The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant A Potential Solution for the Disposal of Transuranic Waste (1996) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
A. NATURAL SETTING AND RESOURCES
A. NATURAL SETTING AND RESOURCES
Pages 95-109
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 95... ...
In pre-Perm~an periods, Me collision of tectonic plates of the earth's mobile crust caused mountains to form to the southeast, norm, and west of the WIPP site. The southeastern corner of New Mexico and western Texas remained relatively stable through the Permian Period of earn history (286 million to 245 million years ago [Maid, although some instability caused the earth's crust beneath this region to rise in some places and sink In others, In a belated response to the collision pressures.
|
From page 96... ...
A solid black line delineates the extent of layered varied salt deposits. The enclosed form of open circles shows where the Salado Formation salt beds are 396 m (l,300)
|
From page 97... ...
indicates that periodic fluctuations in basin water levels and intermittent inflow of river and marine waters carried elastics into the basin material that sometimes formed separate layers without evaporites, such as sandstones and shales, or settled with the evaporites. The Culebra Dolomite Member of the Rustler Formation, which lies directly above the lowest Rustler elastic strata, is only about 7-S m thick.
|
From page 98... ...
. : Feet enn 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 _ 4500Meters - 600 - 800 -1 000 - 1 200 - 1400 FIGURE A.2 WIPP stratigraphy and depths of four key formations (Castile Formation, Salado Formation, Rustler Formation, and Dewey Lake Red Beds)
|
From page 99... ...
Pressure tests done on the Salado Formation at various times, both from wells drilled at the surface and from underground tests after the facility was constructed, have indicated that the salt permeabilities are very low, close to the sensitivity limits of the instruments (Mercer, 1987; Beauheim et al., 1991, McTigue, 19931. During the construction phase of the WTPP facility, brine was observed flowing or seeping into the space created whenever a new opening was made in the salt, whether in a narrow hole or in a large room.
|
From page 100... ...
loo - __'.
|
From page 101... ...
Hydrogeology of the Culebra Dolomite The geological units comprising the Rustier Formation are illustrated In the stratigraphic column shown in Figure A.4. Note that the lithologies represented in this figure are generalized representations for the region and do not necessarily depict the exact distribution of rock types encountered in the Rustler at the WIPP site itself.
|
From page 102... ...
Dolomite / /1 Halite r D~" a"A ~ o -o 5~o For~tlon ~ = | R - Uer J Fo~tio, FIGURE A.4 General stratigraphic colun~n showing the f~ve members of the RustIer Formation (top) , and cross section from A to A' of Figure A.3 showing RustIer Formation stratigraphy (bottom)
|
From page 103... ...
The late Permian evaporating basin accumulated a large deposit of potash. The region in earlier Permian time can be characterized as a marine shoreline and some deeper offshore basins accumulating sands and limestone, cIastics, and organic debris that resulted in accumulations of economically recoverable of]
|
From page 104... ...
In assessing potential fixture impacts of potash mining on tile WIPP facility, the adoption of solution mining of potash minerals, a technique now being used In Canada, has been mentioned as a possible development. However, of the two dominant potash minerals being mined in the CarIsbad Potash District, sylvite and langbeinite, only sylvite is sufficiently soluble to make this mining process economically and practically feasible.
|
From page 105... ...
The intent of erecting markers is to lead drillers to reconsider vertical boreholes that would penetrate the repository, and to choose instead alternative methods such as directional drilling techniques. The assumption that the WIPP area would be drilled by today's methods for the next 10,000 years is also questionable.
|
From page 106... ...
(The contours are interpolated from figures 4 and 30 of Griswold [1995~. Also shown is the location of the WIPP facility of Figure ES.I.
|
From page 107... ...
107 ~ Y ~ o E ~ >,m ~ E ~ ~ ~ 0 Cal cat A_ ~ ~ <_~ O _ IL ~ In Y At.
|
From page 108... ...
and gas in and around the WIPP siee' surrounding I-mile-wide study area, and nine-township project study area. Note that some welIs are right at the WIPP boundary.
|
From page 109... ...
i 1 680000 690000 T21S T22S T22S T23S FIGURE A.7(b) Oi} pools near the WIPP site, outside of the Land Withdrawal Act bounda~y, shown on state plane coordinates.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.