Neutron Scattering Studies of Fundamental Processes in Earth Materials, Final Report

Abstract

The aim of this work was to use neutron scattering techniques to explore the dynamics and structure of water in rock samples. The dynamics of water in rock at low (residual) saturation are directly related to the transport properties of fluids within the host rock. The structure of water in rock may be related to the elastic behavior of the rock, which in many cases is nonlinear and hysteretic. Neutron scattering techniques allow us to study water in intact rock samples at both the molecular and microstructural scales. Our samples were Berea sandstone, Calico Hills and Prow Pass tuffs from Yucca Mountain, NV, and pure samples of the tuff constituents, specifically mordenite and clinoptilolite. We chose Berea sandstone because its macroscopic elastic behavior is known to be highly unusual, and the microscopic mechanisms producing this behavior are not understood. We chose Yucca Mountain tuff, because the fluid transport properties of the geologic structure at Yucca Mountain, Nevada could be relevant to the performance of a high level nuclear waste repository at that site. Neutron scattering methods have a number of properties that are extremely useful for the study of earth materials. In contrast to X-rays, neutrons have very low absorptionmore » cross-sections for most elements so that entire bulk samples of considerable size can be 'illuminated' by the neutron beam. Similarly, samples that are optically opaque can be readily investigated by inelastic neutron scattering techniques. Neutrons are equally sensitive to light atoms as to heavy atoms, and can, for example, readily distinguish between Al and Si, neighboring atoms in the periodic table that are difficult to tell apart by X-ray diffraction. Finally, neutrons are particularly sensitive to hydrogen and thus can be used to study the motions, both vibrational and diffusive, of H-containing molecules in rocks, most notably of course, water. Our studies were primarily studies of guest molecules (in our case, water) in a host material (rock). We used three neutron scattering techniques: quasielastic neutron scattering (QNS), inelastic neutron scattering (INS), and neutron powder diffraction (NPD). We used QNS to measure the translational and rotational diffusional motion of water in rock; INS vibrational spectra allowed us to determine the nature of residual water in a sample (disassociated, chemisorbed, or physisorbed); and NPD measurements may allow us to determine the locations of residual water molecules (and the associated dynamic disorder), and thereby understand the binding of water molecules in our samples.« less