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Hydrogeological characteristics and water chemistry in a coastal aquifer of Korea: implications for land subsidence

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Abstract

Land subsidence is the gradual or sudden dropping of the ground surface developed by increasing the total stress. Most studies have discussed the relationship between land subsidence with groundwater level. However, there is a lack of discussion on groundwater environmental changes after occurring land subsidence. This study aimed to evaluate the hydrogeological and water chemistry characteristics of construction sites with land subsidence. Land subsidence in the Yangyang coastal area occurred suddenly on August 3, 2022, when the retaining wall of the construction collapsed. The groundwater level was measured three times, and water samples were collected twice between August 5, 2022, and September 5, 2022, for laboratory analysis. After land subsidence occurred, the average groundwater level was − 19.91 m ground level (GL) on August 9, 2022, and finally decreased to − 19.21 m GL on September 05, 2022. The groundwater levels surrounding the construction site gradually increased for a month. The electrical conductivity value measured at the monitoring wells ranged from 89 to 7800 μS/cm, and four wells exceeded the measurement limit near the groundwater leaked points. The highest mixing ratio of leaked water samples, collected on August 9, 2022, was 27.6%. Furthermore, the fresh groundwater-saltwater interface depth was estimated to be above the construction bottom. Although groundwater levels recovered, the groundwater quality continuously is affected by saltwater. This finding could contribute to understanding the hydrogeological characteristics surrounding construction sites with land subsidence and provide insight into the hydrochemical evolution process during declined groundwater levels in coastal aquifers.

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Funding

This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (No.2019R1A6A1A03033167).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, College of Natural Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, 24341, Republic of Korea

    Jiwook Jang, Jin-Yong Lee, Maimoona Raza, Minwook Lee & Serim Oh

  2. Geology Department, Sohag Faculty of Science, Sohag University, Nasser City, 82524, Egypt

    Mostafa Redwan

Authors
  1. Jiwook Jang
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  2. Jin-Yong Lee
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  3. Mostafa Redwan
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  4. Maimoona Raza
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  5. Minwook Lee
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  6. Serim Oh
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Contributions

JJ: investigation, methodology, data curation, conceptualization, visualization, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. J-YL: supervision, writing—review, editing, validation, funding acquisition, and project administration. MoR: writing—review and editing. MaR: writing—review. ML: investigation, writing—review, visualization, and editing. SO: data curation, visualization, conceptualization, and writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Jin-Yong Lee.

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Jang, J., Lee, JY., Redwan, M. et al. Hydrogeological characteristics and water chemistry in a coastal aquifer of Korea: implications for land subsidence. Environ Monit Assess 195, 1289 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11926-y

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