface water. Also, the young groundwater estimated by tritium content has generally higher NO₃ content. All these characteristics showed that fresh groundwater and surface water have continued to affect the high-saline groundwater quality in the study area. In addition, considering the deviation pattern in the diagrams of Na/Cl ratio versus Cl content and SAR (sodium adsorption ratio) versus Cl content, in which two end members of fresh surface-ground water and seawater are assumed, it is interpreted that the groundwater in the study area is not experiencing present seawater intrusion, but flush out and retreating from ancient saline formation water.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.12-24
• /
• 2023

The Songji lagoon is brackish environment with a mixture of saline and fresh water, and the interaction of groundwater-lagoon water creates a physicochemical gradient. Although some studies have been conducted on the hydrological and geochemical characteristics of the Songji lagoon, microbial ecological studies have not yet been conducted. In this study, we investigated the effect of groundwater and surface water interaction on water quality as well as microbial community changes in the Songji Lagoon using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Hydrochemical analyses show that samples were classified as 5 hydrochemical facies (HF) and hydrochemical facies evolution (HFE) revealed the intrusion phase was more dominant (57.9%) than the freshening phase (42.1%). Higher microbial diversity was found in freshwater in comparison to saline water samples. The microbial community at the phylum level shows the most dominance of Proteobacteria with an average of 37.3%, followed by Bacteroidota, Actinobacteria, and Patescibacteria. Heat map analyses of the top 18 genera showed that samples were clustered into 5 groups based on type, and Pseudoalteromonas could be used potential indicator for seawater intrusion.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.65 no.1
• /
• pp.73-81
• /
• 2023

To understand salinity status of fresh water and paddy soils and the susceptibility of rice to salinity stress of Gunnae reclaimed tidelands, salinity monitoring was conducted in rainy and dry seasons. For fresh water, a high salinity was observed at the sampling location near the sluice gate and decreased with distance from the gate. This spatial pattern of fresh water salinity indicates the necessity of spatial distribution of salinity in the assessment of salinity status of fresh water. Interestingly, there was significant correlation between rainfall amount and salinity, implying that salinity of fresh water varies with rainfall and thus it may be possible to predict salinity of water using rainfall. Soil salinity also higher near the gate, reflecting the influence of high saline water. In addition, the groundwater salinity also high to threat rice growth. Though soil salinity status indicated low possibility of sodium injury, there was changes in soil salinity status during the course of rice growth, suggesting that more intensive monitoring of soil salinity may be necessary for soil salinity assessment. Our study suggests the necessity of intensive salinity monitoring to understand the spatio-temporal variations of salinity of water and soil of reclaimed tideland areas.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.77-85
• /
• 2018

We observed the concentrations of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) and Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) in coastal seawater and groundwater around a volcanic island, Jeju, Korea. The sampling of surface seawater and coastal groundwater was conducted in Woljeongri, Pyoseon, and Kwakgi beaches, in three sampling campaigns (June, July, and October 2016). The concentrations of DOC in groundwater were relatively higher in June and October than in July. Salinity and DOC concentrations in the coastal groundwater of Woljeongri and Pyoseon beaches did not show a marked relationship, whereas those in Kwakgi beach showed a good positive correlation (July: $R^2=0.64$, P < 0.01; October: $R^2=0.95$, P < 0.01). In addition, the concentrations of CDOM (C and M peaks) in the groundwater of Woljeongri and Pyoseon beaches, where saline groundwater discharge dominates, were relatively higher than those of Kwakgi beach, where fresh groundwater discharge dominates. The relatively higher DOC concentrations in the coastal groundwater of Woljeongri and Pyoseon, with higher CDOM concentrations, seem to be mainly from anthropogenic sources such as local pollution sources (i.e., aquaculture wastewater or domestic sewage). In order to understand the behavior of DOC in the coastal groundwater of a volcanic island, extensive studies are necessary in the future over a larger-area and greater time-scales using various isotopic tracers.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.215-225
• /
• 2015

We performed injection tests in a deep-seated confined aquifer to assess the potential of artificial recharge as a means of preventing saltwater contamination, thereby securing groundwater resources for the Nakdong Delta area of Busan City, Korea. The study area comprises a confined aquifer, in which a 10-21-m-thick clay layer overlies 31.5-36.5 m of sand and a 2.8-11-m-thick layer of gravel. EC logging of five monitoring wells yielded a value of 7-44 mS/cm, with the transition between saline and fresh water occurring at a depth of 15-38 m. Above 5 m depth, water temperature is 10-15.5℃, whereas between 5 and 50 m depth the temperature is 15.5-17℃. Approximately 950 m³ of fresh water was injected into the OW-5 injection well at a rate of 370 m³/day for 62 hours, after which the fresh water zone was detected by a CTD Diver installed at a depth of 40 m. The persistence of the fresh water zone was determined via EC and temperature logging at 24 hours after injection, and again 21 days after injection. We observed a second fresh water zone in the OW-2 well, where the first injection test was performed more than 20 days before the second injection test. The contact between fresh and saline water in the injection well is represented by a sharp boundary rather than a transitional boundary. We conclude that the injected fresh water occupied a specific space and served to maintain the original water quality throughout the observation period. Moreover, we suggest that artificial recharge via long-term injection could help secure a new alternative water resource in this saline coastal aquifer.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.56 no.6
• /
• pp.847-870
• /
• 2023

The safe disposal of high-level radioactive waste requires accurate predictions of the long-term geochemical behavior of radionuclides. To achieve this, the present study was conducted to model geochemical behaviors of uranium (U), plutonium (Pu), and palladium (Pd) under different hydrogeochemical conditions that represent deep groundwater in Korea. Geochemical modeling was performed for five types of South Korean deep groundwater environment: high-TDS saline groundwater (G1), low-pH CO₂-rich groundwater (G2), high-pH alkaline groundwater (G3), sulfate-rich groundwater (G4), and dilute (fresh) groundwater (G5). Under the pH and Eh (redox potential) ranges of 3 to 12 and ±0.2 V, respectively, the solubility and speciation of U, Pu, and Pd in deep groundwater were predicted. The result reveals that U(IV) exhibits high solubility within the neutral to alkaline pH range, even in reducing environment with Eh down to -0.2 V. Such high solubility of U is primarily attributed to the formation of Ca-U-CO₃ complexes, which is important in both G2 located along fault zones and G3 occurring in granitic bedrocks. On the other hand, the solubility of Pu is found to be highly dependent on pH, with the lowest solubility in neutral to alkaline conditions. The predominant species are Pu(IV) and Pu(III) and their removal is predicted to occur by sorption. Considering the migration by colloids, however, the role of colloid formation and migration are expected to promote the Pu mobility, especially in deep groundwater of G3 and G5 which have low ionic strengths. Palladium (Pd) exhibits the low solubility due to the precipitation as sulfides in reducing conditions. In oxidizing condition, anionic complexes such as Pd(OH)₃^-, PdCl₃(OH)₂^-, PdCl₄^2-, and Pd(CO₃)₂^2- would be removed by sorption onto metal (hydro)oxides. This study will improve the understanding of the fate and transport of radionuclides in deep groundwater conditions of South Korea and therefore contributes to develop strategies for safe high-level radioactive waste disposal.