Distribution of gases in the unsaturated zone at a low-level radioactive-waste disposal site near Sheffield, Illinois

Book · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6710196

Striegl, R G

The unsaturated zone is a medium that provides pneumatic communication for the movement of gases from wastes buried in landfills to the atmosphere, biota, and groundwater. Gases in unsaturated glacial and eolian deposits near a waste-disposal trench at the low-level radioactive-waste disposal site near Sheffield, Bureau County, Illinois, were identified, and the spatial and temporal distributions of the partial pressures of those gases were determined for the period January 1984 through January 1986. Methods for the collection and analyses of the gases are described, as are geologic and hydrologic characteristics of the unsaturated zone that affect gas transport. The identified gases, which are of natural and of waste origin, include nitrogen, oxygen, and argon, carbon dioxide, methane, propane, butane, tritiated water vapor, carbon dioxide-14 and radon-222. Concentrations of methane and carbon dioxide-14 originated at the waste, as shown by partial-pressure gradients of the gases. Variations in partial pressures of oxygen and carbon dioxide were seasonal among piezometers because of increased root and soil-microbe respiration during summer. Variations in methane and carbon dioxide-14 partial pressures were apparently related to discrete releases from waste sources at unpredictable intervals of time. No greater than background partial pressures for tritiated water vapor or radon-222 were measured. 26 refs., 38 figs., 10 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 6710196
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
540130* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
540220 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
540230 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
540320 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
540330 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
ALKANES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ARGON
CARBON 14 COMPOUNDS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CONTAMINATION
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DISTRIBUTION
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FEDERAL REGION V
FLUIDS
GASES
GROUND WATER
HEAVY NUCLEI
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
ILLINOIS
ISOTOPES
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
METHANE
NITROGEN
NONMETALS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PARTIAL PRESSURE
PROPANE
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RADIOISOTOPES
RADON 222
RADON ISOTOPES
RARE GASES
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
TRITIUM COMPOUNDS
USA
VAPORS
VARIATIONS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
WATER
WATER VAPOR