| Abstract: | Variable-density groundwater flow was studied near the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in southeastern New Mexico. An analysis of the relative magnitude of pressure-related and density-related flow-driving forces indicates that density-related gravity effects are not significant at the plant and to the west but are significant in areas to the north, northeast, and south. A regional-scale model of variable-density groundwater flow in the Culebra Dolomite member of the Rustler Formation indicates that the flow velocities are relatively rapid (10 to the minus 7th power m/sec) west of the site and extremely slow (10 to the minus 11th power m/sec) east and northeast of the site. In the transition zone between those two extremes, which includes the plant, velocities are highly variable. Sensitivity simulations indicate that the central and western parts of the region, including the plant, are fairly well isolated from the eastern and northeastern boundaries. Vertical-flux simulations indicate that as much as 25% of total inflow to the Culebra could be entering as vertical flow, with most of this flow occurring west of the plant. A simple cross-sectional model was developed to examine the flow system as it drains through time following recharge during a past glacial pluvial. This model indicates that the system as a whole drains very slowly and that it apparently could have sustained flow from purely transient drainage following recharge of the system during the Pleistocene. (USGS) |
| Genre: | USGS Numbered Series |
| ProdID: | 13262 |
| Citation Author: | Davies, P. B. |
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| Citation Language: | ENGLISH |
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| Citation Phsyical Description: | xii, 139 p. :ill. (some col.) ;28 cm. |
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| Citation Publisher: | U.S. Geological Survey ;
Copies available from Books and Open-File Reports, |
| Citation Series: | Open-File Report |
| Citation Series Code: | OFR |
| Citation Series Number: | 88-490 |
| Citation Search Results Text: | Variable-density ground-water flow and paleohydrology in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) region, southeastern New Mexico; 1989; OFR; 88-490; Davies, P. B. |
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| Citation Year: | 1989 |
| Type: | citation/reference |
| Text: | Variable-density ground-water flow and paleohydrology in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) region, southeastern New Mexico; 1989; OFR; 88-490; Davies, P. B. |
| URL (THUMBNAIL): | http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1988/0490/report-thumb.jpg |
| URL (DOCUMENT): | http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1988/0490/report.pdf |
| Date Other: | Sat, 1 Jan 1994 00:00 -0600 |
| Publisher: | U.S. Geological Survey ;
Copies available from Books and Open-File Reports, |
