Regional Importance of Post-6 M.Y. Old Vocanism in the Southern Great Basin: Implications for Risk Assessment of Volcanism at the Proposed Nuclear Waste Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

摘要

This report summarizes our activities during the period July 1, 1987 to June 30, 1988. Our goal was to develop an understanding of late-Miocene and Pliocene volcanism in the Great Basin by studying late-Tertiary volcanic rocks to the north and south of the Nevada Test Site (Figure 1). We especially concentrated on detailed stratigraphic studies and geochemistry to determine the nature of chemical changes during the lifetime of a volcanic field, and on structural studies to determine the nature of the structures that control vent location. Also, K-Ar age dating provided important new information on the duration of activity at a single volcanic center. Geologic studies were concentrated in the Fortification basalt field in southern Nevada and in the Reveille Range in central Nevada. Our studies provide three important conclusions that have implications for volcanism about the proposed Nuclear Waste Repository at Yucca Mountain. There are no easily recognized geochemical characteristics that signify the termination of volcanism. The location of vent areas of basaltic volcanoes are not necessarily controlled by pre-existing structures. Volcanism at an individual basaltic center may last as long as 500,000 years. 32 refs., 34 figs., 6 tabs.