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Science 14 December 1990:
Vol. 250. no. 4987, pp. 1549 - 1552
DOI: 10.1126/science.250.4987.1549
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Articles

Stable Isotopic Evidence for a Pedogenic Origin of Carbonates in Trench 14 near Yucca Mountain, Nevada

Jay Quade 1 and Thure E. Cerling 1

1 Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112

Layered carbonate and silica encrust fault fractures exposed in Trench 14 near Yucca Mountain, site of the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository in southern Nevada. Comparison of the stable carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of the fracture carbonates with those of modern soil carbonates in the area shows that the fracture carbonates are pedogenic in origin and that they likely formed in the presence of vegetation and rainfall typical of a glacial climate. Their isotopic composition differs markedly from that of carbonate associated with nearby springs. The regional water table therefore remained below the level of Trench 14 during the time that the carbonates and silica precipitated, a period probably covering parts of at least the last 300,000 years.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The distribution and discrimination of shallow, authigenic carbonate in the Pliocene-Pleistocene Palomas Basin, southern Rio Grande rift.
G. H. Mack, D. R. Cole, and L. Trevino (2000)
GSA Bulletin 112, 643-656
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Laser-based analysis of carbon isotope ratios.
D. Murnick and B. Peer (1994)
Science 263, 945-947
   Abstract »    PDF »
U and Sr Isotopes in Ground Water and Calcite, Yucca Mountain, Nevada: Evidence Against Upwelling Water.
J. S. Stuckless, J. S. STUCKLESS, Z. E. PETERMAN, and D. R. MUHS (1991)
Science 254, 551-554
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Geopolitics of Nuclear Waste.
E. Marshall and E. MARSHALL (1991)
Science 251, 864-867
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)