Reply to comment by Christopher Talbot on 'Approach to estimating the maximum depth for glacially induced hydraulic jacking in fractured crystalline rock at Forsmark, Sweden'

摘要

The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) has applied to the Swedish government for a license to construct a nuclear waste repository at Forsmark in southeastern Sweden. The hydromechanical response of the repository rock mass to future glacial loading and unloading is an issue of relevance to the assessment of the long term performance of the repository and may include permeability disturbances caused by glacially induced hydraulic jacking, which is the topic addressed in our paper [L?nnqvist and H?kmark, 2013]. In a comment to the paper, Talbot [2014] argues that we play down the maximum jacking depth by making questionable assumptions regarding the thickness of a future ice sheet, the impact of seasonal water pressure variations at the ice-bed interface and the influence of jacking along preexisting shallow fractures on the supply of overpressured meltwater. Although we generally disagree with Talbot's [2014] arguments, we appreciate this opportunity to further clarify some of our statements.