skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Preliminary geologic map of the late Cenozoic sediments of the western half of the Pasco Basin

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Energy, through the Basalt Waste Isolation Program within the Rockwell Hanford Operations, is investigating the feasibility of terminal storage of radioactive waste in deep caverns constructed in Columbia River Basalt. This report represents a portion of the geological work conducted during fiscal year 1978 to assess the geological conditions in the Pasco Basin. The surficial geology of the western half of the Pasco Basin was studied and mapped in a reconnaissance fashion at a scale of 1:62,500. The map was produced through a compilation of existing geologic mapping publications and additional field data collected during the spring of 1978. The map was produced primarily to: (1) complement other mapping work currently being conducted in the Pasco Basin and in the region by Rockwell Hanford Operations and its subcontractors; and, (2) to provide a framework for more detailed late Cenozoic studies within the Pasco Basin. A description of procedures used to produce the surficial geologic map and geologic map units is summarized in this report.

Authors:
; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Atomics International Div., Richland, WA (USA). Rockwell Hanford Operations
OSTI Identifier:
6404757
Report Number(s):
RHO-BWI-LD-8
TRN: 79-003358
DOE Contract Number:
EY-77-C-06-1030
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; 12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN; GEOLOGY; RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL; GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS; BASALT; CENOZOIC ERA; MAPS; GEOLOGIC AGES; IGNEOUS ROCKS; MANAGEMENT; ROCKS; WASTE DISPOSAL; WASTE MANAGEMENT; 580100* - Geology & Hydrology- (-1989); 052002 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage

Citation Formats

Lillie, J.T., Tallman, A.M., and Caggiano, J.A.. Preliminary geologic map of the late Cenozoic sediments of the western half of the Pasco Basin. United States: N. p., 1978. Web. doi:10.2172/6404757.
Copy to clipboard
Lillie, J.T., Tallman, A.M., & Caggiano, J.A.. Preliminary geologic map of the late Cenozoic sediments of the western half of the Pasco Basin. United States. doi:10.2172/6404757.
Copy to clipboard
Lillie, J.T., Tallman, A.M., and Caggiano, J.A.. Fri . "Preliminary geologic map of the late Cenozoic sediments of the western half of the Pasco Basin". United States. doi:10.2172/6404757. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/6404757.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_6404757,
title = {Preliminary geologic map of the late Cenozoic sediments of the western half of the Pasco Basin},
author = {Lillie, J.T. and Tallman, A.M. and Caggiano, J.A.},
abstractNote = {The U.S. Department of Energy, through the Basalt Waste Isolation Program within the Rockwell Hanford Operations, is investigating the feasibility of terminal storage of radioactive waste in deep caverns constructed in Columbia River Basalt. This report represents a portion of the geological work conducted during fiscal year 1978 to assess the geological conditions in the Pasco Basin. The surficial geology of the western half of the Pasco Basin was studied and mapped in a reconnaissance fashion at a scale of 1:62,500. The map was produced through a compilation of existing geologic mapping publications and additional field data collected during the spring of 1978. The map was produced primarily to: (1) complement other mapping work currently being conducted in the Pasco Basin and in the region by Rockwell Hanford Operations and its subcontractors; and, (2) to provide a framework for more detailed late Cenozoic studies within the Pasco Basin. A description of procedures used to produce the surficial geologic map and geologic map units is summarized in this report.},
doi = {10.2172/6404757},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1978},
month = {Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1978}
}
Copy to clipboard
Technical Report:
View Technical Report (55.93 MB)
DOI:  10.2172/6404757
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

  • Based on a review of available geologic data regarding surficial geologic processes that shaped the landscape in the Pasco Basin during Quaternary time, an estimate has been made of rates and the net effect of similar processes for the next million years. Landscape modification of the Pasco Basin during the past million years has been dominated by degradational processes. During catastrophic floods, rates of both aggradation and erosion were briefly accelerated. However, long-term rates of denudation and aggradation have been relatively low. These rates probably reflect dry climate and, perhaps more importantly, relatively low rates of uplift and subsidence. Themore » net effect of surficial geologic processs during the next million years probably will not be significantly different. Data on rates of surficial geologic processes, particularly rates of uplift and subsidence, are insufficient to accurately predict where the land surface will be in one million years. However, based on long-term rates of uplift, denudation, and channel incision, it is unlikely that more than 100 m of downcutting will occur anywhere within the Pasco Basin during the next million years. Rates of tectonic processes are the dominant factor affecting the evolution of the landscape in the Pasco Basin. More data are needed regarding distribution and ages of quaternary deposits to accurately assess tectonic rates during the past million years.« less

  • The Piceance basin of western Colorado contains large reserves of natural gas in low-permeability reservoirs of the Late Cretaceous-age Mesaverde Formation or Mesaverde Group. The gas accumulation can be divided into three general zones: a zone of surface-water invasion that extends inward a few miles from present outcrops; a gas-and-water-bearing zone that extends 10 to 20 miles inward from the water-bearing zone; and a central, predominantly gas-bearing zone. The Mesaverde low-permeability gas accumulation in the Piceance basin probably formed as a result of early loss of permeability due to intense regional diagenesis, followed by deep burial beneath lower Cenozoic sedimentsmore » that resulted in large-scale thermal gas generation by the organic-rich intervals in the Mesaverde and in the underlying Mancos Shale. Although the early loss of permeability trapped much of the gas in the deep central areas of the basin, considerable amounts of gas also migrated updip into the shallower areas of the basin where the Mesaverde is thermally immature. This migration may have been enhanced by an extensive natural fracture system. Reconstruction of the geologic history of both the Piceance basin and the surrounding uplifts has helped define conditions under which the gas accumulation formed. This report integrates some of the detailed geologic studies from the Multiwell Experiment and the more regional geologic studies in an effort to improve our understanding of the geologic variables involved in the development of the Mesaverde low-permeability gas accumulation in the Piceance basin. This synthesis relies heavily on published studies, but much new information is also presented. 118 refs., 30 figs., 3 tabs.« less

  • Based on a review of available literature, an estimate is made of rates of operation of surficial geologic processes and the new effect of the operation of such processes over the next one million years. It is believed that the net effect of the operation of denudation, aggradation, uplift and subsidence over the next one million years will be less than 100 meters of downcutting of the present surface. 147 refs., 14 figs., 12 tabs.

  • ; ;
    The stratigraphy of the late Cenozoic sediments beneath the 216-B and C Crib Facilities is presented as lithofacies cross sections and is based on textural variations of the sedimentary sequence lying above the basalt bedrock. The primary source of data in this study is geologic information obtained from well drilling operations and geophysical logging. Stratigraphic interpretations are based primarily on textural analysis and visual examination of sediment samples and supplemented by drillers logs and geophysical logs.