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Title: Oxygen-isotope composition of ground water and secondary minerals in Columbia Plateau basalts: Implications for the paleohydrology of the Pasco Basin

Abstract

Concentrations of {sup 18}O and deuterium in ground waters beneath the Handford Reservation, Washington State, suggest that the meteoric waters recharging the basalt aquifers have been progressively depleted in these isotopes since at least Pleistocene time. This conclusion is supported by oxygen-isotope analyses of low-temperature secondary minerals filing vugs and fractures in the basalts, which are used to approximate the {sup 18}O content of ground water at the time the mineral assemblage formed. A fossil profile of {delta}{sup 18}O values projected for ground water in a 1500 m vertical section beneath the reservation suggest that the vertical mixing of shallow and deep ground water indicated by present-day hydrochemical data was also occurring during Neogene time. These data also suggest that a unidirectional depletion of {sup 18}O and deuterium recorded in Pleistocene ground waters may have extended considerably further back in time. This shift is tentatively attributed to the orographic depletion of {sup 18}O associated with the progressive uplift of the Cascade Range since the middle Miocene.

Authors:
;  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5]
  1. Geological Survey, Reston, VA (USA)
  2. Geological Survey, Denver, CO (USA)
  3. Westinghouse Hanford Operations, Richland, WA (USA)
  4. Converse Environmental, Pasadena, CA (USA)
  5. Geological Survey, Menlo Park CA (USA)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
7159127
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Geology; (USA)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 17:7; Journal ID: ISSN 0091-7613
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; 58 GEOSCIENCES; GROUND WATER; ISOTOPE RATIO; HANFORD RESERVATION; AQUIFERS; BASALT; CASCADE MOUNTAINS; DEPTH; DEUTERIUM; FOSSILS; GEOLOGIC FRACTURES; GEOLOGIC HISTORY; HYDROLOGY; METEORIC WATER; MINERALOGY; OROGENESIS; OXYGEN 18; PLEISTOCENE EPOCH; RECHARGE; CENOZOIC ERA; DIMENSIONS; EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI; GEOLOGIC AGES; GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES; HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS; HYDROGEN ISOTOPES; IGNEOUS ROCKS; ISOTOPES; LIGHT NUCLEI; MOUNTAINS; NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS; NUCLEI; ODD-ODD NUCLEI; OXYGEN COMPOUNDS; OXYGEN ISOTOPES; QUATERNARY PERIOD; ROCKS; STABLE ISOTOPES; US DOE; US ERDA; US ORGANIZATIONS; VOLCANIC ROCKS; WATER; 052002* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage; 580000 - Geosciences

Citation Formats

Hearn, Jr, P P, Evans, J R, Steinkampf, W C, Horton, D G, Solomon, G C, and White, L D. Oxygen-isotope composition of ground water and secondary minerals in Columbia Plateau basalts: Implications for the paleohydrology of the Pasco Basin. United States: N. p., 1989. Web. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1989)017<0606:OICOGW>2.3.CO;2.
Hearn, Jr, P P, Evans, J R, Steinkampf, W C, Horton, D G, Solomon, G C, & White, L D. Oxygen-isotope composition of ground water and secondary minerals in Columbia Plateau basalts: Implications for the paleohydrology of the Pasco Basin. United States. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1989)017<0606:OICOGW>2.3.CO;2
Hearn, Jr, P P, Evans, J R, Steinkampf, W C, Horton, D G, Solomon, G C, and White, L D. 1989. "Oxygen-isotope composition of ground water and secondary minerals in Columbia Plateau basalts: Implications for the paleohydrology of the Pasco Basin". United States. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1989)017<0606:OICOGW>2.3.CO;2.
@article{osti_7159127,
title = {Oxygen-isotope composition of ground water and secondary minerals in Columbia Plateau basalts: Implications for the paleohydrology of the Pasco Basin},
author = {Hearn, Jr, P P and Evans, J R and Steinkampf, W C and Horton, D G and Solomon, G C and White, L D},
abstractNote = {Concentrations of {sup 18}O and deuterium in ground waters beneath the Handford Reservation, Washington State, suggest that the meteoric waters recharging the basalt aquifers have been progressively depleted in these isotopes since at least Pleistocene time. This conclusion is supported by oxygen-isotope analyses of low-temperature secondary minerals filing vugs and fractures in the basalts, which are used to approximate the {sup 18}O content of ground water at the time the mineral assemblage formed. A fossil profile of {delta}{sup 18}O values projected for ground water in a 1500 m vertical section beneath the reservation suggest that the vertical mixing of shallow and deep ground water indicated by present-day hydrochemical data was also occurring during Neogene time. These data also suggest that a unidirectional depletion of {sup 18}O and deuterium recorded in Pleistocene ground waters may have extended considerably further back in time. This shift is tentatively attributed to the orographic depletion of {sup 18}O associated with the progressive uplift of the Cascade Range since the middle Miocene.},
doi = {10.1130/0091-7613(1989)017<0606:OICOGW>2.3.CO;2},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/7159127}, journal = {Geology; (USA)},
issn = {0091-7613},
number = ,
volume = 17:7,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1989},
month = {Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1989}
}