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Title: Results from Geothermal Logging, Air and Core-Water Chemistry Sampling, Air Injection Testing and Tracer Testing in the Northern Ghost Dance Fault, YUCCA Mountain, Nevada, November 1996 to August 1998

Abstract

Geothermal logging, air and core-water chemistry sampling, air-injection testing, and tracer testing were done in the northern Ghost Dance Fault at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, from November 1996 to August 1998. The study was done by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy. The fault-testing drill room and test boreholes were located in the crystal-poor, middle nonlithophysal zone of the Topopah Spring Tuff, a tuff deposit of Miocene age. The drill room is located off the Yucca Mountain underground Exploratory Studies Facility at about 230 meters below ground surface. Borehole geothermal logging identified a temperature decrease of 0.1 degree Celsius near the Ghost Dance Fault. The temperature decrease could indicate movement of cooler air or water, or both, down the fault, or it may be due to drilling-induced evaporative or adiabatic cooling. In-situ pneumatic pressure monitoring indicated that barometric pressure changes were transmitted from the ground surface to depth through the Ghost Dance Fault. Values of carbon dioxide and delta carbon-13 from gas samples indicated that air from the underground drill room had penetrated the tuff, supporting the concept of a well-developed fracture system. Uncorrected carbon-14-age estimates from gas samples ranged from 2,400 to 4,500 years.more » Tritium levels in borehole core water indicated that the fault may have been a conduit for the transport of water from the ground surface to depth during the last 100 years.« less

Authors:
; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Yucca Mountain Project, Las Vegas, Nevada (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
762958
Report Number(s):
WRIR-99-4210
TRN: US0102586
DOE Contract Number:  
AI08-97NV12033
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 1 Aug 1998; PBD: 1 Aug 1998
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; CARBON 13; CARBON DIOXIDE; GEOCHEMISTRY; GEOLOGIC SURVEYS; SAMPLING; GROUND WATER; YUCCA MOUNTAIN; GEOLOGIC FAULTS; RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES; SITE CHARACTERIZATION; TEMPERATURE LOGGING; GEOLOGIC FRACTURES

Citation Formats

Lecain, G. D., Anna, L. O., and Fahy, M. F. Results from Geothermal Logging, Air and Core-Water Chemistry Sampling, Air Injection Testing and Tracer Testing in the Northern Ghost Dance Fault, YUCCA Mountain, Nevada, November 1996 to August 1998. United States: N. p., 1998. Web. doi:10.2172/762958.
Lecain, G. D., Anna, L. O., & Fahy, M. F. Results from Geothermal Logging, Air and Core-Water Chemistry Sampling, Air Injection Testing and Tracer Testing in the Northern Ghost Dance Fault, YUCCA Mountain, Nevada, November 1996 to August 1998. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/762958
Lecain, G. D., Anna, L. O., and Fahy, M. F. 1998. "Results from Geothermal Logging, Air and Core-Water Chemistry Sampling, Air Injection Testing and Tracer Testing in the Northern Ghost Dance Fault, YUCCA Mountain, Nevada, November 1996 to August 1998". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/762958. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/762958.
@article{osti_762958,
title = {Results from Geothermal Logging, Air and Core-Water Chemistry Sampling, Air Injection Testing and Tracer Testing in the Northern Ghost Dance Fault, YUCCA Mountain, Nevada, November 1996 to August 1998},
author = {Lecain, G. D. and Anna, L. O. and Fahy, M. F.},
abstractNote = {Geothermal logging, air and core-water chemistry sampling, air-injection testing, and tracer testing were done in the northern Ghost Dance Fault at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, from November 1996 to August 1998. The study was done by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy. The fault-testing drill room and test boreholes were located in the crystal-poor, middle nonlithophysal zone of the Topopah Spring Tuff, a tuff deposit of Miocene age. The drill room is located off the Yucca Mountain underground Exploratory Studies Facility at about 230 meters below ground surface. Borehole geothermal logging identified a temperature decrease of 0.1 degree Celsius near the Ghost Dance Fault. The temperature decrease could indicate movement of cooler air or water, or both, down the fault, or it may be due to drilling-induced evaporative or adiabatic cooling. In-situ pneumatic pressure monitoring indicated that barometric pressure changes were transmitted from the ground surface to depth through the Ghost Dance Fault. Values of carbon dioxide and delta carbon-13 from gas samples indicated that air from the underground drill room had penetrated the tuff, supporting the concept of a well-developed fracture system. Uncorrected carbon-14-age estimates from gas samples ranged from 2,400 to 4,500 years. Tritium levels in borehole core water indicated that the fault may have been a conduit for the transport of water from the ground surface to depth during the last 100 years.},
doi = {10.2172/762958},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/762958}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1998},
month = {Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1998}
}