Testing the 14C ages and conservative behavior of dissolved 14C in a carbonate aquifer in Yucca Flat, Nevada (USA), using 36Cl from groundwater and packrat middens

Abstract

Corrected groundwater 14C ages from the carbonate aquifer in Yucca Flat at the former Nevada Test Site (now the Nevada National Security Site), USA, were evaluated by comparing temporal variations of groundwater 36Cl/Cl estimated with these 14C ages with published records of meteoric 36Cl/Cl variations preserved in packrat middens (piles of plant fragments, fecal matter and urine). Good agreement between these records indicates that the groundwater 14C ages are reasonable and that 14C is moving with chloride without sorbing to the carbonate rock matrix or fracture coatings, despite opposing evidence from laboratory experiments. The groundwater 14C ages are consistent with other hydrologic evidence that indicates significant basin infiltration ceased 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, and that recharge to the carbonate aquifer is from paleowater draining through overlying tuff confining units along major faults. This interpretation is supported by the relative age differences as well as hydraulic head differences between the alluvial and volcanic aquifers and the carbonate aquifer. The carbonate aquifer 14C ages suggest that groundwater velocities throughout much of Yucca Flat are about 2 m/yr, consistent with the long-held conceptual model that blocking ridges of low-permeability rock hydrologically isolate the carbonate aquifer in Yucca Flat from the outlying regional carbonate flow system.