Thermal tracking of water flow under Yucca Mountain

摘要

Among the unresolved issues related to the hydrologic characterization of Yucca Mountain are the amount of infiltration of precipitation,vertical flow velocities in the unsaturated and saturated zones of the Teritiary volcanic rocks,the hydrologic interaction between those tufs and hte underlying Paleozoic Carbonate aquifers,and the pattern and velocity of flow in the carbonate rocks.Apart from conventional hydrologic measurements,temperature and heat flow dat aconstitute the most powerful tool for resolving these issues.Water has a very high heat capacity,and as it moves up or down,it tends to carry a temperature signal for large distances.Thus,careful measurements of temperature and heat flow can provide important constraints on hydrologic models.