• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.757-766
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• 2012

In this study, we have examined concentration distribution and patterns of PCBs in waters, sediments and soils in an agricultural area of South Korea to investigate the relationship between PCBs sources and concentration levels. The concentration of PCBs in water samples were ranged from lower values below detection limit to 8.25 ug/L and the concentration of PCBs in sediment samples were ranged from lower values below detection limit to 76.67 ug/Kg. The concentration of PCBs in soil samples were ranged from lower values below detection limit to 23.51 ug/Kg. These contamination levels were far below the guideline values suggested for environmental quality assessment. The homologue patterns in samples varied from sample to sample, but isomer patterns were very similar with each other. PCB-138 and PCB-153 were predominant congeners in the soil and sediment, which were similar to the results obtained from previous studies. With these results, the assessment of potential sources of PCBs contamination in the sediments of the Nakdong river basin was performed. The principal components were extracted by Principal Component Analysis(PCA). As the result of PCA, it could be expected that PCBs in samples of this study were more affected by PCB products than combustion processes and mostly affected by already-known sources. The PCBs in the soil and sediment samples were related with commercial PCB products.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.42-51
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• 2010

Herbs and shrubs are employed for environmental restoration purposes. Among common herbs and shrubs, few species with low germination rates were selected and studied for enhanced germination rates and decreased germination times via soaking treatment. Rhus chinensis, incubator grown samples treated with the bacterial solution for 72hrs followed by immediate seeding showed the highest germination rate of 26.7% and germination period of 5.7 days, 3 days decrease from the control. Treatment of distilled water (t=3.79, p<0.01), nutrient broth (t=4.44, p<0.00) and bacterial solution (t=4.42, p<0.00) showed highly significant difference. In the case of soil tests, treating in the nutrient broth for 72 hrs followed by immediate seeding yielded the the highest germination rate of 23.3% with 7.3 days to initial germination, a decrease of 14.7 days with respect to the control. All the samples followed by immediate seeding showed significant difference (t=2.13, p<0.05). Incubator grown samples of Lespedeza cyrtobotrya showed different results. The incubator samples suspended for 48 hrs in distilled water followed by immediate seeding and 1 day drying displayed the highest germination rate of 96.7%, surpassing that of the control by 33.4%. The incubator samples treated with the distilled water and nutrient broth showed enhanced germination. But only the samples treated with distilled water and nutrient broth for 48hrs showed the increased germination in soil tests. All the sample treated for 24 hrs followed by immediate seeding or dried for 1 day showed initial germination as early as 1 day in incubator. The initial germinations were shortened in the samples treated with distilled water and nutrient broth for 48hrs in soil tests. Lespedeza cuneata incubator sample treated with nutrient broth for 24 hrs and dried for 1 day exhibited the highest germination rate of 83.3%, a 31.1% improvement over the control. The incubator samples treated with distilled water for 48 hrs (t=4.20, p<0.01) showed effective increase of germination. The treatment of distilled water (t=2.96, p<0.05) and bacterial solution (t=2.24, p<0.05) showed significant difference. The germination rates in soil were less than those of incubator and the control. The incubator samples treated with distilled water and bacterial solution displayed 1 day germination period, shortened by 1.3 days compared to the control. For soil grown samples, the samples treated with distilled water showed delayed initial germination and those treated with nutrient broth for 48hrs and bacterial solution for 72hrs shortened initial germination.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.179-187
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• 2020

Freezing-thawing cycles have significant effect on soils engineering behavior in frozen areas. This effect is more considerable in fine-graded than coarse-grained soils. The objective of this study is improving soil durability and strength in continues freezing-thawing cycles. For getting this purpose mixture of Polyvinyl Acetate (PVAc) and Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether (EGBE) has been added to fine-grained soil and final prepared samples were tested at different freezing-thawing cycles. PVAc was mixed with 1%, 2% and 3% of soil weight. Half of PVAc weight was used as weight of EGBE. Freezing-Thawing cycles were exposed to samples and they were tested at different cycles. Results showed that adding mixture of PVAc+EGBE improved strength and durability of samples up to 10 freezing-thawing cycles. Unconfined compress strength tests were applied to samples and stress and strain of samples were tested on failure time. Behavior of samples was different at different percentages of mixture. Results showed that increasing amount of PVAc from 1% to 2% had more considerable effect on final stress than 2% to 3%. Using higher percentages of PVAc + EGBE mixture leaded to that samples carried more strain before collapsing. Another result gained from tests was that, freezing-thawing effect was more considerable after fourth cycles. It means differences between first and fourth cycles were more considerable than differences between fourth and tenth.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.320-326
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• 1996

To analyze the effects of host versus plasmid on survival of 2, 4-degrading bacteria in environmental samples, strains Pseudomonas cepacia/pJP4, Alcaligenes JMP228/pJP4, P. cepacia/p712, and Alcaligenes JMP228/p712 were separately inoculated into samples of field soil, paddy soil, lake water, and river water, and then the changes of their populations were measured. The strains used contained a 2, 4-D degradative plasmid, either pJP4 conferring fast-growing property to the host or p712 conferring slow-growing property, and were resistant to antibiotics such that the inoculated strains could be enumerated against the indigenous microbial populations. In sterile environmental samples, these strains were stably maintained at the levels used for inoculation, except in sterile paddy soil where Alcaligenes JMP228 strains died drapidly. In natural soil samples for four strains declined steadily with time, but in naturla water samples their polulations fell rapidly at the early phase and then remained almost constant. When the environmentla samples were treated with 2, 4-D, P. cepacia/pJP4 and P. cepacia/p712 maintained significant numbers, while Alcaligenes JMP228/pJP4 and Alcaligenes JMP228/p712 declined significantly in most of the samples. The results indicated that the survivability of genetically modified microorganisms could vary depending on the environments and that their abundance in the environments under s2, 4-D selection was markedly influenced by the nature of the 2, 4-D degradative plasmid as well as type of the host strain.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.45-53
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• 1999

The soil samples were measured at 90 sites of Soil's Network In 1997~1998 which was established for the investigation of soil contamination in Seoul. This study was more focused to measure and analyze for BTEX(Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene) concentration in the Soil Network. Also, the samples were analyzed by Purge & Trap method. As a result, the BTEX were detected at all sampling sites in Seoul. The Min. Max and Mean BTEX concentration were respectively 0.047mg/kg, 2.618mg/kg and 0.437mg/kg in 1998. The concentration of the BTEX detected at all sampling sites was lower than that of the intervention standards(at industrial areas) of Soil Preservation Act.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.689-707
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• 2016

Soil stabilization is one of the useful method of ground improvement for soil with low bearing capacity and high settlement and unrequired swelling potential. Generally, the stabilization is carried out by adding some solid materials. The main objective of this research was to investigate the feasibility of stabilization of organic soils and sewage sludge to obtain low cost alternative embankment material by the addition of two different slags. Slags were used as a replacement for weak soil at ratios of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%, where sewage sludge and organic soil were blended with slags separately. The maximum dry unit weights and the optimum water contents for all soil mixtures were determined. In order to investigate the influence of the slags on the strength of sewage sludge and organic soil, and to obtain the optimal mix design; compaction tests, the California bearing ratio (CBR) test, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test, hydraulic conductivity test (HCT) and pH tests were carried out on slag-soil specimens. Unconfined compressive tests were performed on non-cured samples and those cured at 7 days. The test results obtained from untreated specimens were compared to tests results obtained from soil samples treated with slag. Laboratory tests results indicated that blending slags with organic soil or sewage sludge improved the engineering properties of organic or sewage sludge. Therefore, it is concluded that slag can be potentially used as a stabilizer to improve the properties of organic soils and sewage sludge.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.427-433
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• 2019

Sakarya is famous for cucurbit productions in Turkey and cucurbits can grow as big as 560 kg of weight per fruit in its agricultural areas. There is no or limited information about contaminant levels and profiles of the agricultural fields in Sakarya. The purpose of this study is to investigate the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (naphthalene, phenanthrene, pyrene, and fluoranthene) and heavy metal (As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn) concentrations of the selected fields. Total 33 soil samples were collected from 12 counties of Sakarya where both cucurbits have been produced and organochlorine pesticides have been applied to the fields for more than 30 y during the historical plantation periods. Heavy metal and PAH contents in the soil samples were measured by an Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectroscopy and a Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. The highest phenanthrene, pyrene, and fluoranthene concentrations were measured as 63.50 ng/g, 134.34 ng/g, 140.0 ng/g, respectively in the soil samples from Geyve County. Cu, Ni, and Cr concentrations were measured as 108.2 mg/kg, 219.9 mg/kg, and 173.1 mg/kg, respectively in Geyve's samples which were also the highest and 2-7 times more than the limit values given in the Turkish Soil Pollution Control Regulation. Precautions need to be taken for Sakarya's agricultural fields which are an important milestone of Turkey's cucurbit and fruit productions since the contaminants can be accumulated in the fruits and edible parts of the plants.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.3
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• pp.17-18
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• 1962

A study on fungus flora of 8 paddy field soil samples including 5 AKIOCHI soils has been made. Samples were taken from Chung-nam area. Fungi of 5 Genera and 19 species were identified; Aspergillus, Penicillium, Spicaria, Curvularia, Trichodema, were the 5 genera and the 19 speciec consristed of 4 Aspergilli, 12 Penicilli, and the each one of the others. Variations of fungus flora among those soil samples were noticed without the ecologieal explanation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.65-68
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• 2001

This study was conducted to develop a soil moisture meter using capacitance probe. A parallel cylinder type capacitance probe (C-probe) was fabricated The 5 MHz of crystal oscillator was constructed to detect the capacitance change of the C-probe with moist soil. A third order polynomial regression model for volumetric water content having oscillation frequency changes at 5 MHz as independent variables presented the determination coefficient of 0.979 and root mean square error of $0.031\;cm^{3}cm^{3}$ for all soil samples. A prototype soil moisture meter consisting of the sample container, C-probe, oscillator, frequency counter and related signal procession units presented the correlation coefficient of 0.987 and the root mean square error of $0.032\;cm^{3}cm^{3}$ as compared with the oven drying method for unknown soil samples.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.555-563
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• 2016

Uniformity and leveled distributions of soil chemicals across paddy fields are critical to manage optimal crop yields, reduce environmental risks and efficiently use water in rice cultivation. In this study, an investigation of spatial distributions on soil chemical properties was conducted to evaluate the effect of land leveling on mitigation of soil chemical property heterogeneity from a remodeled paddy field. The spatial variabilities of chemical properties were analyzed by geostatistical analyses; semivariograms and kriged simulations. The soil samples were taken from a 1 ha paddy field before and after land leveling with sufficient water. The study site was located at Bon-ri site of Dalseong and river sediments were dredged from Nakdong river basins. The sediments were buried into the paddy field after 50 cm of top soils at the paddy field were removed. The top soils were recovered after the sediments were piled up. In order to obtain the most accurate spatial field information, the soil samples were taken at every 5 m by 5 m grid point and total number of samples was 100 before and after land leveling with sufficient water. Soil pH increased from 6.59 to 6.85. Geostatistical analyses showed that chemical distributions had a high spatial dependence within a paddy field. The parameters of semivariogram analysis showed similar trends across the properties except pH comparing results from before and after land leveling. These properties had smaller "sill" values and greater "range" values after land leveling than ones from before land leveling. These results can be interpreted as land leveling induced more homogeneous distributions of soil chemical properties. The homogeneous distributions were confirmed by kriged simulations and distribution maps. As a conclusion, land leveling with sufficient water may induce better managements of fertilizer and water use in rice cultivation at disturbed paddy fields.