Chemical and Isotopic Composition and Gas Concentrations of Ground Water and Surface Water from Selected Sites At and Near the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Idaho, 1994-97

Abstract

>From May 1994 through May 1997, the US Geological Survey, in cooperation with the US Department of Energy, collected water samples from 86 wells completed in the Snake River Plain aquifer at and near the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. The samples were analyzed for a variety of chemical constituents including all major elements and 22 trace elements. Concentrations of scandium, yttrium, and the lanthanide series were measured in samples from 11 wells and 1 hot spring. The data will be used to determine the fraction of young water in the ground water. The fraction of young water must be known to calculate the ages of ground water using chlorofluorocarbons. The concentrations of the isotopes deuterium, oxygen-18, carbon-13, carbon-14, and tritium were measured in many ground water, surface-water and spring samples. The isotopic composition will provide clues to the origin and sources of water in the Snake River Plain aquifer. Concentrations ! of helium-3 , helium-4, total helium, and neon were measured in most groundwater samples, and the results will be used to determine the recharge temperature, and to date the ground waters