Chemical Composition of Ground Water and the Locations of Permeable Zones in the Yucca Mountain Area, Nevada

Authors

Larry Benson, US Geological SurveyFollow
J. H. Robison, US Geological Survey
R. K. Blankennagel, US Geological Survey
A. E. Ogard, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

1983

Citation

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GROUND WATER AND THE LOCATIONS OF PERMEABLE ZONES IN THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN AREA, NEVADA by L. V. Benson, J. H. Robison, R. K. Blankennagel, and A. E. Ogard. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, Open-File Report 83-854. Denver, Colorado 1983

Comments

U.S. government work

Abstract

Ten wells in the Yucca Mountain area of southern Nevada have been sampled for chemical analysis. Samples were obtained during pumping of water from the entire well bore (composite sample) and in one instance by pumping water from a single isolated interval in well UE-25b#1. Sodium is the most abundant cation and bicarbonate the most abundant anion in all water samples. Although the general chemical compositions of individual samples are similar, there are significant differences in uncorrected carbon-14 age and in inorganic and stable-isotope composition. Flow surveys of seven wells performed using iodine-131 as a tracer indicate that ground-water production is usually from one or more discrete zones of permeability.