A deuterium-calibrated, discrete-state compartment model of regional groundwater flow, Nevada Test Site and vicinity

Technical Report · Sun Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:5641026

Sadler, W R ^[1]; Campana, M E ^[2]; Jacobson, R L; Ingraham, N L ^[3]

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1. Nevada Univ., Reno, NV (United States). Water Resources Center
2. New Mexico Univ., Albuquerque, NM (United States). Dept. of Geology
3. Nevada Univ., Las Vegas, NV (United States). Water Resources Center

A discrete--state compartment (DSC) model was developed, using the conservative tracer deuterium, to simulate the regional groundwater flow for a portion of southern Nevada, including the Nevada Test Site. The model simulates flow rates, discharge rates, and flow directions, as well as mean ages of the groundwater. The results obtained by this model were found to be similar to those of other studies and available hydrogeologic information. The deep regional groundwater was observed to consistently be more depleted in deuterium than the local vertical recharge waters. However, the deep system is consistently more enriched in deuterium than the underflow water from higher latitudes, which was used as input for the model. The total groundwater flow through the modeled area was estimated to be 58.9 {times} 10{sup 6} m{sup 3}/yr. Approximately 40 percent of this ground water originates as underflow from the higher latitudes, while the remaining 60 percent is from local vertical recharge. The Spring Mountains and the Fortymile Canyon/Wash--Stockade Wash area were determined to be sources of major vertical recharge with 9.6 {times} 10{sup 6} m{sup 3}/yr, and 7.6 {times} 10{sup 6} m{sup 3}/yr of recharge, respectively. The simulated ages of the groundwater were found to vary considerably, however, the ages do not correlate with position along the simulated flow path. The mean and median ages of the groundwater at Fortymile Canyon/Wash were simulated to be 6,700 and 1,400 years, respectively, while the ages of the groundwater at Yucca Flat were 26,300 and 21,600 years, respectively.

• Research Organization: Nevada Univ., Reno, NV (United States). Water Resources Center
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC08-90NV10845
• OSTI ID: 5641026
• Report Number(s): DOE/NV/10845-9; ON: DE92012690
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540250* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (1990-)
540310 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Basic Studies-- (1990-)
58 GEOSCIENCES
580000 -- Geosciences
CALIBRATION
COMPUTER CODES
DEUTERIUM
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FLOW MODELS
FLOW RATE
GROUND WATER
HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
HYDROLOGY
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NEVADA TEST SITE
NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
OXYGEN 18
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN ISOTOPES
STABLE ISOTOPES
TRACER TECHNIQUES
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
WATER