Occurrence of fracture-lining manganese minerals in silicic tuffs, Yucca Mountain, Nevada, USA
Yucca Mountain, in southern Nevada, is being studied by the Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigations (NNWSI) Project as a potential site for an underground high-level nuclear waste repository. The site is within Miocene volcanic rocks that are 1.5 to 4 km thick and range in age from 12.5 to 14 MY. Several holes have been drilled in Yucca Mountain for geologic and hydrologic studies. Drill hole USW G-4, the most recently cored hole within the potential repository block, was chosen for detailed study of fracture-filling minerals because it is closest to the planned NNWSI exploratory shaft. Drill hole USW G-4 was drilled to 914.7 m (3001 ft) and continuously cored from 6.7 m (22 ft) to total depth (TD). The drilling history, lithology of the core, and geophysical logs of the well were published earlier. Because manganese oxides in fractures may act as a natural barrier to radionuclide migration, it is important to determine exactly which manganese minerals are present, in what intervals they occur, and how extensive these fracture coatings are.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 59913
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR--86-1412; CONF-860858--3; ON: DE86010199
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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