Closure of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Hydrofracture Facility: An opportunity to study the fate of radioactive wastes disposed of by subsurface injection

At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, subsurface injection has been used to dispose of liquid low-level nuclear waste for the past two decades. The process consists of mixing the liquid waste with cement and other additives to form a slurry that is injected under pressure through a cased well into a low-permeability shale at a depth of approximately 300 m (1000 ft). The slurry spreads from the well along hydraulic fractures and sets to form irregularly shaped grout sheets of up to 200 m (650 ft) in radius. Closure-related site characterization provides a unique opportunity to study the fate of the injected wastes. A series of monitoring wells are in place to measure groundwater chemistries within the injection strata and within overlying and underlying confining units. Initial results indicate that contaminated groundwater surrounds the grout sheets in the injection zone, extending at least as far as 300 m (1000 ft) from the injection well; contaminated groundwater is largely and perhaps exclusively confined to the host formation; and of the /sup 90/Sr and /sup 137/Cs radionuclides disposed of, only /sup 90/Sr is present in the contaminated groundwater. The illite-rich mineralogy of the injection formation strongly absorbs /sup 137/Cs and greatly retards its migration. Movement of /sup 90/Sr is not as greatly retarded by the injection formation. Geochemical modeling is being used to identify and to evaluate hydrogeological controls on /sup 90/Sr behavior. Preliminary results suggest that the groundwaters within the injection formation are saturated with Sr from natural sources, and that /sup 90/Sr mobility may be lessened by precipitation/dissolution reactions associated with such a saturated condition. 27 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs

Navigational infrastructure at the East Pacific Rise 9°50′N area following the 2005–2006 eruption : seafloor benchmarks and near-bottom multibeam surveys

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 9 (2008):Q11T04, doi:10.1029/2008GC002070.Four seafloor benchmarks were deployed with ROV Jason2 at frequently visited areas along the northern East Pacific Rise (NEPR) ridge crest near 9°50′N, within the Ridge2000 EPR integrated study site (ISS) bull's eye. When used in concert with established deep-ocean acoustic positioning techniques, these benchmarks provide navigational infrastructure to facilitate the integration of near-bottom data at this site by allowing efficient and quantitative coregistration of data and observations collected on multiple dives and over multiple cruises. High-resolution, near-bottom multibeam bathymetric surveys also were conducted along and across the ridge crest to provide a morphological and geological context for the benchmark areas. We describe the navigation and data processing techniques used to constrain the benchmark positions and outline operational details to effectively use benchmarks at this and other deep-ocean sites where multidisciplinary time series studies are conducted. The well-constrained positions of the benchmarks provide a consistent geospatial framework that can be used to limit navigational uncertainties during seafloor sampling and mapping programs and enable accurate spatial coregistration and integration of observations. These data are important to test a range of multidisciplinary hypotheses that seek to link geological, chemical, and biological processes associated with crustal accretion and energy transfer from the mantle to the hydrosphere at mid-ocean ridges

Infrared behavior of the gluon propagator in lattice Landau gauge: the three-dimensional case

We evaluate numerically the three-momentum-space gluon propagator in the lattice Landau gauge, for three-dimensional pure-SU(2) lattice gauge theory with periodic boundary conditions. Simulations are done for nine different values of the coupling $\beta$, from $\beta = 0$ (strong coupling) to $\beta = 6.0$ (in the scaling region), and for lattice sizes up to $V = 64^3$. In the limit of large lattice volume we observe, in all cases, a gluon propagator decreasing for momenta smaller than a constant value $p_{dec}$. From our data we estimate $p_{dec} \approx 350$ MeV. The result of a gluon propagator decreasing in the infrared limit has a straightforward interpretation as resulting from the proximity of the so-called first Gribov horizon in the infrared directions.Comment: 14 pages, BI-TP 99/03 preprint, correction in the Acknowledgments section. To appear in Phys.Rev.

On practical problems to compute the ghost propagator in SU(2) lattice gauge theory

In SU(2) lattice pure gauge theory we study numerically the dependence of the ghost propagator G(p) on the choice of Gribov copies in Lorentz (or Landau) gauge. We find that the effect of Gribov copies is essential in the scaling window region, however, it tends to decrease with increasing beta. On the other hand, we find that at larger beta-values very strong fluctuations appear which can make problematic the calculation of the ghost propagator.Comment: 15 pages, 5 postscript figures. 2 Figures added Revised version as to be published in Phys.Rev.

Chemistry of hot springs along the Eastern Lau Spreading Center

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2010. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 75 (2011): 1013-1038, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2010.12.008.The Eastern Lau Spreading Center (ELSC) is the southernmost part of the back-arc spreading axis in the Lau Basin, west of the Tonga trench and the active Tofua volcanic arc. Over its 397-km length it exhibits large and systematic changes in spreading rate, magmatic/tectonic processes, and proximity to the volcanic arc. In 2005 we collected 81 samples of vent water from six hydrothermal fields along the ELSC. The chemistry of these waters varies both within and between vent fields, in response to changes in substrate composition, temperature and pressure, pH, water/rock ratio, and input from magmatic gases and subducted sediment. Hot-spring temperatures range from 229º to 363ºC at the five northernmost fields, with a general decrease to the south that is reversed at the Mariner field. The southernmost field, Vai Lili, emitted water at up to 334°C in 1989 but had a maximum venting temperature of only 121ºC in 2005, due to waning activity and admixture of bottom seawater into the subseafloor plumbing system. Chloride varies both within fields and from one field to another, from a low of 528 mmol/kg to a high of 656 mmol/kg, and may be enriched by phase separation and/or leaching of Cl from the rock. Concentrations of the soluble elements K, Rb, Cs, and B likewise increase southward as the volcanic substrate becomes more silica-rich, especially on the Valu Fa Ridge. Iodine and δ7Li increase southward, and δ11B decreases as B increases, apparently in response to increased input from subducted sediment as the arc is approached. Species that decrease southward as temperature falls are Si, H2S, Li, Na/Cl, Fe, Mn, and 87Sr/86Sr, whereas pH, alkalinity, Ca, and Sr increase. Oxygen isotopes indicate a higher water/rock ratio in the three systems on Valu Fa Ridge, consistent with higher porosity in more felsic volcanic rocks. Vent waters at the Mariner vent field on the Valu Fa Ridge are significantly hotter, more acid and metal-rich, less saline, and richer in dissolved gases and other volatiles, including H2S, CO2, and F, than the other vent fields, consistent with input of magmatic gases. The large variations in geologic and geophysical parameters produced by back-arc spreading along the ELSC, which exceed those along mid-ocean ridge spreading axes, produce similar large variations in the composition of vent waters, and thus provide new insights into the processes that control the chemistry of submarine hot springs.We thank the U.S. National Science Foundation and its RIDGE 2000 Program for funding this study via grants OCE0241826 (to MJM), OCE0242902 (to PJM), OCE0241796 (to JSS, MKT), and OCE0242088 (to CGW), as well as the Deep Ocean Exploration Institute at WHOI (to GP, ER)

Serpentinization, Carbonation, and Metasomatism of Ultramafic Sequences in the Northern Apennine Ophiolite (NW Italy)

Fluid-rock interaction in ultramafic rocks considerably affects the chemical and isotopic composition of the oceanic lithosphere. We present a geochemical and petrological study of serpentinites and ophicalcites of the Northern Apennine ophiolite, Italy. This ophiolite sequence represents fragments of Jurassic oceanic lithosphere that have been denuded by low angle detachment faults, exposing peridotites on the ocean floor and triggering hydrothermal alteration. Seawater circulation is documented by (Jurassic) seawater-like 87Sr/86Sr values and δ13C values of 1.1–3.0‰ in carbonate veins of the ophicalcites. Bulk rock ophicalcites have low 87Sr/86Sr values of 0.70489–0.70599, elevated SiO2 contents, and talc druses filling calcite veins that record Si-metasomatism. In contrast, underlying serpentinites have 87Sr/86Sr values above Jurassic seawater values. Bulk rock δD and δ18O values of ophicalcites and serpentinites suggest interaction with an evolved seawater-derived and/or magmatic fluid. These chemical signatures result from a complex history of serpentinization, carbonation, and metasomatism. Multiphase water-rock interaction includes infiltration of basement-derived fluids during initial mantle upwelling within an opening ocean basin, followed by localized high-temperature fluid infiltration, extensive seawater circulation resulting in carbonation, and oxidation near the seawater-exposed surface, and finally, fluid-rock interaction with overlying mafic lithologies leading to Si-metasomatism. The studied sequence represents an excellent example of the evolution from serpentinite to ophicalcite during continuous uplift and exposure of ultramafic rocks on the seafloor and documents the complex hydrothermal evolution of ultramafic rocks associated with this process. The extensive chemical transformation of mantle peridotites likely has an impact on geochemical cycles and subduction zone processes

On the Infrared Exponent for Gluon and Ghost Propagation in Landau Gauge QCD

In the covariant description of confinement, one expects the ghost correlations to be infrared enhanced. Assuming ghost dominance, the long-range behavior of gluon and ghost correlations in Landau gauge QCD is determined by one exponent kappa. The gluon propagator is infrared finite (vanishing) for kappa =1/2 (kappa > 1/2) which is still under debate. Here, we study critical exponent and coupling for the infrared conformal behavior from the asymptotic form of the solutions to the Dyson-Schwinger equations in an ultraviolet finite expansion scheme. The value for kappa is directly related to the ghost-gluon vertex. Assuming that it is regular in the infrared, one obtains kappa = 0.595. This value maximizes the critical coupling alpha_c(kappa), yielding alpha_c^max = (4 Pi/Nc) 0.709 approx. 2.97 for Nc=3. For larger kappa the vertex acquires an infrared singularity in the gluon momentum, smaller ones imply infrared singular ghost legs. Variations in alpha_c remain within 5% from kappa = 0.5 to 0.7. Above this range, alpha_c decreases more rapidly with alpha_c -> 0 as kappa -> 1 which sets the upper bound on kappa.Comment: 22 Pages, 10 Figures, LaTeX2e, revtex4, some notes and references added in response to communication

Anisotropy in seafloor flange, slab, and crust samples from measurements of permeability and porosity : implications for fluid flow and deposit evolution

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 13 (2012): Q03018, doi:10.1029/2011GC003840.Seafloor hydrothermal vents accommodate the convective transfer of fluids from subsurface environments to the oceans. In addition to black smoker chimneys, a variety of other deposit-types form. Flanges protrude from the sides of edifices as horizontal ledges, below which vent fluids pool. Slabs are hydrothermally silicified layered volcaniclastic deposits. Crusts are deposits composed of previously deposited material underlain by hot fluids. Permeability and porosity measurements were conducted on flanges from Guaymas Basin and the Main Endeavour Vent Field, slabs from the Lucky Strike Vent Field, and a crust sample from the Trans-Atlantic Geotraverse (TAG) active mound. Cores taken parallel to textural layers have high permeabilities (≈10−12 m2) and porosities (30–40%) that follow a power law relationship with exponent α ≈ 1 to 2. Cores taken perpendicular to layering have permeabilities from 10−16 to 10−12 m2 and porosities from 20 to 45%, with α ≈ 5 to 8. The two distinct trends result from the heterogeneity of textural layers within these deposits. Microstructural observations show large variations in grain packing and pore distributions between layers, consistent with flow perpendicular to layering being more susceptible to changes in permeability that result from mineral precipitation than flow parallel to layering. These results imply that the primary flow direction in these deposits is parallel to layering, whereas flow perpendicular to layering is more restricted. Quantification of anisotropic permeability provides important constraints for determination of fluid flux from these layered deposits, and temperatures, chemistry, and availability of nutrients to organisms living in and at exteriors of deposits.This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grants EAR-0741339 and OCE-0648337. Partial support for JG and WZ from DOE # DEFG0207ER15916 is also acknowledged.2012-09-2

The Impact of Railway Stations on Residential and Commercial Property Value: A Meta-analysis

Railway stations function as nodes in transport networks and places in an urban environment. They have accessibility and environmental impacts, which contribute to property value. The literature on the effects of railway stations on property value is mixed in its finding in respect to the impact magnitude and direction, ranging from a negative to an insignificant or a positive impact. This paper attempts to explain the variation in the findings by meta-analytical procedures. Generally the variations are attributed to the nature of data, particular spatial characteristics, temporal effects and methodology. Railway station proximity is addressed from two spatial considerations: a local station effect measuring the effect for properties with in 1/4 mile range and a global station effect measuring the effect of coming 250 m closer to the station. We find that the effect of railway stations on commercial property value mainly takes place at short distances. Commercial properties within 1/4 mile rang are 12.2% more expensive than residential properties. Where the price gap between the railway station zone and the rest is about 4.2% for the average residence, it is about 16.4% for the average commercial property. At longer distances the effect on residential property values dominate. We find that for every 250 m a residence is located closer to a station its price is 2.3% higher than commercial properties. Commuter railway stations have a consistently higher positive impact on the property value compared to light and heavy railway/Metro stations. The inclusion of other accessibility variables (such as highways) in the models reduces the level of reported railway station impact. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC