Scientific Investigations Report 2006-5122
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Scientific Investigations Report 2006-5122
DOE/ID-22198
A Conceptual Model of Ground-Water Flow in the Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer
at the Idaho National Laboratory and Vicinity with Implications for Contaminant
Transport
Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy
By Daniel J. Ackerman, Gordon W. Rattray, Joseph P. Rousseau, Linda C. Davis,
and Brennon R. Orr
Table of Contents
Conversion Factors and Datums
Abstract
Introduction
Conceptual Model of Ground-Water Flow
Implications for Contaminant Transport
Summary and Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References Cited
Appendix A. A Brief History of Wastewater-Disposal
Practices at the Idaho National Laboratory
Appendix B. Levels of Information
Needed for Constructing Conceptual Models at Different Scales
Figures
Figure 1. Location of the Idaho National
Laboratory, the model area, and selected facilities, wells, and streamflow-gaging
stations.
Figure 2. Distribution of selected
waste contaminants in water from the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer, Idaho
National Laboratory and vicinity, Idaho.
Figure 3. Direction of regional ground-water
flow, discharge areas, and irrigated acreage, eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho.
Figure 4. Generalized geology, water-table
altitude, and geologic groups and formations, and generalized stratigraphy of
the eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho.
Figure 5. Areas and grid sizes of ground-water
models of the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at the Idaho National Laboratory
(INL) and vicinity, Idaho, relative to those of the Snake River Plain Regional
Aquifer System Analysis (RASA) model.
Figure 6. Composite stratigraphic units
that form the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer, Idaho National
Laboratory and vicinity, Idaho.
Figure 7. Approximate locations of
volcanic rift zones and the axial volcanic high, Idaho National Laboratory and
vicinity, Idaho.
Figure 8. Locations of volcanic vents
and vent corridors, Idaho National Laboratory and vicinity, Idaho.
Figure 9. Distribution of hydrogeologic
units present at the water table and water-table contours for 1980 in the model
area, Idaho National Laboratory and vicinity, Idaho.
Figure 10. Distribution of hydrogeologic
units along the direction of regional ground-water flow in the model area, Idaho
National Laboratory and vicinity, Idaho.
Figure 11. Correlation among stratigraphic
units of the eastern Snake River Plain, composite stratigraphic units beneath
the Idaho National Laboratory, and hydrogeologic units of the conceptual model,
Idaho National Laboratory and vicinity, Idaho.
Figure 12. Water-table contours, 1995,
and areas of abundant sediment within the model area, Idaho National Laboratory
and vicinity, Idaho.
Figure 13. Location of the model boundaries,
Idaho National Laboratory and vicinity, Idaho.
Figure 14. Depth to the base of the
eastern Snake River Plain aquifer in the model area, Idaho National Laboratory
and vicinity, Idaho.
Figure 15. Contact between the intermediate-age
rocks of hydrogeologic unit 3 and the older rocks underlying the base of the
eastern Snake River Plain aquifer beneath the model area, Idaho National Laboratory
and vicinity, Idaho.
Figure 16. Regional Aquifer System
Analysis model grid used to approximate the northeast, southeast-flowline, and
southwest boundaries of the conceptual model, Idaho National Laboratory and
vicinity, Idaho.
Figure 17. Generalized ground-water
budget components for the model area, 1980, Idaho National Laboratory and vicinity,
Idaho.
Figure 18. Mean annual streamflow
at selected streamflow-gaging stations on the Big Lost River, Idaho, for 1965-2002.
Figure 19. Distribution of lithium
concentrations in water from wells in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer,
Idaho National Laboratory and vicinity, Idaho.
Figure 20. Average linear ground-water
velocities and flow directions calculated from the assumed first arrivals of
chlorine-36 or the tritium/helium-3- and chlorofluorocarbon-model ages of water
from selected wells, Idaho National Laboratory and vicinity, Idaho.
Figure 21. Temperature of ground water in samples from wells, Idaho National Laboratory and vicinity, Idaho.
Figure 22. Generalized water-level
changes at the Idaho National Laboratory and vicinity, Idaho, for July 1981–July
1985, April–August 1988 to April–August 1991, March–May 1991 to March–May 1995,
and March–May 1995 to March–May 1998.
Figure 23. Water levels in wells Arbor
Test, USGS 9, USGS 12, and USGS 25 for 1948–2003, Idaho National Laboratory,
Idaho.
Figure 24. Distribution of hydrogeologic
units and the direction of ground-water flow for the model area, Idaho National
Laboratory and vicinity, Idaho.
Tables
Table 1. Summary of surface and subsurface
wastewater disposal at selected facilities, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho.
Table 2. Ranges of hydraulic conductivities
and porosities for hydrogeologic units and other rocks of hydrogeologic importance,
Idaho National Laboratory and vicinity, Idaho.
Table 3. Summary statistics of basalt
flow thickness within individual hydrogeologic units, Idaho National Laboratory
and vicinity, Idaho.
Table 4. Summary of conceptual model
boundary characteristics and estimated 1980 inflows and outflows, Idaho National
Laboratory and vicinity, Idaho.
Table 5. Summary of streamflow at two
streamflow-gaging stations on the Big Lost River, Idaho.
Table 6. Ground-water budget for the
conceptual model area for 1980 and derived from the Regional Aquifer System
Analysis (RASA) model of the Snake River Plain aquifer, Idaho.
This report is available online in Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do
not have the Adobe
Acrobat PDF Reader, it is available for free download from Adobe Systems
Incorporated.
Document Accessibility: Adobe Systems Incorporated has information about PDFs
and the visually impaired. This information provides tools to help make PDF
files accessible. These tools convert Adobe PDF documents into HTML or ASCII
text, which then can be read by a number of common screen-reading programs that
synthesize text as audible speech. In addition, an accessible version of Acrobat
Reader 7.0 for Windows (English only), which contains support for screen readers,
is available. These tools and the accessible reader may be obtained free from
Adobe at Adobe
Access.
Send questions or comments about this report to the author, D.J.
Ackerman, (208) 526-2062.
For more information about USGS activities in Idaho, visit the USGS
Idaho Water Science Center home page.
U.S.
Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological
Survey
