Stabilization of arsenic-contaminated mine tailings using natural and calcined oyster shells

Natural oyster shells (NOS) and calcined oyster shells (COS) were used to immobilize arsenic (As) from contaminated mine tailings. In addition, a blend of Portland cement (PC)/cement kiln dust (CKD) was used as a stabilizing agent. The Korean Standard Test (KST) method (1 N HCl extraction) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment. The experimental results showed that COS effectively immobilized As in treated mine tailings. Specifically, an As concentration less than 1 mg L⁻¹ was obtained following COS treatment at 25 and 30 wt%. However, all the samples subjected to NOS treatments failed the Korean warning standard of 1.2 mg L⁻¹ after 28 days of curing. All of the COS-PC treatments were successful meeting the Korean warning standard after 7 days of curing. However, the PC-only treatment failed to meet the Korean warning standard. Similarly, the CKD-only treatment was failed to meet the Korean warning standard after 7 days of curing. However, the COS-CKD treatment showed that when the COS content was greater than 20 wt%, less than 1 mg L⁻¹ of As leachability was obtained. Scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDX) showed needle-like and torpedo-like Ca–As phases in the COS-treated samples suggesting that As was strongly associated with Ca and O. X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) analyses confirmed that As(V) was prevalent in the tailings and that there were no changes in As speciation following NOS or COS treatment.     

National-scale assessment of landslide susceptibility to rank the vulnerability to failure of rock-cut slopes along expressways in Korea

The objective of this study is to perform a preliminary national-scale assessment of the landslide susceptibility of rock-cut slopes along expressways in Korea. A geographic information system (GIS) database was compiled based on data from topographical and geological maps, and rock-cut slope data, including the locations of past landslides. Seven factors (i.e., slope height, slope length, slope gradient, upper slope gradient, lithology, distance from nearest fault, and dip direction of slope) were extracted from the GIS database to assess the relationship between each factor and landslide events. Weight of evidence (WOE), analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and fuzzy logic methods, as well as hybrid methods, were used to establish the rating of classes for each factor, weightings for the factors, and to combine multiple factor layers into landslide-susceptibility maps. A comparison of the results obtained using several different methods, based on the area under curve technique, revealed that the WOE method showed the highest accuracy of 74%. The annual cost of traffic congestion resulting from slope failures was evaluated to identify those rock-cut slopes where detailed investigations and landslide warning systems are required.     

Application of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) technique to detect underground cavities in a karst area of South Korea

Recently, the electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) technique has been increasingly applied to underground cavity detection filled with groundwater and/or clay. In this study, an ERT survey was conducted to examine the spatial distribution and shape of underground cavities in a karst area in Korea. Numerical ERT modeling and inversion were carried out to select appropriate field survey parameters. Two geological structures, similar to those that exist in the field survey area, were modeled: a sinkhole model and a vein-type structure. Electrode configurations using pole–pole, pole–dipole, dipole–pole, and dipole–dipole arrays were tested with the two geologic models and compared. The numerical modeling showed that the resistivity distribution of the ERT tomogram using the pole–dipole array produced the best representation of the two models. The pole–dipole and pole–pole array configurations were applied in an ERT field survey using six boreholes. The field ERT results show that cavity areas filled with clay or groundwater appeared as low-resistivity anomalies in the limestone formation. This was particularly evident in the inclined vein-type structures attributed to fracture zones, where the field data were similar to the modeling results. Therefore, the ERT technique could be effectively used for detecting underground limestone cavities under similar geological conditions as those at our study area.     

Factors Influencing Water Consumption in Multifamily Housing in Tempe,Arizona

Central to the Smart Growth movement is that compact development reduces vehicle miles traveled, carbon emissions, and water use. Empirical efforts to evaluate compact development have examined residential densities but have not distinguished decreasing lot sizes from multifamily apartments as mechanisms for compact development. Efforts to link design features to water use have emphasized single-family at the expense of multifamily housing. This study isolates the determinants of water use in large (more than fifty units) apartment complexes in the city of Tempe, Arizona. In July 2007, per bedroom water use increased with pool area, dishwashers, and in-unit laundry facilities. We are able to explain nearly 50 percent of the variation in water demand with these variables. These results inform public policy for reducing water use in multifamily housing structures, suggesting strategies to construct and market “green” apartment units.     

Geochemistry and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic constraints on the petrogenesis of Cenozoic lavas from the Pali Aike and Morro Chico area (52°S), southern Patagonia,South America

Geochemical and isotopic analyses (Sr–Nd–Pb) of late Miocene to Quaternary plateau lavas from the Pali Aike and Morro Chico areas (52°S) were undertaken to constrain the melting processes and mantle sources that contributed to magma generation and the geodynamic evolution of southernmost Patagonia, South America. The Pali Aike and Morro Chico lavas are alkaline (Pali Aike, 45–49 wt.% SiO₂; 4.3–5.9 wt.% Na₂O+K₂O) and subalkaline (Morro Chico, 50.5–50.8 wt.% SiO₂; 4.0–4.4 wt.% Na₂O+K₂O), relatively primitive (Pali Aike, 9.5–13.7 wt.% MgO; Morro Chico, 7.6–8.8 wt.% MgO) mafic volcanic rocks that have typical intraplate ocean island basalt‐like signatures. Incompatible trace element ratios and isotopic ratios of the Pali Aike and Morro Chico lavas differ from those of the majority of Neogene southern Patagonian slab window lavas in showing more enriched characteristics and are similar to high‐μ (HIMU)‐like basalts. The rare earth element (REE) modeling to constrain mantle melting percentages suggests that these lavas were produced by low degrees of partial melting (1.0–2.0% for Pali Aike lavas and about 2.6–2.7% for Morro Chico lavas) of a garnet lherzolite mantle source. The major systematic variations of Sr–Nd–Pb isotopes in southern Patagonian lavas are related to geographic location. The Pali Aike and Morro Chico lavas from the southernmost part of Patagonia have lower ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and higher ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios, relative to most of the southern Patagonian lavas erupted north of 49.5°S, pointing to a HIMU‐like signature. An isotopically depleted and HIMU‐like asthenospheric domain may have been the main source of magmas in the southernmost part of Patagonia (e.g. Pali Aike, Morro Chico, and Camusu Aike volcanic field), suggesting the presence of a major discontinuity in the isotopic composition of the asthenosphere in southern Patagonia. On the basis of geochemical and isotope data and the available geological and geotectonic reconstructions, a link between the HIMU asthenospheric mantle domain beneath southernmost Patagonia and the HIMU mega‐province of the southwestern Pacific Ocean is proposed.     

Tidal dynamics in the strong tidal current environment of the Uldolmok waterway, southwestern tip off the Korean peninsula

Uldolmok waterway, located between an island off the southwestern tip of Korean peninsula and mainland, is famous for its strong tidal current that has a maximum current of about 6.0m/s. A series of field observations along with numerical modeling have been carried out in order to understand the tidal dynamics in terms of the force balance along the whole waterway and the energy balance in the narrowest part of the waterway. First, analysis of the ADCP current and the tide level variation data reveals that the tidal dynamics along the total waterway (channel) is balanced dominantly between the pressure gradient and linear bottom frictional forces, with the phase lag of sea level difference for the semi-diurnal constituents leading the current phase about by 10°. Secondly, the result of the numerical modeling reveals that the tidal energy flux vector flows toward the narrowest section, indicating that there should be related nonlinear processes. Through the numerical model experiment with multi-components, the convergence of (M₂ + S₂) tidal energy flux of 6.68 × 10⁷ Joule/s in the narrow area of the Uldolmok waterway is explained mainly by the energy consumption of 73% through the nonlinear generation of shallow water components and by the bottom frictional energy dissipation of 27%. This reveals that the remarkably strong nonlinear process dominates in the narrowest section of the Uldolmok waterway, compared with other areas, such as Yellow and East China Seas where the total M2 energy flux through the open boundary is balanced in terms of the bottom dissipation (Kang et al. 2003; Choi 1980).     

Three-dimensional inversion of magnetotelluric data including sea effects obtained in Pohang, Korea

Magnetotelluric (MT) surveys were conducted in Pohang, Korea, for low-temperature geothermal exploration in 2002 and 2003. Pohang is located in the southeastern part of the Korean Peninsula and close to the East Sea. In the interpretation of MT data from a coastal environment, sea effects must be correctly included because seawater is a strong conductor. We first constructed a five-layered earth model with a realistic coastline and bathymetry to investigate sea effects on MT data measured in Pohang. This model clearly shows that the Pohang data are significantly influenced by sea water at frequencies blow 1 Hz at the whole measurement sites. Next, we utilized a three-dimensional inversion algorithm based on the Gauss–Newton approach to produce a reliable resistivity model. Seawater is excluded from the inversion domain to fix the resistivity, while included in the modeling domain to simulate sea effects on MT responses. Blocks for the sub-seafloor are included in unknown parameters since they are sufficiently close to the survey area to affect MT responses in Pohang. Static shifts are also considered in inversion for more accurate interpretation. The rms data misfit is smoothly reduced from 11.2 to 1.87 after 7 iterations. The resulting resistivity model shows a pattern of low–high–low resistivity with depth. The model is compatible with resistivity logs obtained from four boreholes in the survey area, and can explain major geological features in Pohang.     

Legal implications of mobile shorelines in Great Britain

This paper highlights the three legally defined property areas that lie in the coastal zone in Great Britain (land, foreshore and seabed), and considers the mechanisms used by the two legal systems that operate on the mainland (Scots and English law) to cope with natural processes of erosion and accretion. The two legal systems are shown to be slightly different in how they accommodate erosion and accretion. However, they both have difficulty in coherently addressing the issues of coastal mobility and land ownership, which raises important questions of social justice, as they are based on the perceptions of judges in historic cases.     

Seismic performance of a 1 : 15‐scale 25‐story RC flat‐plate core‐wall building model

Earthquake simulation tests were conducted on a 1 : 15‐scale 25‐story building model to verify the seismic performance of high‐rise reinforced‐concrete flat‐plate core‐wall building structures designed per the recent seismic code KBC 2009 or IBC 2006. The following conclusions can be drawn from the test results: (1) The vertical distribution of acceleration during the table excitations revealed the effect of the higher modes, whereas free vibration after the termination of the table excitations was governed by the first mode. The maximum values of base shear and roof drift during the free vibration are either similar to or larger than the values of the maximum responses during the table excitation. (2) With a maximum roof drift ratio of 0.7% under the maximum considered earthquake in Korea, the lateral stiffness degraded to approximately 50% of the initial stiffness. (3) The crack modes appear to be a combination of flexure and shear in the slab around the peripheral columns and in the coupling beam. Energy dissipation via inelastic deformation was predominant during free vibration after the termination of table excitation rather than during table excitation. Finally, (4) the walls with special boundary elements in the first story did not exhibit any significant inelastic behavior, with a maximum curvature of only 21% of the ultimate curvature, corresponding to an ultimate concrete compressive strain of 0.00638 m/m intended in the displacement‐based design approach. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Future changes in summer precipitation in regional climate simulations over the Korean Peninsula forced by multi-RCP scenarios of HadGEM2-AO

In this study, the regional climate of the Korean Peninsula (KP) was dynamically downscaled using a high-resolution regional climate model (RCM) forced by multi- representative concentration pathways (RCP) scenarios of HadGEM2-AO, and changes in summer precipitation were investigated. Through the evaluation of the present climate, the RCM reasonably reproduced long-term climatology of summer precipitation over the KP, and captured the sub-seasonal evolution of Changma rain-band. In future projections, all RCP experiments using different RCP radiative forcings (i.e., RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0, and RCP8.5 runs) simulated an increased summer precipitation over the KP. However, there were some differences in changing rates of summer precipitation among the RCP experiments. Future increases in summer precipitation were affected by future changes in moisture convergence and surface evaporation. Changing ranges in moisture convergences among RCP experiments were significantly larger than those in surface evaporation. This indicates that the uncertainty of changes in summer precipitation is related to the projection of the monsoon circulation, which determines the moisture convergence field through horizontal advection. Changes in the sub-seasonal evolution of Changma rain-band were inconsistent among RCP experiments. However, all experiments showed that Changma rain-band was enhanced during late June to early July, but it was weakened after mid-July due to the expansion of the western North Pacific subtropical high. These results indicate that precipitation intensity related to Changma rain-band will be increased, but its duration will be reduced in the future.