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Assessing deep-seated dissolution-subsidence hazards at radioactive-waste repository sites in bedded salt
Abstract Deep-seated salt dissolution and associated subsidence have occurred in many salt-bearing sedimentary basins. Because of its capacity for brea hing the hydrologic integrity of a thick salt unit, the dissolution-subsidence process is a potential hazard requiring thorough assessment at proposed radioative-waste repository sites in bedded salt. In order to develop a better understanding of this potential hazard, a combination of field studies and theoretical analyses are used to delineate the physical processes that control dissolution and subsidence. This information is used, in turn, to develop strategies for assessing this hazard at any given bedded salt repository site. A generalized hydrogeological model of dissolution has been developed consisting of a salt unit separated from an underlying aquifer by a low-permeability unit. This model suggests that local salt-removal rates can vary over many orders of magnitude, from microns per year to meters per year, depending on the hydrogeologic conditions beneath the salt unit. Salt deformation is strongly rate-sensitive, so the rate of salt removal strongly influences the structural form of subsidence. Low salt-removal rates produce predominantly ductile subsidence, which is characterized by the gradual formation of a braod shallow depression that is narrower and deeper in successively lower horizons. On the other hand, high salt-removal rates produce predominantly brittle subsidence, which is characterized by the formation of a steep-walled chimney, filled with down-dropped, brecciated rock. Ductile subsidence depressions and brittle subsidence chimneys most likely represent the endpoints of a continuous range of structural forms. Assessing potential dissolution-subsidence hazards at a given repository site begins with the identification and characterization of existing dissolution-subsidence features in the site area. Studies of existing features should be complemented by an evaluation of the potential for undetected or future dissolution activity, based on the deep hydrogeologic conditions at the site. Potential salt-removal rates predicted by this analysis are then used as an analysis of the structural character and timing of potential subsidence.
Assessing deep-seated dissolution-subsidence hazards at radioactive-waste repository sites in bedded salt
Abstract Deep-seated salt dissolution and associated subsidence have occurred in many salt-bearing sedimentary basins. Because of its capacity for brea hing the hydrologic integrity of a thick salt unit, the dissolution-subsidence process is a potential hazard requiring thorough assessment at proposed radioative-waste repository sites in bedded salt. In order to develop a better understanding of this potential hazard, a combination of field studies and theoretical analyses are used to delineate the physical processes that control dissolution and subsidence. This information is used, in turn, to develop strategies for assessing this hazard at any given bedded salt repository site. A generalized hydrogeological model of dissolution has been developed consisting of a salt unit separated from an underlying aquifer by a low-permeability unit. This model suggests that local salt-removal rates can vary over many orders of magnitude, from microns per year to meters per year, depending on the hydrogeologic conditions beneath the salt unit. Salt deformation is strongly rate-sensitive, so the rate of salt removal strongly influences the structural form of subsidence. Low salt-removal rates produce predominantly ductile subsidence, which is characterized by the gradual formation of a braod shallow depression that is narrower and deeper in successively lower horizons. On the other hand, high salt-removal rates produce predominantly brittle subsidence, which is characterized by the formation of a steep-walled chimney, filled with down-dropped, brecciated rock. Ductile subsidence depressions and brittle subsidence chimneys most likely represent the endpoints of a continuous range of structural forms. Assessing potential dissolution-subsidence hazards at a given repository site begins with the identification and characterization of existing dissolution-subsidence features in the site area. Studies of existing features should be complemented by an evaluation of the potential for undetected or future dissolution activity, based on the deep hydrogeologic conditions at the site. Potential salt-removal rates predicted by this analysis are then used as an analysis of the structural character and timing of potential subsidence.
Assessing deep-seated dissolution-subsidence hazards at radioactive-waste repository sites in bedded salt
Davies, Peter B. (author)
Engineering Geology ; 27 ; 467-487
1988-11-04
21 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
Geotechnical investigations for a deep radioactive waste repository: drilling
| British Library Conference Proceedings | 1995