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Geohydrology of volcanic tuff penetrated by test well UE-25b#1, Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada

Water-Resources Investigations Report 84-4253
By: , , and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/wri844253

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Abstract

Test well UE-25bNo1, located on the east side of Yucca Mountain in the southwestern part of the Nevada Test Site, was drilled to a total depth of 1,220 meters and hydraulically tested as part of a program to evaluate the suitability of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear-waste repository. The well penetrated almost 46 meters of alluvium and 1,174 meters of Tertiary volcanic tuffs. The composite hydraulic head for aquifers penetrated by the well was 728.9 meters above sea level (471.4 meters below land surface) with a slight decrease in loss of hydraulic head with depth. Average hydraulic conductivities for stratigraphic units determined from pumping tests, borehole-flow surveys, and packer-injection tests ranged from less than 0.001 meter per day for the Tram Member of the Crater Flat Tuff to 1.1 meters per day for the Bullfrog Member of the Crater Flat Tuff. The small values represented matrix permeability of unfractured rock; the large values probably resulted from fracture permeability. Chemical analyses indicated that the water is a soft sodium bicarbonate type, slightly alkaline, with large concentrations of dissolved silica and sulfate. Uncorrected carbon-14 age dates of the water were 14,100 and 13,400 years. (USGS)

Suggested Citation

Lahoud, R., Lobmeyer, D., Whitfield, M., 1984, Geohydrology of volcanic tuff penetrated by test well UE-25b#1, Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 84-4253, iv, 49 p. :ill., map ;28 cm., https://doi.org/10.3133/wri844253.

Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Geohydrology of volcanic tuff penetrated by test well UE-25b#1, Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada
Series title Water-Resources Investigations Report
Series number 84-4253
DOI 10.3133/wri844253
Year Published 1984
Language ENGLISH
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey,
Description iv, 49 p. :ill., map ;28 cm.
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