• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.211-219
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• 1999

Surface complexation models(SCMs) have been performed to predict metal ion adsorption behavior onto the mineral surface. Application of SCMs, however, requires a self-consistent approach to determine model parameter values. In this paper, in order to determine the metal ion adsorption parameters for the triple layer model(TLM) version of the SCM, we used the zeta potential data for Zeolite and Kaolinite, and the metal ion adsorption data for Pb(II) and Cd(II). Fitting parameters determined for the modeling were as follows ; total site concentration, site density, specific surface area, surface acidity constants, etc. Zeta potential as a new approach other than the acidic-alkalimetric titration method was adopted for simulation of adsorption phenomena. Some fitting parameters were determined by the trial and error method. Modeling approach was successful in quantitatively simulating adsorption behavior under various geochemical conditions.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.31-44
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• 1998

The geochemical experiments were carried out to investigate a removal effect of heavy metals in abdndoned metallic mine wastes, and to conceive a treatment techniques of them. In order to prevent contamination, experiment appature was made of acrylic acid resin and polyethylene which resist to acid and alkali. Experiment models are devided into four groups based on the system environments, distribution patterns and a kind of filling materials. The first group is background model(model I ) which is filled with waste only and opened to air. The second one is four layer group which is subdivided into two models, opened and closed systems, and the third mix group which is subdivided into three models based on mixing ratio of filling materials and system environment like a layered group. The forth is composed of two layer model, lower one composed of waste and upper one limestone chips. Solution drained from Model Ishows a high contents of heavy metals on the all terms of experiments. Among the models, however, the closed mix model V and Ⅶ show the most effective removal of heavy metals liberated from wastes. Models having different mixing ratios of filling materials on closed systems does not affect in heavy metal removal effect. But, the distribution patterns of filling materials affect very much on removal effect of heavy metals. The closed models with same constitution ratios and distribution patterns of filling materials show more and less effective removal to the open models.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.103-110
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• 2018

This study introduces the supervised committee fuzzy model as a hybrid fuzzy model to predict compressive strength (CS) of geopolymers prepared from alumina-silica products. For this purpose, more than 50 experimental data that evaluated the effect of $Al_2O_3/SiO_2$, $Na_2O/Al_2O_3$, $Na_2O/H_2O$ and Na/[Na+K] on (CS) of geopolymers were collected from the literature. Then, three different Fuzzy Logic (FL) models (Sugeno fuzzy logic (SFL), Mamdani fuzzy logic (MFL), and Larsen fuzzy logic (LFL)) were adopted to overcome the inherent uncertainty of geochemical parameters and to predict CS. After validating the model, it was found that the SFL model is superior to MFL and LFL models, but each of the FL models has advantages to predict CS. Therefore, to achieve the optimal performance, the supervised committee fuzzy logic (SCFL) model was developed as a hybrid method to combine the benefits of individual FL models. The SCFL employs an artificial neural network (ANN) model to re-predict the CS of three FL model predictions. The results also show significant fitting improvement in comparison with individual FL models.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.737-760
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• 2022

For the geological disposal of high-level radioactive wastes (HLW), an understanding of deep subsurface environment is essential through geological, hydrogeological, geochemical, and geotechnical investigations. Although South Korea plans the geological disposal of HLW, only a few studies have been conducted for characterizing the geochemistry of deep subsurface environment. To guide the hydrogeochemical research for selecting suitable repository sites, this study overviewed the status and trends in hydrogeochemical characterization of deep groundwater for the deep geological disposal of HLW in developed countries. As a result of examining the selection process of geological disposal sites in 8 countries including USA, Canada, Finland, Sweden, France, Japan, Germany, and Switzerland, the following geochemical parameters were needed for the geochemical characterization of deep subsurface environment: major and minor elements and isotopes (e.g., ³⁴S and ¹⁸O of SO₄^2-, ¹³C and ¹⁴C of DIC, ²H and ¹⁸O of water) of both groundwater and pore water (in aquitard), fracture-filling minerals, organic materials, colloids, and oxidation-reduction indicators (e.g., Eh, Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺, H₂S/SO₄^2-, NH₄⁺/NO₃^-). A suitable repository was selected based on the integrated interpretation of these geochemical data from deep subsurface. In South Korea, hydrochemical types and evolutionary patterns of deep groundwater were identified using artificial neural networks (e.g., Self-Organizing Map), and the impact of shallow groundwater mixing was evaluated based on multivariate statistics (e.g., M3 modeling). The relationship between fracture-filling minerals and groundwater chemistry also has been investigated through a reaction-path modeling. However, these previous studies in South Korea had been conducted without some important geochemical data including isotopes, oxidationreduction indicators and DOC, mainly due to the lack of available data. Therefore, a detailed geochemical investigation is required over the country to collect these hydrochemical data to select a geological disposal site based on scientific evidence.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.117-129
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• 2014

Groundwater contamination is seeking a lot of attention due to constant degradation of water by landfills and waste lagoons. In many cases heterogeneous soil system is encountered and hence, a finite element model is developed to solve the advection-dispersion equation for layered soil system as FEM is a robust tool for modelling problems of heterogeneity and complex geometries. Recently developed Meshfree methods have advantage of eliminating the mesh and construct approximate solutions and are observed that they perform effectively as compared to conventional FEM. In the present study, both FEM and Meshfree method are used to simulate phenomenon of contaminant transport in one dimension. The results obtained are agreeing with the values in literature and hence the model is further used for predicting the transport of contaminants. Parametric study is done by changing the dispersion coefficient, average velocity, geochemical reactions, height of leachate and height of liner for obtaining suitability.

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

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.181-197
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• 2010

This study is for finding a geoscientific factor for clarifying the source soil of the ancient earthenware finding. The used samples were the earthenware, soil and rocks, which were collected at the Gyeongju, Gyeongsan and Haman area. The chemical and mineralogical study for the samples were carried out for understanding the change of mineralogical and chemical composition among them. The mineralogical compositions of the earthenware are different from those of the soils from the surrounding area, which suggests that the mineralogical approach for clarifying the source soil of the earthenware should be difficult. Major element compositions of the earthenware also are different from those of the surrounding soils, which suggests that the comparison of the chemical composition using the major elements might be difficult for deducing the source soil of the earthenware. However, PAAS-normalized rare earth element (REE) patterns and Nd model ages among the rock, soils and earthenware from the same sampling sites show similar characteristics one another compared to those of the major element compositions. Nd-Sr isotopic systematics among the earthenware, soils and rocks also show a close relationship. Our results suggest that REE and Nd-Sr isotope geochemistry might be more useful than the other geochemical technique in clarifying the source soils of the ancient earthenware.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.719-729
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• 2008

In this study, the speciation, adsorption, and transport of uranium in groundwater environments were simulated using geochemical models. The retarded transport of uranium by adsortption was effectively simulated using 3-D groundwater flow and reactive transport models. The results showed that most uranium was adsorbed(up to 99.5%) in a neutral pH(5.5$pCO_2(10^{-3.6}atm)$ condition. Under the higher $pCO_2(10^{-2.5}atm)$ condition, however, the pH range where most uranium was absorbed was narrow from 6 to 7. Under very low $pCO_2(10^{-4.5}atm)$ condition, uranium was mostly absorbed in the relatively wide pH range between 5.5 and 8.5. In the model including anion complexes, the uranium adsorption decreased by fluoride complex below the pH of 6. The results of this study showed that uranium transport is strongly affected by hydrochemical conditions such as pH, $pCO_2$, and the kinds and concentrations of anions($Cl^-$, ${SO_4}^{2-}$, $F^-$). Therefore, geochemical models should be used as an important tool to predict the environmental impacts of uranium and other hazardous compounds in many site investigations.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.599-612
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• 1995

Some REE ore deposits are located in the middle part the of Korean peninsula. Geotectonically, the REE ore deposits situated on the Kyemyeongsan Formation of northern margin of the Okcheon geosynclinal belt and in the transitional zone between Kyeonggi massif and the Okcheon belt, with a deep-seated fracture separating the two tectonic units. The Kyemyeongsan Formation are different in lithology and metamorphic grade from the Gyeonggi massif and the Okcheon super group. The sequence of Kyemyeongsan Formation is dominantly composed of acidic metavolcanic and volcaniclastic rocks associated with alkaline igneous rocks which are related to volcano-plutonism. The REE ore deposits contain mainly Ce-La, Ta-Nb, Y, Y-Nd and Nd-Th group minerals. More than 15 RE and REE minerals have been found in the deposits, such as allanite, fergusonite, thorite bestnaesite, euxenite, polyclase, monazite, columbite, (Nb)-rutile, okanoganite, sphene, zircon, illmenite and some other unknown minerals. According to the characteristics of the mineral association, the REE ore deposits may be divided into 4 ore types; Zircon-REE, allanite-REE, feldspar-REE and fluorite-REE type. The Sm-Nd isochron age of the REE ore is 330 Ma, and the Sm-Nd model age is 1.11 Ga with ${\varepsilon}_{Nd(t)}$ being - 2.9. This data suggest that the REE ore deposit was formed in the early Carboniferous, and the ore-forming material came from the mantle. The REE ores show distinct light REE enrichment with strong negative Eu anomaly. The REE patterns of schistose rocks from Kyemyeongsan Formation are similar to felsic volcanics from rifts or back arc basins in or near continental crust. The genesis of the REE ore deposit is quite complicated. Different geologic processes are displayed in the studied area; sedimentation, volcanic activity, metamorphism and hydrothermal replacement. Alkali granite has suffered extensive post-magmatic metasomatism of a high temperature to produce alkali metasomatites. Geochemical charateristics show that metasomatism of alkaline fluid was probably the dominant ore-forming process in Chungju district.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2016

Groundwater flow paths and groundwater ages at a radioactive waste repository located in a coastal area of South Korea were evaluated using the hydrochemical and hydrogeological characteristics of groundwater, surface water, rain water, and seawater, as well as by numerical modeling. The average groundwater travel time in the top layer of the model, evaluated by numerical modeling and groundwater age (34 years), approximately corresponds to the groundwater age obtained by chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)-12 analysis (26-34 years). The data suggest that the groundwater in wells in the study area originated up-gradient at distances of 140-230 m. Results of CFC analyses, along with seasonal variations in the δ¹⁸O and δD values of groundwater and the relationships between ²²²Rn concentrations and δ¹⁸O values and between ²²²Rn concentrations and δD values, indicate that groundwater recharge occurs in the summer rainy season and discharge occurs in the winter dry season. Additionally, a linear relationship between dissolved SiO₂ concentrations and groundwater ages indicates that natural mineralization is affected by the dilution of groundwater recharge in the rainy summer season.