Geochemical characterization of groundwater in the vicinity of the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas

Conference · Wed Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1993 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States)

OSTI ID:6838781

Fryar, A E; Mullican, III, W F ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)

Groundwater samples from the perched and Ogallala aquifers in the vicinity of the Pantex Plant have been collected and analyzed for ionic and isotopic constituents. These data are needed to resolve three questions important not only for contaminant remediation on site, but also generally for water use on the southern High Plains. (1) How does the chemistry of groundwater evolve with flow from the land surface to the Ogallala aquifer (2) How rapidly is the Ogallala aquifer recharged and from what sources (3) How extensive are perched aquifers in the region, in particular the contaminated perched aquifer underlying Playa 1 at the Pantex Plant Away from the center of this perched aquifer, solute concentrations decrease and the composition evolves toward a mixed-cation bicarbonate facies observed regionally within the Ogallala aquifer. The evolving water chemistry may reflect reaction with pedogenic carbonates and adsorption of cations on clay minerals. Wells of less than 100m deep contain bomb tritium, indicating water less than 40 yr. old. However, tritiated Ogallala wells also exhibit C[sup 14] levels as low as 20.8% modern carbon (equivalent to an uncorrected age of 13,000 yr), which suggests mixing of recent recharge with older water. Values of O[sup 18] are slightly enriched relative to the meteoric water line, indicating minimal evaporation, consistent with Nativ's finding of focused recharge through playas. Boron and nitrogen isotopes may allow us to quantify the volumetric contribution of playa waters to the Ogallala aquifer and assess the continuity of perched aquifers underlying playas.

• OSTI ID: 6838781
• Report Number(s): CONF-9310237--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States) Journal Volume: 77:9
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540330* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
AQUIFERS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHEMISTRY
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
GEOCHEMISTRY
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PANTEX PLANT
RADIOISOTOPES
RECHARGE
TEXAS
TRITIUM
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA
WATER
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES