Geochemical Analysis of Core from a Geothermal Anomaly

摘要

A mild geothermal area in western Montana, USA, has been studied, as a natural analog, to learn about the effects that long-term heat generated by a repository containing spent nuclear fuel might have on the surrounding rock mass. The results of previous geological, geophysical and hydrogeological studies are briefly summarized. Extensive petrological studies have been undertaken on core samples obtained from a 2 km deep borehole drilled into the Empire Creek Stock. These include a detailed petrographic study, x-ray diffraction analyses, scanning electron microscope and electron microprobe analyses, porosity and permeability measurements, oxygen isotope analyses, uranium disequilibrium analyses and K-Ar age determinations. The implications to deep burial of nuclear wastes are discussed. 40 refs. (Atomindex citation 20:007913)