• Characteristics of Groundwater Quality and Microbial Community Changes under Seawater Intrusion in Korea

  • Hye Hyeon Kang1, Bo Seok Jeong1, Kyungmin Kim1, Suyeon Kwon1, Yun Kyung Lee1, and Seulki Jeong1,2*

  • 1Department of Environment & Energy, Sejong University, 209 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05006, Republic of Korea
    2Department of Environment and Energy, Center for Earth and Environment Research, Sejong University, 209 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05006, Republic of Korea

  • 해수 침투에 따른 국내 지하수 수질 및 미생물 군집 변화의 연구 동향과 특성 분석

  • 강혜현1ㆍ정보석1ㆍ김경민1ㆍ권수연1ㆍ이윤경1ㆍ정슬기1,2*

  • 1세종대학교 환경융합공학과, 2세종대학교 환경융합공학과, 지구환경연구소

  • This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Seawater intrusion(SWI) is a critical driver of coastal groundwater quality deterioration and ecosystem alteration in Korea. This study summarized domestic and international studies to assess the chemical changes and microbial community dynamics associated with SWI. The results showed that coastal aquifers in Korea are primarily characterized by Na-Cl and Ca-Cl types, with cation exchange playing a dominant role in geochemical process. Microbial communities shift with salinity, being dominated by freshwater species under low-salinity conditions and by marine or halophilic species under high-salinity conditions. In highly-salinity conditions, anaerobic ammonium oxidation and sulfate reduction processes become more pronounced, potentially leading to fluctuations in nitrogen and sulfur compounds, mobilization of heavy metal, and greenhouse gas emissions. These findings highlight that SWI induces not only water quality degradation but also a fundamental restructuring of groundwater ecosystems, emphasizing the necessity of integrated management approaches that incorporate both chemical and biological indicators.


Keywords: Seawater intrusion, Groundwater quality, Salinity, Microbial communities, Biogeochemical process

This Article

  • 2025; 30(6): 26-41

    Published on Dec 31, 2025

  • 10.7857/JSGE.2025.30.6.026
  • Received on Sep 30, 2025
  • Revised on Oct 11, 2025
  • Accepted on Nov 27, 2025

Correspondence to

  • Seulki Jeong

  • 1Department of Environment & Energy, Sejong University, 209 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05006, Republic of Korea
    2Department of Environment and Energy, Center for Earth and Environment Research, Sejong University, 209 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05006, Republic of Korea

  • E-mail: sjeong@sejong.ac.kr