| Abstract: | Two different field-based methods are used here to calculate feldspar dissolution rates in the Topopah Spring Tuff, the host rock for the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The center of the tuff is a high silica rhyolite, consisting largely of alkali feldspar (???60 wt%) and quartz polymorphs (???35 wt%) that formed by devitrification of rhyolitic glass as the tuff cooled. First, the abundance of secondary aluminosilicates is used to estimate the cumulative amount of feldspar dissolution over the history of the tuff, and an ambient dissolution rate is calculated by using the estimated thermal history. Second, the feldspar dissolution rate is calculated by using measured Sr isotope compositions for the pore water and rock. Pore waters display systematic changes in Sr isotopic composition with depth that are caused by feldspar dissolution. The range in dissolution rates determined from secondary mineral abundances varies from 10-16 to 10-17 mol s-1 kg tuff-1 with the largest uncertainty being the effect of the early thermal history of the tuff. Dissolution rates based on pore water Sr isotopic data were calculated by treating percolation flux parametrically, and vary from 10-15 to 10-16 mol s-1 kg tuff-1 for percolation fluxes of 15 mm a-1 and 1 mm a-1, respectively. Reconciling the rates from the two methods requires that percolation fluxes at the sampled locations be a few mm a-1 or less. The calculated feldspar dissolution rates are low relative to other measured field-based feldspar dissolution rates, possibly due to the age (12.8 Ma) of the unsaturated system at Yucca Mountain; because oxidizing and organic-poor conditions limit biological activity; and/or because elevated silica concentrations in the pore waters (???50 mg L-1) may inhibit feldspar dissolution. ?? 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
| Genre: | Article |
| ProdID: | 70037095 |
| Citation Author: | Bryan, C. R.; Helean, K. B.; Marshall, B. D.; Brady, P. V. |
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| Citation End Page: | 2143 |
| Citation Issue: | 11 |
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| Citation Language: | English |
| Citation Larger Work Title: | Applied Geochemistry |
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| Citation Number Of Pages: | 11 |
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| Citation Search Results Text: | Feldspar dissolution rates in the Topopah Spring Tuff, Yucca Mountain, Nevada; 2009; Article; Journal; Applied Geochemistry; Bryan, C. R.; Helean, K. B.; Marshall, B. D.; Brady, P. V. |
| Citation Start Page: | 2133 |
| Citation Volume: | 24 |
| Citation Year: | 2009 |
| Type: | citation/reference |
| Text: | Feldspar dissolution rates in the Topopah Spring Tuff, Yucca Mountain, Nevada; 2009; Article; Journal; Applied Geochemistry; Bryan, C. R.; Helean, K. B.; Marshall, B. D.; Brady, P. V. |
| URL (THUMBNAIL): | http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg |
| URL (DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER): | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2009.09.003 |
| Date Other: | Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00 -0600 |
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