• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.86-95
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• 2022

Background: As high concentrations of uranium and radon have been detected in some areas in Korea, it is considered necessary to investigate natural radioactive materials in the Gwangju area. Objectives: This study aimed to identify the hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater in Gwangju and investigate the distribution characteristics of uranium and radon, which are naturally radioactive substances. Methods: To determine the uranium and radon concentrations in groundwater according to the geology of the Gwangju area, we measured 62 groundwater wells. A geological distribution map of uranium and radon content was prepared for this study. Results: The groundwater type, defined using a Piper diagram, was mainly Ca-HCO₃. The concentration of uranium in the groundwater ranged from 0 to 29.3 ㎍/L, with a mean of 3.3 ㎍/L and a median of 0.9 ㎍/L. The median concentration of uranium in groundwater was highest in alluvium, granitic gneiss, and biotite granite (classified by geological unit), in that order. The concentration of radon in the groundwater ranged from 4.8 to 313.2 Bq/L, with a mean of 75.6 Bq/L and a median of 59.6 Bq/L. The median concentration of radon in groundwater was highest in biotite granite, alluvium, and granitic gneiss, in that order. As a result of the correlation analysis of groundwater in the study area, there was no significant correlation between uranium and radon. Conclusions: In this study area, uranium was shown to be far below the concentrations allowed by drinking water quality standards, but radon concentrations exceeded drinking water quality monitoring standards in 11% of the samples. It was judged that appropriate measures, such as the installation of radon reduction facilities, will be required after a thorough review of high-concentration radon detection sites of in the research area.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.291-292
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• 2005

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.486-493
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• 2002

Hydrogeochemical characteristics of groundwater from a limestone and granite area were studied in the Hwanggangri district, where important fluorite ore deposits are distributed. The geochemical properties of groundwater from limestone and granite are commonly characterized as Ca$^{2+}$-HCO$_3\;^-$ and (Ca$^{2+}$+Na$^+$)-HCO$_3\;^-$ type, respectively. Groundwater, contaminated by mine drainage water from the neighboring ore deposits, has not been observed yet. However, fluoride in groundwater exceeding the drinking water permission level is found in the wells located in a Cretaceous granite area. The concentrations of F in the groundwater show a positive relationship with the values of Na, HCO$_3$, Li and pH. This may suggest that the groundwater come from the decomposition of fluoride-bearing silicate minerals within highly differentiated granitic rocks.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.45-57
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• 1999

Groundwater flow in rock mass is controlled by the fractures developed in the area. So, the conductive fractures are very important for groundwater flow in crystalline rock. This study aims to find out the characteristics of the fracture distributed in granitic rock in the northern part of the Yusong area (latitude $36^{\circ}24'18"~36^{\circ}25'08",{\;}longitude{\;}127^{\circ}21'00"~127^{\circ}23'23"$). The electric and EM surveys were carried out in the site to delineate the fracture the fracture zones. Since geophysical survey provides non-unique solution, hydraulic data and dilling log data including BHTV scanning were used as complementary data to achieve the objective of this study. Electric survey(DC) arrays used are schlumberger and dipole-dipole arrays. VLF is used for EM survey. The main charcteristics of the fracture developed in the study aera are that fractures associated with basic dyke cut corss the main fracture zone in NNW and play an important role as hydraulic barrier. In trun, groundwater table in the upstream area is lower than that downstream area.

• Geosciences Journal
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.1001-1013
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• 2018

A new type of uranium occurrence in Korea was identified in pegmatitic and hydrothermally altered granite in the Daejeon area. The U-bearing parts typically include muscovite, pink-feldspar and sericite as alteration minerals. In this study, the geochemical characteristics and alteration age of the granitic rocks were examined to provide evidence for hydrothermally-enriched uranium. The K-Ar ages of muscovite coexisting with U-bearing minerals were determined as 123 and 128 Ma. The U-bearing rocks have relatively low ($CaO+Na_2O$), high $K_2O$ contents, and high alteration index values by major element geochemistry. The trace element geochemistry shows that the uraniferous rocks have significantly low Th/U ratios and strongly differentiated features. The rare earth element patterns indicate that the uraniferous rocks have a low total REE and LREE contents with depletion of Eu. Considering the geochemical variation of the granitic rock major, trace and rare earth elements, it can be concluded that uranium enrichment in pegmatites and altered granite should be genetically related to post-magmatic hydrothermal alteration of K-metasomatism after emplacement of the two-mica granite. This is the first report for geochemical characteristics of Mesozoic granite-related U-occurrences in South Korea. This study will help further research for uranium deposits with similarities in geological setting, mineralogy and age data between South China and Korea, and can also be expected to help solve the source problems related to high uranium concentrations in some groundwater occurring in the granitic terrane.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.205-213
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• 2010

A hydrochemical comparative study of groundwater in uraniferous sedimentary rock of the Ogcheon belt was carried out to investigate the genetic relationship between uraniferous groundwater of Daejeon area and uraniferous sedimentary rocks of the Ogcheon zone. The groundwater shows weak alkaline pH values rangingfrom 6.4 to 8.1 and low Eh values ranging from -50 to 225 mV. The groundwaters to Ca-$HCO_3$ type that shows high concentration of $Ca^{2+}$ and $HCO_3^_$ due to the dissolution of carbonate mineral in limestone. The concentration of uranium in the groundwater was measured very low below $3.2{\mu}g/L$, while it was detected as much as $1165{\mu}g/L$ in the mine waste water. The low Eh value of groundwater is one of the main causes of low uranium concentration of groundwater in uraniferous sedimentary rocks in the Ogcheon belt. It is suggested that the uranium of groundwater in granitic region of Daejeon area was not mainly provided from uraniferous sedimentary rocks in the Ogcheon belt.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.131-145
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• 2015

Thermodynamic prediction of weathering products from primary aquifer minerals around underground disposal sites was investigated. The distribution of solubility quotients for kaolinite-smectite reactions showed the trend of reaching at equilibrium with Ca-, Mg-, and Na-smectite for deep groundwaters in granitic aquifers. The values of $10^{-14.56}$, $10^{-15.73}$, and $10^{-7.76}$ were proposed as equilibrium constants between kaolinite and Ca-, Mg-, and Na-smectite end members, respectively. On stability diagrams, most of deep groundwaters were located at equilibrium boundaries between stability fields of kaolinite and smectites or on stability fields of smectites and illite. Shallow groundwaters in basic rock aquifer were plotted at the same stability areas of deep granitic groundwaters on stability diagrams. The results indicated that the primiary mineralogical composition may be important to predict weathering products in deep aquifers.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.41-51
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• 2002

Recently, domestic waste landfills are constructed sometimes on seashore area to provide large landfill area. In order to strengthen the foundation of landfills and to prevent the infiltration of leachate through the bottom, many cases of constructing cement hardened liners on seashore clays are found. In these cases, it is possible to have cracks in the hardened liners due to settlement with waste load since the stiffness of the hardened liner Is greater than that of clay liners. In this study, the capability of Self-Sealing and Self-Healing (SSSH) liner made with a seashore clay in the metropolitan landfill to prevent the percolation of water and leachate is examined using flexible-wall permeameter test and using uniaxial compression test. Applicability of SSSH to weathered granitic soil is also examined for self-sealing capabilities. The result of Flexible permeameter test for SSSH with the seashore clay showed that permeability obtained was lower than permeability criteria of Korean waste management law. The permeability and strength characteristics of SSSH with granitic soil and bentonite showed better results than with the seashore clay.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.237-249
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• 2019

The roughness changes on a fracture surface were analyzed via a multi-stage compression test under high temperatures to assess how the cracks in a rock mass affect groundwater movement. The analyzed samples consist of coarse granitic rocks from approximately 40 and 270 m depth, and fine granitic rocks from 500 m depth. The compression test was conducted on $20{\times}40{\times}5mm$ samples using a loading system where the pressure increases in 10 MPa increments to 120 MPa. A high-resolution 3D confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) was used to observe the surface changes, including the roughness changes, at each pressure step. The roughness change was calculated based on the roughness factor. The experimental results indicate that the roughness of the fracture surface varies with rock type under the stepwise pressure conditions. These data provide a basis for predicting groundwater flow along rock fractures.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.639-652
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• 2012

A three-dimensional discrete fracture network model was developed in order to simulate the hydraulic characteristics of a granitic rock mass at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) Underground Research Tunnel (KURT). The model used a three-dimensional discrete fracture network (DFN), assuming a correlation between the length and aperture of the fractures, and a trapezoid flow path in the fractures. These assumptions that previous studies have not considered could make the developed model more practical and reasonable. The geologic and hydraulic data of the fractures were obtained in the rock mass at the KURT. Then, these data were applied to the developed fracture discrete network model. The model was applied in estimating the representative elementary volume (REV), the equivalent hydraulic conductivity tensors, and the amount of groundwater inflow into the tunnel. The developed discrete fracture network model can determine the REV size for the rock mass with respect to the hydraulic behavior and estimate the groundwater flow into the tunnel at the KURT. Therefore, the assumptions that the fracture length is correlated to the fracture aperture and the flow in a fracture occurs in a trapezoid shape appear to be effective in the DFN analysis used to estimate the hydraulic behavior of the fractured rock mass.