• 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.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.593-603
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• 2018

The most of groundwater with high U-concentration occur in the Jurassic granite of Gyeonggi massif and Ogcheon belt, and some of them occur in the Cretaceous granite of Ogcheon belt. On the contrary, they do not occur in the Jurassic granite of Yeongnam massif and the Cretaceou granite of Gyeongsang basin. The Jurassic and Cretacous granite, the host rock of high U-groundwater, were resulted from parental magma with high ratio of crustal material and highly differentiated product of fractional crystalization. These petrogenetic characteristics explain the geological evidence for preferential distribution of uraniferous groundwater in each host rock. It were reported recently that high U-content, low Th/U ratio and soluble mineral occurrence of uraninite in the two-mica granite of Daejeon area which have characteristics of S-type peraluminous and highly differntiated product. It is the mineralogical-geochemical evidences supporting the fact that the two-mica granite is the effective source of uranium in groundwater. The biotite granite and two-mica granite of Jurassic age were reported as biotite granite in many geological map even though two-mica granite occur locally. This fact suggest that the influence of two-mica granite can not be ignored in uraniferous groundwater hosted by biotite granite.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.11-21
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• 2002

A mineralogical study was made in order to identify the relationship between uranium content in groundwater and rock chemistry using core rocks recovered from the drilling holes for wells in the Daebo Granite areas. Uraniferous minerals are of primary origin and occur as inclusions in accessory minerals such as zircon, monazite, and xenotime. Since the uraniferous minerals are very small to be 1 ~ 2 $\mu$m in size, it is difficult to distinguish their mineralogical species precisely. The frequent presence of dissolution cavities or dissolved textures in the accessory minerals suggests that uraniferous minerals dissolved partially and contributed to the groundwater chemistry. Because there is no clear relationship between host rocks and groundwater for uranium concentration, mineralogical characteristics of uraniferous minerals, together with aqueous geochemical conditions favorable for uranium dissolution, could play important roles in groundwaster chemistry.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.399-407
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• 2013

Some groundwater in Korea contains high U concentrations, especially where two-mica granite occurs in the Daejeon area. The elemental U in the two-mica granite is lower than that in normal granites elsewhere in the world, and U-minerals have yet to be reported in the two-mica granite in the Daejeon area. This study focuses on investigating the occurrence of U-minerals serving as the U source in groundwater. In situ gamma ray spectrometry and mineralogical analyses using EPMA were performed. U-count anomalies were identified in a granitic dyke and in hydrothermally altered granite. Uraniferous granitic dykes occur along the contact zone between the two-mica granite and mica-schist. The uraniferous parts within the two-mica granite are developed in the hydrothermally altered zone, which contains numerous quartz veinlets within a fracture zone. Hydrothermal alteration is dominated by potassic and prophylitic alteration. Uraninite is a common U-mineral in granitic dykes and hydrothermally altered granite. Coffinite and uranophane occur in the hydrothermally altered granite. All of these U-minerals are commonly accompanied by hydrothermal alteration minerals such as muscovite, chlorite, epidote, and calcite. It is concluded that granitic dyke and hydrothermally altered granite are the main source rocks of U in groundwater.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.63-70
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• 2017

Radon concentrations were measured in 250 groundwater samples collected from the Goesan area where uraniferous black slate and granites abundantly occur in the formations. The measured radon levels ranged from 0.90 to 7,218.7 Bq/L with the median value of 54.3 Bq/L, similar to the value measured in the nationwide survey in 4,853 wells (52.1 Bq/L). The median value was highest in the Cretaceous granite area (390.0 Bq/L) while it was as low as 20.0~58.8 Bq/L in the Ogcheon meta-sedimentary rock areas. About 23.6% of the total samples exceeded the WHO guideline value of 100 Bq/L established in 2011. The exceeding rate was 69.0, 39.4, and 7.0~13.7% in the Cretaceous granite area, Jurassic granite area, and Ogcheon meta-sedimentary rock areas, respectively.

• 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.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.51-60
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• 1997

The high radon (Rn222) potentials of soil, groundwater, hotspring and indoor environments in the Taejon city area were delineated by use of an EDA RDA-200 radon detector. The U and Th contents were also analysed using a Multi Channel Analyzer to illustrate the sources of the radon potentials. The average U concentrations in Taejon vary according to the type of granites such as $4.14{\pm}2.36ppm$ in schistose granite (SG), $3.13{\pm}1.70ppm$ in biotite granite (BG) and $3.01{\pm}1.95ppm$ in two mica granite (TG). The U contents in the granites are closely related with the amounts of uraniferous minerals. However, the U contents in the soil are found to be $5.05{\pm}4.75ppm$ in TG, $4.07{\pm}1.69ppm$ in BG and $3.87{\pm}1.91ppm$ in SG which are mainly explained by the different cation exchange capacities (CEC) of the soils from various granites. The levels of soil radon are $552{\pm}656pCi/l$ in SG, in which levels at two locations exceed the level of 1,350 pCi/l established as guideline for follow-up action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), $443{\pm}284pCi/l$ in TG and $224{\pm}115pCi/l$ in the BG. The soil radon concentrations are found to be proportional to the U content and hardness of the soils. The groundwater radon concentrations in the domestic wells of - 30~-100 m depth show that $6,907{\pm}4,665pCi/l$ in TG, $5,503{\pm}6,551pCi/l$ in SG and $2,104{\pm}1,157pCi/l$ in BG which are positively related with U contents in soils. The radon levels of six groundwater wells in TG and two in SG are greater than guideline for drinking water level, 10,000 pCi/l by EPA (1986). Average radon contents of hotsprings and public bathes in the TG area are $7,071{\pm}1,942pCi/l$ and $1,638{\pm}709pCi/l$, respectively, which are below the EPA standard for remedial action value of the 10,000 pCi/l. The mean indoor radon concentrations of the TG and SG areas are $1.60{\pm}1.20pCi/l$ and $1.60{\pm}0.70pCi/l$, respectively. The elevated indoor radon levels of 5.6 pCi/l and 6.7 pCi/l are found to be particularly in TG area, which exceeds 4 pCi/i guideline, correlating positively with the U contents in the soil and radon concentration in the groundwater.