Simulating the Thermal History of the Unsaturated Zone at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

Marshal, B.D. ; Whelan, J.F.

United States. Department of Energy. Yucca Mountain Project Office.

关键词: Calderas;    Heat Transfer;    Mountains;    Shape;    Water Tables;   

DOI  :  10.2172/805421
RP-ID  :  NONE
RP-ID  :  NONE
RP-ID  :  805421

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

Heat transfer within Earth's upper crust is primarily by conduction, and conductive thermal models adequately explain the cooling history of deep, batholith-scale intrusions and surrounding wall rocks, as confirmed by numerous thermochronometric studies. However, caldera magmatic systems require consideration of the small and localized component of hydrothermal convection and numerical models to simulate additional boundary conditions, irregular magma chamber shapes, and complex intrusive histories. At Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the site of a potential high-level nuclear waste repository, simulating the detailed thermal history at any location in the unsaturated zone requires knowledge of the shape of the magma chamber and its proximity to Yucca Mountain (the southern margin of the Timber Mountain caldera complex is approximately 8 km north of the potential repository site), the temporal and spatial extent of hydrothermal convection, the erosional history of the area, and past levels of the water table.