GROUNDWATER FLOW THROUGH THE FUNERAL MOUNTAINS,DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA

摘要

Yucca Mountain is the site of the proposed high-level nuclear repository in the United States. Underlying the repository at a depth of 1298 m is an extensive Lower Paleozoic Carbonate Aquifer known to be highly transmissive. This paper presents the results of our investigation of the Carbonate Aquifer as a potential pathway for radionuclide transport through the Funeral Mountains to the Furnace Creek springs in Death Valley National Park. Our study culminated in a MODFLOW groundwater model that simulates flow through the Funeral Mountains. The model is supported by our current program of: 1) monitoring well drilling on the northeast flank of the southern Funeral Mountains, and 2) surface geologic mapping in the area. One of the major inputs to the modeling is a discharge estimate from the Furnace Creek spring system. Our analysis is constrained by a projected contour map of the base of the Carbonate Aquifer in the Southern Funeral Mountains that is created by steeply dipping fault planes that project an elevation for the base for the aquifer. The computed water table has several hundred meters of saturated carbonate rock through the critical area-the so-called spillway. The model recreates the flow of the various springs in Death Valley indicating that it is feasible for groundwater to flow through the Funeral Mountains.