• Title/Summary/Keyword: geoenvironment

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Modeling Techniques for Geoenvironmental Engineering Problems

  • Singh, D.N.;Rao, B. Hanumantha
    • Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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    • 2007.09a
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    • pp.542-557
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    • 2007
  • Contamination of subsurface results in degradation of geomaterials (i.e., soils and rock mass), in the long run. This is mainly due to the presence of chemical and/or radiological materials in undesirable concentrations and at elevated temperatures. However, as contaminant-geomaterial interaction is an extremely slow and complex process, which primarily depends on their physical, chemical and mineralogical properties, it is quite difficult to study this interaction under laboratory or in situ conditions. In such a situation, accelerated physical modeling, using a geotechnical centrifuge, and finite element/difference based numerical modeling techniques are found to be quite useful. This paper presents details of various modeling techniques developed by the researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India, for studying heat migration, flow and interaction (fate) of reactive and non-reactive contaminants in the geoenvironment, under saturated and unsaturated conditions. In addition, paper presents details of the technique that can be employed for determining susceptibility of a material to undergo physico-chemico-mineralogical alterations due to its interaction with contaminants.

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A Seismic Study on Muddy Sediment Deposits in the Northern Shelf of the East China Sea (동중국해 북부대륙붕에 발달한 니질 퇴적체의 탄성파 연구)

  • Choi Dong-Lim;Lee Tae-Hee;Yoo Hae-Soo;Lim Dhong-Il;Huh Sik;Kim Kwang-Hee
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.38 no.6 s.175
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    • pp.633-642
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    • 2005
  • We present the sedimentary sequence and distribution pattern of the late Holocene muddy deposits in the northern East China Sea shelf using the high-resolution 'Chirp' profiles. The seismic sedimentary sequence overlying acoustic basement (basal reflector-B) can be divided into two depositional units (Unit 1 and 2) bounded by erosional bounding surface (mid reflector-M). The lower Unit 1 above basal reflector-H is characterized by the acoustically parallel to subparallel reflections and channel-fill facies. The upper Unit 2, up to 7 m in thickness, shows seismically semi-transparent seismic facies and lenticular body form. On the base of sequence stratigraphic concept, these two sediment units have developed during transgression and highstand period, respectively, since the last sea-level lowstand. The transgressive systems tract (Unit 1) lie directly on the sequence boundary (reflector B) that have farmed during the last glacial maximum. The transgressive systems tract in this study consists mostly of complex of delta, fluvial, and tidal deposits within the incised valley estuary system. The maximum flooding surface (reflector M) corresponding to the top surface of transgressive systems tract is obviously characterized by erosional depression. The highstand systems tract (Unit 2) above maximum flooding surface is made up of the mud patch filled with the erosional depression. The high-stand mud deposits showing a circle shape just like a typhoon symbol locates about 140 km off the south of Cheju Island with water depth of $60\~90m$. Coverage area and total sediment volume of the mud deposits are about $3,200km^2$ and $10.7\times10^9\;m^3$, respectively. The origin of the mud patch is interpreted as a result of accumulating suspended sediments derived from the paleo-Yellow and/or Yangtze Rivers. The circular distribution pattern of the mud patch appears to be largely controlled by the presence of cyclonic eddy in the northern East China Sea.

Acoustic Characterization of Three Seamounts Located in the Northwest of Marshall Islands, Western Pacific (서태평양 마샬제도 북서쪽에 위치한 세 해저산에 대한 음향상 연구)

  • Lee, Tae-Gook;Lee, Kie-Hwa;Moon, Jai-Woon;Jung, Mee-Sook;Kim, Hyun-Sub;Lee, Sang-Mook
    • Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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    • v.7 no.3
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    • pp.193-206
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    • 2004
  • Geophysical data including chirp (3 7 kHz) subbottom profile and detailed bathymetry were obtained over three seamounts in the Ogasawara Fracture Zone (OFZ) of the western Pacific, as a part of manganese crust survey onboard R/V Onnuri in 2003. The OFZ is a 150-km-wide, 600-km-long rift zone, which separates the East Mariana and Pigafetta Basin. The OFZ is unique in that it includes many seamounts (e.g., Magellan Seamounts andseamounts on the Dutton Ridge). The sub-seafloor acoustic echoes obtained near the OFZ were classified into following types on the basis of their characteristics: types I-1(pelagic sediment with parallel or subparallel reflectors), I-2 (pelagic sediment with no internal reflectors), and III-1 (reef build-up complex) on summit; types II-1 and III-2 (basement outcrop) on flank rift zone and upper slope, respectively; type III-3 (slump) on the lower slope and embayment between the flank rift zones; types II-2 (debrite) on the base of slope and basin floor; and types II-3 (turbidite or pelagic sediment) and II-4 (turbidite) on the basin floor. The mass-wasting that produced the complex of type II-2 debrite and III-3 slump on the lower slope and basin may have been caused by (1) strong tensional stress in the OFZ which may cause the numerous fissures or basement faults and (2) complex of the faults on the summit and steep upper slope. The variations in the echo type of pelagic sediment in the summit of seamounts may be related with the changes in the depositional and/or erosional environments. Type I-2 pelagic sediment, which is characterized by a thin and intermittent coverage, was probably deposited at a sheltered area when the current was strong, whereas type I-1 pelagic deposit occurred during a stage of progressive sedimentation.

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Removal of As(III) in Contaminated Groundwater Using Iron and Manganese Oxide-Coated Materials (철/망간 산화물 피복제를 이용한 오염지하수에서의 As(III)제거)

  • Kim Ju-Yong;Choi Yoon-Hyeong;Kim Kyoung-Woong;Ahn Joo Sung;Kim Dong Wook
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.38 no.5 s.174
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    • pp.571-577
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    • 2005
  • Permeable reactive barrier using iron oxide coated sand is one of effective technologies for As(V) contaminated groundwater. However, this method is restricted to As(III), because As(III) species tends to be more weakly bound to adsorbent. In order to overcome the limitation of iron oxide coated sand application to As(III) contaminated groundwater, manganese oxide materials as promoter of As(III) removal were combined to the conventional technology in this study. For combined use of iron oxide coated sand and manganese oxide coated sand, two kinds of removal methods, sequential removal method and simultaneous removal method, were introduced. Both methods showed similar removal efficiency over $85\%$ for 6 hrs. However, the sequential method converted the As contaminated water to acid state (pH 4.5), on the contrary, the simultaneous method maintained neutral state (pH 6.0). Therefore, simultaneous As removal method was ascertained as a suitable treatment technology of As contaminated water. Moreover, for more effective As(III) remediation technique, polypropylene textile which has the characteristics of high surface area, low specific gravity and flexibility was applied as alternative material of sand. The combined use of coated polypropylenes by simultaneous method showed much more prominent and rapid remediation efficiency over $99\%$ after 6 hrs; besides, it has practical advantages in replacement or disposal of adsorbent for simple conventional removal device.

A Flow Cytometric Study of Autotrophic Picoplankton in the Tropical Eastern Pacific (Flow cytometer를 이용한 열대 동태평양의 독립영양 극미소 플랑크톤 연구)

  • Noh, Jae-Hoon;Yoo, Sin-Jae;Lee, Mi-Jin;Son, Seung-Kyu;Kim, Woong-Seo
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.26 no.2
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    • pp.273-286
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    • 2004
  • The effects of environmental forcing on autotrophic picoplankton distributional patterns were investigated for convergence ($5^{\circ}N$), divergence ($9^{\circ}N-10^{\circ}30'N$) and oligotrophic ($17^{\circ}N$) sites in the tropical eastern Pacific during 2001 and 2003 KODOS (Korea Deep Ocean Study) cruises. The distributions of picoplankton populations - Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus and picoeukaryotes algae - were determined by flow cytometric analyses. Latitudinal variations in abundance maxima, vertical profiles, integrated abundance (0-150 m), and estimated carbon biomass were contrasted for each site according to three hydrological conditions. Prochlorococcus showed consistently high abundance in the surface mixed layers of all sites at $1\;{\times}\;10^5{\sim}3\;{\times}\;10^5\;cells\;ml^{-1}$ and showed declining abundance below these layers. However, these decreasing rates were not particularly sharp showing considerably high abundance at $1\;{\times}\;10^4\;cells\;ml^{-1}$ or higher even at 100 m depth. Vertical profiles of Synechococcus and picoeukaryotes were generally parallel to each other in all sites. A clear abundance maximum was observed at divergence site at or slightly above the pycnocline depth. Higher abundance was observed at the surface mixed layer for convergence site but a sharp decrease was observed below the pycnocline. However, there was no significant abundance fluctuation with depth at more oligotrophic site ($17^{\circ}N$). Integrated cell abundance of Prochlorococcus was high in the oligotrophic site at $2.17\;{\times}\;10^{13}\;m^{-2}$, and low in the convergence site at $0.88\;{\times}\;10^{13}\;m^{-2}$. However, opposite pattern was observed for Synechococcus and picoeukaryotes where relatively high integrated cell abundance was shown in the convergence site. Estimated carbon biomass of Prochlorococcus contributed 30.4-80.3% of total autotrophic picoplankton carbon showing the highest contribution in the oligotrophic site and the lowest contribution in the convergence site. Synechococcus contribution of total autotrophic picoplantkon carbon biomass was lower than 5.8% for most of sites except the convergence site where Synechococcus contributed 23.2% of picoplankton carbon biomass. Carbon biomass of picoeukaryotes was 18.8-46.4% showing the highest carbon biomass at the convergence site. Overall, Prochlorococcus showed higher cell abundance and carbon biomass and exhibited different reaction to hydrological conditions when compare with the other two major autotrophic picoplankton groups.

Quantitative X-ray Diffraction Analysis of the Yellow Sea Surface Sediments; 2nd Yellow Sea Cruise Samples in 2001 (황해 표층 퇴적물의 X선 광물정량분석; 2001년 황해 2차 탐사 시료)

  • Moon, Dong-Hyuk;Kim, Soon-Oh;Yi, Hi-Il;Shin, Dong-Hyeok;Shin, Kyung-Hoon;Cho, Hyen-Goo
    • Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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    • v.20 no.3
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    • pp.203-212
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    • 2007
  • Mineral compositions of 89 Yellow Sea surface sediments collected at the second cruise in 2001, were determined using the high resolution X-ray diffractometer and Siroquant v.3.0 program. Yellow Sea surface sediments are composed of major minerals (quartz 57.8%, plagioclase 16.0% and alkali feldspar 10.0%), clay minerals, and calcite. Illite (8.7%) is the most abundant clay mineral, chlorite (2.6%) is the second, and kaolinite (0.6%) is few. however smectite is not detected. Quartz content is very high around the margin of the Yellow Sea, however is very low along the northwest to southeast direction extending from southeast of Sandong Peninsula to southwest of Jeju Island. It has similar distribution pattern with that of coarse sediment (sand). The coarse sediment, is mainly consisted of quartz, may be much supplied from the eastern part and southwestern part of the Yellow Sea. Illite distribution pattern is opposite to that of quartz. It is similar to those of clay and mud particles, therefore it can be suggested that fine sediment may be largely supplied from the northwestern part of the Yellow Sea. It is necessary to continue this kind of investigation, because it is difficult to interpret the sediment provenance of the Yellow Sea only from the result of this study.

Ecosystem Risk Assessment Using the Indicator Species (지표종을 이용한 생태계 위해성평가)

  • Chang, Jin-Soo;Kim, Kyoung-Woong
    • Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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    • v.12 no.1
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    • pp.103-115
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    • 2007
  • Risk assessment by living indicator species provides the information about the ecosystem disturbance, disapperance of symbiosis and change of living group. In the initial stage of this kind research, the degree of contamination was reported using the level of simple number, but simple number may not represent the risk itself which can be casued in the living organisms. Risk assessment using various indicator species overcomes these limitations and can be expanded to the DNA level. In many developed counties, the government has supervised the researches about the indicator species for the monitoring and its application to ecosystem restoration. Several living indicator species found in the vicinity of the abandoned Au mines such as fern, earthworm, bacteria, rhizosphere-rhizoplane, salamamdor and DNA change of these species are described in this paper.

Discovery of the Dmitri Donskoi ship near Ulleung Island(East Sea of Korea), using geophysical surveys (물리탐사기술을 이용한 침몰선 Dmitri Donskoi호 탐사)

  • Yoo, Hai-Soo;Kim, Su-Jeong;Park, Dong-Won
    • Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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    • v.8 no.1
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    • pp.104-111
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    • 2005
  • Dmitri Donskoi, the Russian cruiser launched in 1883, is known to have sunk near Ulleung Island (East Sea, Korea) on May 29, 1905, while it was participating in the Russo-Japanese War. In order to find this ship, information about its possible location was obtained from Russian and Japanese maritime historical records. The supposed location of the ship was identified, and we conducted a five-year geophysical survey from 1999 to 2003. A reconnaissance three-dimensional topographic survey of the sea floor was carried out using multi-beam echo sounder, marine magnetometer, and side-scan sonar. An anomalous body identified through the initial reconnaissance survey was identified by a detailed survey using a remotely operated vehicle, deep-sea camera, and the mini-submarine Pathfinder. Interpretation of the acquired data showed that the ship is hanging on the side of a channel, at the bottom of the sea 400 m below sea level. The location is about 2 km from Port Jeodong, Uleung Island. We discovered 152 mm naval guns and other war materiel still attached to the hull of the ship. In addition, the remnants of the steering gear and other machinery that were burnt during the final action were found near the hull. Strong magnetic fields, resulting from the presence of volcanic rocks in the survey area, affected the resolution of the magnetic data gathered; as a result, we could not locate the ship reliably using the magnetic method. Severe sea floor topography in the gully around the hull gave rise to diffuse reflections in the side-scan sonar data, and this prevented us from identifying the anomalous body with the side-scan sonar technique. However, the sea-floor image obtained from the multi-bean echo sounder was very useful in verifying the location of the ship.

Dynamic Characteristics of Decomposed Granite Soils by Changing Geoenvironment (지반환경 변화에 따른 화강토의 동적특성)

  • Lee, Jin-Soo;Lee, Kang-Il;Kim, Kyung-Jin
    • Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.41-52
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    • 2014
  • Decomposed granite soil is likely to lose its strength when exposed to air or water. Such a geomaterial is weathered by wetting-drying or freezing-melting. In this study, resonant column tests were conducted to figure out the dynamic characteristics of granite soil that has affected by environmental changes like weathering condition. The results show that wetting-drying weathering condition is the most affective parameter on the dynamic characteristics of granite soil. In the meantime, artificial weathering conditions such as freezing-melting has less affection at first and getting increase as the process repeats constantly.

Modeling As(III) and As(V) adsorption and transport from water by a sand coated with iron-oxide colloids

  • Ko, Il-Won;Lee, Cheol-Hyo;Kim, Kyoung-Woong
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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    • 2004.04a
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    • pp.243-247
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    • 2004
  • Tile development of a porous iron-oxide coated sand filter system can be modelled with the analytical solution of tile transport equation in order to obtain the operating parameters and investigate the mechanism of arsenic removal. The adsorbed amount from the model simulation showed the limitation of adsorption removal during arsenic transport. A loss reaction term in the transport equation plays a role in the mass loss in column conditions, and then resulted into the better model fitting, particularly, for arsenate. Further, the competitive oxyanions delayed the breakthrough near MCL (10 $\mu$g/L) due to the competitive adsorption. This is the reason why arsenate can be strongly attracted in tile interface of an iron-oxide coated sand, and competing oxyanions can occupy the adsorption sites. Therefore, arsenic retention was regulated by non-equilibrium of arsenic adsorption in a porous iron-oxide coated sand media. The transport-limited process seemed to be affect the arsenic adsorption by coated sand.

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