• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.97-99
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• 2004

To understand the geochemical processes controlling the distribution of nitrate and other agricultural constituents in an alluvial aquifer, hydrogeological and hydro geochemical studies were carried out in an agricultural area within Cheonan. In this selected field, nitrate concentrations were very wide in range but was locally attenuated significantly down to very low levels (<1.0 mg/L). Abrupt removal of nitrate coincided with the pattern of redox change and thus indicated that geochemical processes occurring during and after recharge events control the behavior and distribution of nitrate and other redox-sensitive chemical species.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.11 no.9
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• pp.881-895
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• 2002

Sediments and river waters form the channel of Hwasun-cheon were studied in sedimentological size and geochemical analyses of metallic elements for the purposes of identification of depositional environments and geochemical characteristics. The sizes of sediments are assigned to pebble to coarse sand in mean size and polymodal in distribution. And the sediments are poorly to very poorly sorted and positively skewed. According to the grain size distributions of the sediments, the Hwasun-cheon belongs to gravel-bed river on the basis of the grain size distribution of the sediments. The behaviors of metallic elements in the sediments mainly depend on not grain size distribution but the geology connected with geomorphological reliefs near the stream. Contamination indices(CI) of Zn, Cu and Pb are 2.83 to 6.96 with average 4.31 in the sediments. Hwasun-cheon is assigned to general stream type in accordance with water quality of physical factors and chemical characteristics by Piper's diagram. Though meaningful values of BOD, T-N, T-P were locally depicted near Masan-ri, Hwasun-eup and Jiseok-cheon areas, artificial metal concentration do not represent in the most area of the stream. Sediments and river water are considered that the relatively more or less high metallic contents in the stream are originated from coal mine and urban area.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.717-726
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• 2022

This study was conducted to assess the geochemical contamination degree of As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Sb, and Zn in the soil and water samples from an abandoned gold mine. Enrichment Factor (EF), Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo), and Pollution Load Index (PLI) were carried out to assess the geochemical contamination degree of the soil samples. Variations of sulfate and heavy metals concentration in water samples were determined to identify the geochemical distribution with respect to the distance from the mine tailing dam. Geochemical pollution indices indicated significant contaminated with As, Cd, Pb, and Zn in the soil samples that areas close to the mine tailing dam, while, Sb showed similar indices in all soil samples. These results indicated that the As, Cd, Pb, and Zn dispersion has occurred via anthropogenic sources, such as mining activities. In terms of water samples, anomalies in the concentrations of As, Cd, Zn, and SO₄^2- was determined at specific area, in addition, the concentrations of the elements gradually decreased with distance. This result implies the heavy metals distribution in water has carried out by the weathering of sulfide minerals in the mine tailing and soil. The study area has been conducted the remediation of contaminated soil in the past, however, the geochemical dispersion of heavy metals was supposed to be occurred from the potential contamination source. Therefore, continuous monitoring of the soil and water is necessary after the completion of remediation.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.301-312
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• 2010

Geochemical data have been regarded as one of the important environmental variables in the environmental management. Since they are often sampled at sparse locations, it is important not only to predict attribute values at unsampled locations, but also to assess the uncertainty attached to the prediction for further analysis. The main objective of this paper is to exemplify how indicator geostatistics can be effectively applied to geochemical data processing for providing decision-supporting information as well as spatial distribution of the geochemical data. A whole geostatistical analysis framework, which includes probabilistic uncertainty modeling, classification and risk analysis, was illustrated through a case study of cadmium mapping. A conditional cumulative distribution function (ccdf) was first modeled by indicator kriging, and then e-type estimates and conditional variance were computed for spatial distribution of cadmium and quantitative uncertainty measures, respectively. Two different classification criteria such as a probability thresholding and an attribute thresholding were applied to delineate contaminated and safe areas. Finally, additional sampling locations were extracted from the coefficient of variation that accounts for both the conditional variance and the difference between attribute values and thresholding values. It is suggested that the indicator geostatistical framework illustrated in this study be a useful tool for analyzing any environmental variables including geochemical data for decision-making in the presence of uncertainty.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.379-391
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• 1991

The studied Cretaceous granties are widely distributed at the southern Mungyeong area in the southwestern part of Ogcheon Fold Belt. From the mineralogical and geochemical compositions, it is suggested that they show the characteristics of I-type and magnetite-series and formed under the conditions of high oxygen fugacity. The mineral chemistry of plagioclase, alkali feldspar and biotite in the granites by EMPA, was revealed as albite to oligoclase, microcline to microcline perthite and orthoclase perthite, and annite compositions, respectively. The granites have the distribution patterns of enriched LREE and depleted HREE, and show Eu negative anomalies suggesting mainly due to the feldspar fractionation in the residual magma. The geochemical data of Eu, EU/$^*Eu$, Sm and Gd suggest that the granites of the area have more abundant alkali feldspar crystallization than plagioclase. From the geochemical characteristics of Sr/Ba, La/Sm vs. Ce/Yb and other trace element evidences, the granites were the late stage products of differentiation and fractionated from a homogeneous parental granitic magma.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2000

An environmental geochemical survey of heavy metal distribution in marine surface sediments around the ocean of Samcheonpo coal-fired power plant was conducted to investigate the possibility of coal-ash leakage from ash pond and the associated heavy metal pollution in sedimental deposits due to the operation of the coal-fired power plant. The X-Ray Diffractometry (XRD) analysis showed that the main leakage point of coal-ash was limited to a single site of the first ash pond. It also appeared that the amounts of organic carbon and metal elements were positively correlated to the grain size distribution, and that Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, and Zn were bounded to organic ligands. However, the distributions of Cd, Hg, and Mn did not have any significant correlation with the sediment grain size and organic matters. In particular, the distribution of Cd appeared to be affected by the concentration of the carbonate materials in the study area.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.237-246
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• 1994

Tin mineralizations in South Korea have been found only in the Ulchin and Sangdong areas. They appear to be in close spatial association with the Wangpiri granitoid in the UlChin area, and the Nonggeori and Naedeogri granites in the Sangdong area. However, previous works have revealed that there are considerable differences in geological setting, mineralogical and geochemical compositions among these granitoids concerned. The roles of discriminant and multiple regression analysis have been examed to establish geochemical differences among the tin-granitoids and to identify elements relating to tin mineralizations. The data set used in this study consists of 60 observations with 29 elements which are cited from pre-existing publications. A stepwise discriminant analysis determined the group of variables that differentiate between samples from four training sets; Buncheon, Wangpiri, Nonggeori and Naedeogri granitoids. These granitoids were most effectively discriminated on the basis of major elements FeO, CaO and $P_2O_5$ and also by the trace elements Rb and Zr. Results of the multiple regression analysis shows that the level of Sn in granitoids depends positively on ones of MnO, Rb and FeO and negatively $P_2O_5$. Graphical representation of discriminant scores on sampling locations greatly aid recognition of differences in the geochemical characteristics in terms of spatial distribution of granitoids examed. The application of the discriminant analysis provides a potential means of identifying and comparing geochemical characteristics.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.171-174
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• 1997

To provide better insights into the factors and processes regulating the geochemical behavior of airborne lead (Pb), we have investigated several important aspects of its distribution characteristics using the data collected from the Kyung Hee University-Suwon Campus during 1989 through 1994. Although the Pb data in the area reflected the effects of many anthropogenic activities ongoing in the area, the data were quite useful to assess the geochemical facets affecting the temporal distributions of lead as well as particulate matter (PM). The analysis of these data indicated that the Pb patterns were characteristic of enriched Pb levels during odd-numbered years relative to even-numbered years, while those of PM were exhibiting pronouncingly different patterns. Despite many similarities and differences found between year-to-year distribution patterns, of Pb data, it was possible to discuss the facts associated with relatively high concentrations in the years 1991 and 1993 via normalization of Pb against PM data. According to this procedure, we were able to conclude that relative enrichment in Pb levels during 1991 was due to enhanced input of PM, while that of the year 1993 came from more chemically-oriented processes such as active adsorptive scavenging of Pb onto the PM surface. Based on our comparative analysis of the size-fractionated PM and Pb data sets, we propse that two distinctive mechanisms that are both of phyical (1991) and chemical nature (1993) exerted controls over the observed distribution patterns of airborne Pb in the atmosphere of Suwon.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.137-147
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• 2002

Natural geological and environmental processes reflect to element abundances in geological materials on the surface. This study aims to elucidate a possibility of geostatistical application to differentiate geochemical anomalies affected by anthropogenic and geogenic factors. A regional geochemical map was produced using 'inverse distance weight interpolation' method for analytical results of stream sediments «150 11m) which were collected from 2,290 first- to second-order streams over the whole Gyeonggi Province. The Jurassic granitic batholith in the southeastern province was selected as a target for the geostatistical examination. Factor analysis was conducted using 22 elements for stream sediments from 445 drainage basins over the granitic body. Co, Cr, Sc, MgO, Fe$_{2}$O$_{3}$, V, and Ni were grouped with high correlation coefficients and the depletion of the components may reflect the whole-rock chemistry of the granite. Regression analysis was done using Co, Cr, and Sc as dependent variables and other six components as independent variables, and the results were drawn as maps. The maps acquired generally show quite similar distribution patterns with those of concentrations of each variable. The similarity in the spatial patterns between the two maps indicates that the application of regression statistics can be valid for the interpretation of regional geochemical data. However, some components show local discrepancies which may be influenced by secondary factors regardless of the basement lithology. The regression analysis may be effective in extracting local geochemical anomalies which may reflect rather anthropogenic pollutions than geogenic influences.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.339-352
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• 2022

As environmental criteria items are increased or strengthened, cases of heavy metal contamination by geogenic origin are increasing, and the need to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic origins in soil or groundwater exceeding the standard is increasing. In this study, geochemical occurrences of geogenic heavy metals were identified through statistical processing of the national geochemical map data and evaluation of geochemical characteristics of regions with high geoaccumulation indices. Cobalt, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn were targeted for which the national geochemical maps were prepared, and Co, Cr, Ni, and V derived from ultrabasic or ultramafic rocks were classified as factor 1. Copper, Pb and Zn of non-ferrous sulfide origin were classified as factor 2. In particular, enrichment of heavy metals by factor 1 occurs mainly in the serpentine distribution areas of the Chungcheong region, and there is a risk of contamination in neighboring areas. In the case of factor 2, geogenic occurrence is concerned not only in non-ferrous metal mineralization areas such as Taebacksan and Gyeongnam mineralization zones, but also in Au-Ag mineralization areas distributed nationwide.