Petrology and radiogeology of the Stripa pluton

To better define the character of the rock encompassing the thermomechanical and hydrological experiments at the Stripa mine in central Sweden, and to help determine the size of the Stripa pluton, detailed studies were conducted of the petrology and radiogeology of the quartz monzonite and adjacent rocks. Petrologic studies emphasized optical petrography, with supplementary X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence and microprobe analyses. Radiogeologic investigations were based primarily on surface and underground gamma-ray spectrometric measurements of uranium, thorium and potassium, supplemented by laboratory gamma spectrometric analyses and fission-track radiographic determinations of the locations and abundance of uranium in the rock matrix. Both the quartz monzonite and the metavolcanic leptite which it intruded are strongly fractured. Two stages of fracture filling are evident; an earlier stage encompassing quartz, sericite, feldspar, epidote, and chlorite, and a later stage dominated by carbonate minerals. The Stripa quartz monzonite is chemically and mineralogically distinct from other plutons in the region. Muscovite is the predominant mica in the quartz monzonite; biotite has been altered to chlorite, hornblende is absent, and accessory minerals are scarce. In contrast, in other plutons in the Stripa region biotite and hornblende are prominent mafic minerals and accessory minerals are abundant. The Stripa quartz monzonite is also considerably more radioactive than the leptite and other plutons in the region. Uranium and thorium abundances are both- 30 ppm, considerably higher than in "normal" granitic rocks where the thorium-to-uranium ratio generally exceeds 2. Potassium-argon dating of muscovite from the Stripa quartz monzonite indicates that this rock may be older, at 1691 million years than granitic rock of the neighboring Gusselby and Kloten massifs, whose ages, based on K-Ar dating of biotite, are respectively 1604 and 1640 m.y. Heat flow and heat productivity considerations show that although Stripa quartz monzonite contains high abundances of radioelements, the pluton has little effect on the regional heat flow. If it occurs in a layered plutonic setting, it is not more than 1.5 km thick; otherwise it may comprise a stock, dike, or border phase that is relatively small compared with the large granitic plutons exposed in the region

Strength and permeability tests on ultra-large Stripa granite core

This report presents the results of laboratory tests on a 1 meter diameter by 2 meters high sample of granitic (quartz monzonite) rock from the Stripa mine in Sweden. The tests were designed to study the mechanical and hydraulic properties of the rock. Injection and withdrawal permeability tests were performed at several levels of axial stress using a borehole through the long axis of the core. The sample was pervasively fractured and its behavior under uniaxial compressive stress was very complicated. Its stress-strain behavior at low stresses was generally similar to that of small cores containing single healed fractures. However, this large core failed at a peak stress of 7.55 MPa, much less than the typical strength measured in small cores. The complex failure mechanism included a significant creep component. The sample was highly permeable, with flows-per-unit head ranging from 0.11 to 1.55 cm/sup 2//sec. Initial application of axial load caused a decrease in permeability, but this was followed by rapid increase in conductivity coincident with the failure of the core. The hydraulic regime in the fracture system was too intricate to be satisfactorily modeled by simple analogs based on the observed closure of the principal fractures. The test results contribute to the data base being compiled for the rock mass at the Stripa site, but their proper application will require synthesis of results from several laboratory and in situ test programs

Radioelements and Their Occurence with Secondary Minerals in Heated and Unheated Tuff at the Nevada Test Site

Samples of devitrified welded tuff near and away from the site of a heater test in Rainier Mesa were examined with regard to whole-rock radioelement abundances, microscopic distribution of U, and oxygen isotope ratios. Wholerock U averages between 4 and 5 ppM, and U is concentrated at higher levels secondary opaque minerals as well as in accessory grains. U in primary and secondary sites is most commonly associated with Mn phases, which average {approximately}30 ppM U in more uraniferous occurrences. This average is consistent and apparently unaffected by proximity to the heater. The Mn phases differ compositionally from Mn minerals in other NTS tuffs, usually containing abundant Fe, Ti, and sometimes Ce, and are often poorly crystalline. Oxygen isotope ratios show some depletion in {delta}{sup 18}O in tuff samples very close to the heater; this depletion is consistent with isotopic exchange between the tuff and interstitial water, but it may also reflect original heterogeneity in isotopic ratios of the tuff unrelated to the heater test. Seismic properties of several tuff samples were measured. Significant differences correlating with distance from the heater occur in P- and S-wave amplitudes; these may be due to loss of bound water. Seismic velocities are nearly constant and indicate a lack of significant microcracking. The absence of clearer signs of heater-induced U mobilization or isotopic variations may be due to the short duration of the heater test, and to insufficient definition of pre-heater-test heterogeneities in the tuff

MELT ZONES BENEATH FIVE VOLCANIC COMPLEXES IN CALIFORNIA: AN ASSESSMENT OF SHALLOW MAGMA. OCCURRENCES

Recent geological and geophysical data for five magma-hydrothermal systems were studied for the purpose of developing estimates for the depth, volume and location of magma beneath each area. The areas studied were: (1) Salton Trough, (2) The Geysers-Clear Lake, (3) Long Valley caldera, (4) Coso volcanic field, and (5) Medicine Lake volcano, all located in California and all selected on the basis of recent volcanic activity and published indications of crustal melt zones. 23 figs

CONTACT ZONES AND HYDROTHERMAL SYSTEMS AS ANALOGUES TO REPOSITORY CONDITIONS

Radioactive waste isolation efforts in the US are currently focused on examining basalt, tuff, salt, and crystalline rock as candidate rock types to encompass waste repositories. As analogues to near-field conditions, the distributions of radio- and trace-elements have been examined across contacts between these rocks and dikes and stocks that have intruded them. The intensive study of the Stripa quartz monzonite has also offered the opportunity to observe the distribution of uranium and its daughters in groundwater and its relationship to U associated with fracture-filling and alteration minerals. Investigations of intrusive contact zones to date have included (1) a tertiary stock into Precambrian gneiss, (2) a stock into ash flow tuff, (3) a rhyodacite dike into Columbia River basalt, and (4) a kimberlite dike into salt. With respect to temperature and pressure, these contact zones may be considered "worst-case scenario" analogues. Results indicate that there has been no appreciable migration of radioelements from the more radioactive intrusives into the less radioactive country rocks, either in response to the intrusions or in the fracture-controlled hydrological systems that developed following emplacement. In many cases, the radioelements are locked up in accessory minerals, suggesting that artificial analogues to these would make ideal waste forms. Emphasis should now shift to examination of active hydrothermal systems, studying the distribution of key elements in water, fractures, and alteration minerals under pressure and temperature conditions most similar to those expected in the near-field environment of a repository. 14 refs