Groundwater chemistry at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, and vicinity

Abstract

The chemistry of groundwater at Yucca Mountain and vicinity has been reviewed and compared with the chemistry of water from the Nevada Test Site and surrounding areas such as the Amargosa Desert and Oasis Valley. Sodium is the primary cation and carbonate is the primary anion in water from the saturated zone of the tuffaceous aquifer at Yucca Mountain. Other major cations present are calcium, potassium, and magnesium; other major anions are sulfate and chloride, with lesser quantities of fluoride and nitrate. Aqueous silica is also present. The primary purpose of this review was to survey water-composition data and look for relations among the compositional variables that could provide insight into the processes that control the composition and would ultimately affect radionuclide transport. The following conclusions were inferred from the review. Major cation concentrations are controlled by rock dissolution and mineral precipitation reactions as well as by cation exchange with existing minerals. Aqueous carbonate initially comes from atmospheric and soil-zone carbon dioxide, but there is evidence at Yucca Mountain that carbon dioxide in the gas phase of the unsaturated zone supplies additional carbonate to saturated-zone water in the tuffaceous aquifer as mineral dissolution and precipitation reactions raise the pH ofmore » the water. This combination is effectively mineral dissolution and precipitation in a system that is open with respect to carbon dioxide. A carbon model for this process is discussed.« less