Overview of calcite/opal deposits at or near the proposed high-level nuclear waste site, Yucca Mountain, Nevada, USA: Pedogenic, hypogene, or both?
Journal Article
·
· Environmental Geology and Water Sciences
OSTI ID:183599
- Institute of Mineralogy and Petrography, Novosibirsk (Russian Federation)
- Terrestrial Sciences Program, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States); and others
Calcite/opal deposits (COD) at Yucca Mountain were studied with respect to their regional and field geology, petrology and petrography, chemistry and isotopic geochemistry, and fluid inclusions. They were also compared with true and pedogenic deposits (TPD), groundwater spring deposits (GSD), and calcite vein deposits (CVD) in the subsurface. Some of the data are equivocal and can support either a hypogene or pedogenic origin for these deposits. However, Sr-, C-, and O-isotope, fluid inclusion, and other data favor a hypogene interpretation. A hypothesis that may account for all currently available data is that the COD precipitated from warm, CO{sub 2}-rich water that episodically upwelled along faults during the Pleistocene, and which, upon reaching the surface, flowed down-slope within existing alluvial, colluvial, eluvial, or soil deposits. Being formed near, or on, the topographic surface, the COD acquired characteristics of pedogenic deposits. This subject relates to the suitability of Yucca Mountain as a high-level nuclear waste site. 64 refs., 21 figs., 3 tabs.
- OSTI ID:
- 183599
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Geology and Water Sciences, Journal Name: Environmental Geology and Water Sciences Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 26; ISSN EGWSEI; ISSN 0177-5146
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Calcite/opal deposits at Yucca Mountain, Nevada: Pedogenic or hypogene?
Criteria for the recognition of pedogenic/supergene and nonpedogenic/hypogene deposits and their relationship to the origin of calcite/opal deposits at Yucca Mountain. Special report No. 14
Micromorphology of calcite-silica deposits, Yucca Mountain, Nevada
Technical Report
·
Fri Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1993
·
OSTI ID:227034
Criteria for the recognition of pedogenic/supergene and nonpedogenic/hypogene deposits and their relationship to the origin of calcite/opal deposits at Yucca Mountain. Special report No. 14
Technical Report
·
Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1993
·
OSTI ID:196546
Micromorphology of calcite-silica deposits, Yucca Mountain, Nevada
Journal Article
·
Thu Feb 29 23:00:00 EST 1996
· Soil Science Society of America Journal
·
OSTI ID:240862