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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Site characterization and conceptual models of the regional ground-water flow system, Yucca Mountain and vicinity, Nevada-California

Conference ·
OSTI ID:137921
;  [1]
  1. Geological Survey, Denver, CO (USA)
Site-characterization plans have been developed to evaluate the suitability of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for a mined geologic repository for high-level nuclear waste. Investigation of the regional ground-water flow system of Yucca Mountain and vicinity is an integral component of overall site characterization. On the basis of information that existed at the time, previous conceptual models of the regional ground-water flow system included an assumption that ground water flowing south from Yucca Mountain beneath the Amargosa Desert discharged as evapotranspiration at Franklin Lake playa, California, and as spring flow at Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley, California. Information obtained from more recent studies and reevaluation of earlier data indicate that an alternative conceptual model of the regional ground-water flow system may be appropriate. A revised model could include the following concepts: A regional carbonate aquifer underlies the ground-water subbasin in which Yucca Mountain is located; upward flow, derived from the underlying carbonate aquifer, occurs from great depths within the subbasin; some ground-water recharge may be occurring even in arid areas, such as at the Greenwater Range and the Funeral Mountains, California; and the spring flow near Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley is from the regional carbonate aquifer, which forms a separate, underlying, confined flow system, rather than from the overlying ground-water flow system in which Yucca Mountain is located.
OSTI ID:
137921
Report Number(s):
CONF-890207--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English