Geophysics: Building E5481 decommissioning, Aberdeen Proving Ground

Building E5481 is one of ten potentially contaminated sites in the Canal Creek and Westwood areas of the Edgewood section of Aberdeen Proving Ground examined by a geophysical team from Argonne National Laboratory in April and May of 1992. Noninvasive geophysical surveys, including magnetics, electrical resistivity, and ground-penetrating radar, were conducted around the perimeter of the building to guide a sampling program prior to decommissioning and dismantling. The building is located on the northern margin of a landfill that was sited in a wetland. The large number of magnetic sources surrounding the building are believed to be contained in construction fill that had been used to raise the grade. The smaller anomalies, for the most part, are not imaged with ground radar or by electrical profiling. A conductive zone trending northwest to southeast across the site is spatially related to an old roadbed. Higher resistivity areas in the northeast and east are probably representive of background values. Three high-amplitude, positive, rectangular magnetic anomalies have unknown sources. The features do not have equivalent electrical signatures, nor are they seen with radar imaging

Integrated, flexible, and rapid geophysical surveying

Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), in the state of Maryland (Figure 1), is currently managing a comprehensive Installation Restoration Program involving more than 360 solid-waste managing units contained within 13 study areas. The Edgewood area and two landfills in the Aberdeen area appear on the National Priority List under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. Therefore, APG has entered into an interagency agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency to address the listed areas. The West Branch of the Canal Creek area (Figure 1), located within the Edgewood area, is one of the areas that requires a Source Definition Study because there is an ongoing release of volatile organic compounds into the creek. A report prepared by EAI Corporation (1989) included a list of 29 potentially contaminated buildings in the Edgewood area. Sixteen of the buildings contain known contaminants, nine buildings contain unknown contaminants, and four of the buildings are potentially clean. The EAI report recommended that a sampling and monitoring program be established to verify contamination levels in and around each building. Thirteen of the potentially contaminated buildings are in the West Branch of the Canal Creek area and are potential sources of volatile organic compounds. Operations have ceased and the buildings have been abandoned, but processing equipment, sumps, drains, ventilation systems, and underground storage tanks remain. These appurtenances may contain liquid, solid, or vapor contaminants of unknown nature

Using MODFLOW drains to simulate groundwater flow in a karst environment

Modeling groundwater flow in a karst environment is both numerically challenging and highly uncertain because of potentially complex flowpaths and a lack of site-specific information. This study presents the results of MODFLOW numerical modeling in which drain cells in a finite-difference model are used as analogs for preferential flowpaths or conduits in karst environments. In this study, conduits in mixed-flow systems are simulated by assigning connected pathways of drain cells from the locations of tracer releases, sinkholes, or other karst features to outlet springs along inferred flowpaths. These paths are determined by the locations of losing stream segments, ephemeral stream beds, geophysical surveys, fracture lineaments, or other surficial characteristics, combined with the results of dye traces. The elevations of the drains at the discharge ends of the inferred flowpaths are estimated from field data and are adjusted when necessary during model calibration. To simulate flow in a free-flowing conduit, a high conductance is assigned to each drain to eliminate the need for drain-specific information that would be very difficult to obtain. Calculations were performed for a site near Hohenfels, Germany. The potentiometric surface produced by the simulations agreed well with field data. The head contours in the vicinity of the karst features behaved in a manner consistent with a flow system having both diffuse and conduit components, and the sum of the volumetric flow out of the drain cells agreed closely with spring discharges and stream flows. Because of the success of this approach, it is recommended for regional studies in which little site-specific information (e.g., location, number, size, and conductivity of fractures and conduits) is available, and general flow characteristics are desired

The Dry Valley Drilling Project- An Exercise in International Cooperation - Viewpoint from the United States

Normally an acknowledgment appears as an addendum to a paper, obscured by all the facts, figures, theory, and philosophy that comes before. In this case, however, I feel that the acknowledgments tell the story of the project, which was one of international cooperation, in such a succinct way that it has become an abstract in itself and should therefore appear at the head of this article. The author\u27s position in DVDP, as U. S. Science Coordinator, was primarily as a focal point to receive and distribute communications on all facets of the project to the international science community and to individuals directly linked to the project. After the initial planning and development of the project into a 3-phase operation responsibilities were distributed to the various groups listed below : Coordination T. NAGATA -Director, National Institute of Polar Research, Japan T. TORII -Executive Secretary, Japan Polar Research Association R. THOMSON -Superintendent, Antarctic Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Zealand D. KEAR -Assistant Director General, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Zealand M. TURNER -Program Director, Division of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, United States L. McGINNIS -Professor, Northern Illinois University Advisory Group E. S. BARGHOORN -Harvard University P. J. BARRETT -Victoria University C. R. BENTLEY -University of Wisconsin R. F. BLACK -University of Connecticut P. E. DAMON -University of Arizona S. S. GOLDICH -Northern Illinois University H. KURASAWA -Geological Survey, Japan M. MURAYAMA -National Institute of Polar Research, Japan N. NAKAI -Nagoya University R. F. ROY -Purdue University S. B. TREVES University of Nebraska P. N. WEBB -Northern Illinois University H. E. WRIGHT, Jr. -University of Minnesota Y. YOSHIDA -National Institute of Polar Research, Japan Environmental Monitoring B. C. PARKER -Virginia Polytechnic Institute K. CARTWRIGHT -Illinois State Geological Survey M. G. MUDREY, Jr. -Northern Illinois University Logistics Planning, General Management, Operations, Bulletin Editing L. D. McGINNIS -Northern Illinois University M. G. MUDREY, Jr. -Northern Illinois University Drill Superintendents J. HOFFMAN -Geophysics Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research L. OLIVER -Geophysics Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Core Curation D. CASSIDY -Florida State University The above responsibilities existed primarily as we saw them in the United States. Credit for the idea and initiation of the project ultimately rests with Phil SMITH of the National Science Foundation. In New Zealand R. B. THOMSON was instrumental from the beginning in planning and project design, both in the field and in New Zealand Government affairs. His efforts led to the formulation of the New Zealand drill team which was the key to project success. In Japan, T. NAGATA assembled federal support behind DVDP and opened up a long-term and continued collaboration with the U. S. and New Zealand by support of the laboratory facilities at McMurdo. In the Japan science community and as one of the first proposers of drilling in the dry valleys, T. TORII gave stimulus to the entire DVDP community of scientists. The U. S. Navy support facility at McMurdo must be commended for their role in giving us the mobility to move the rig into the valleys and for the innumerable back-up support at all project levels

Radioactive Waste Isolation in Salt: Peer review of documents dealing with geophysical investigations

The Salt Repository Project, a US Department of Energy program to develop a mined repository in salt for high-level radioactive waste, is governed by a complex and sometimes inconsistent array of laws, administrative regulations, guidelines, and position papers. In conducting multidisciplinary peer reviews of contractor documents in support of this project, Argonne National Laboratory has needed to inform its expert reviewers of these governmental mandates, with particular emphasis on the relationship between issues and the technical work undertaken. This report acquaints peer review panelists with the regulatory framework as it affects their reviews of site characterization plans and related documents, including surface-based and underground test plans. Panelists will be asked to consider repository performance objectives and issues as they judge the adequacy of proposed geophysical testing. All site-specific discussions relate to the Deaf Smith County site in Texas, which was approved for site characterization by the President in May 1986. Natural processes active at the Deaf Smith County site and the status of geophysical testing near the site are reviewed briefly. 25 refs., 4 figs., 5 tabs

Geophysics: Building E5032 decommissioning, Aberdeen Proving Ground

integration of data from surveys using three geophysical technologies has provided information used to define the locations of buried utilities, tanks, vaults, and debris near building E5032 at the Aberdeen Proving Ground. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) profiles indicate the presence of buried pipes, tanks, reinforcement rods (rebar), and remnants of railroad tracks. A magnetic map constructed from a detailed magnetic survey on the north side of the building outlines buried iron-rich objects that are interpreted to be iron pipes, tank, and other debris of uncertain origin at relatively shallow depths. Horizontal electrical resistivity surveys and vertical electrical resistivity soundings essentially corroborated the findings obtained with the magnetometer and GPR. In addition, a highly resistance layer was observed on the east side of the building where a former railroad bed with a thick grave fill is believed to immediately underlie the lawn. The resistivity data show no evidence of a conductive leachate plume. Geophysical measurements from three techniques over a buried concrete slab approximately 130 ft north of Building E5032 give geophysical signatures interpreted to be due to the presence of a large iron tank or vault. An attempt was made to gather meaningful magnetic data on the east, west, and south sides of the building; however, the quality of subsurface interpretations in those areas was poor because of the influence of surficial iron lids, pipes, grates, and the effects of the corrugated iron building itself. 11 figs., 1 tab

Geophysics: Building E5375 decommissioning, Aberdeen Proving Ground

Building E5375 was one of ten potentially contaminated sites in the Canal Creek area of the Edgewood section of Aberdeen Proving Ground examined by a geophysical team from Argonne National Laboratory in April and May 1992. Noninvasive geophysical surveys, including magnetics, electrical resistivity, and ground-penetrating radar (GPR), were conducted around the perimeter of the building to guide a sampling program prior to decommissioning and dismantling. Several anomalies wear, noted: (1) An underground storage tank located 25 ft east of Building E5375 was identified with magnetic, resistivity, and GPR profiling. (2) A three-point resistivity anomaly, 12 ft east of the northeast comer of Building E5374 (which borders Building E5375) and 5 ft south of the area surveyed with the magnetometer, may be caused by another underground storage tank. (3) A 2,500-gamma magnetic anomaly near the northeast corner of the site has no equivalent resistivity anomaly, although disruption in GPR reflectors was observed. (4) A one-point magnetic anomaly was located at the northeast comer, but its source cannot be resolved. A chaotic reflective zone to the east represents the radar signature of Building E5375 construction fill

Geophysics: Building E5190 decommissioning, Aberdeen Proving Ground

Building E5190 is one of ten potentially contaminated sites in the Canal Creek area of the Edgewood section of Aberdeen Proving Ground examined by a geophysical team from Argonne National Laboratory in April and May 1992. A noninvasive geophysical survey, including the complementary technologies of magnetics, electrical resistivity, and ground-penetrating radar, was conducted around the perimeter as a guide to developing a sampling and monitoring program prior to decommissioning and dismantling the building. The magnetics surveys indicated that multistation, positive magnetic sources are randomly distributed north and west of the building. Two linear trends were noted: one that may outline buried utility lines and another that is produced by a steel-covered trench. The resistivity profiling indicated three conductive zones: one due to increased moisture in a ditch, one associated with buried utility lines, and a third zone associated with the steel-covered trench. Ground-penetrating radar imaging detected two significant anomalies, which were correlated with small-amplitude magnetic anomalies. The objectives of the study -- to detect and locate objects and to characterize a located object were achieved

Geophysics: Building E5282 decommissioning, Aberdeen Proving Ground

This report discusses Building E5282 which was one of 10 potentially contaminated sites in the Canal Creek area of the Edgewood section of Aberdeen Proving Ground examined by a geophysical team from Argonne National Laboratory in April and May of 1992. Noninvasive geophysical surveys, including magnetics, electrical resistivity, and ground-penetrating radar (GPR), were conducted around the perimeter of the building to guide a sampling program prior to decommissioning and dismantling. Magnetic surveys identified small, complicated, multiple anomalies west, north, and northeast of the building that may be caused by construction fill. Two underground storage tanks, at the northeast and southeast corners, were identified. A large magnetic anomaly complex east of the building was caused by aboveground pipes and unexploded ordnance fragments scattered at the surface. Electrical resistivity profiling showed a broad, conductive terrain superimposed over magnetic anomalies on the north and west. A broad, high-resistivity, nonmagnetic area centered 25 ft east of the building has an unknown origin, but it may be due to nonconductive organic liquids, construction fill, or a buried concrete slab; GPR imaging showed this area as a highly reflective zone at a depth of about 5 ft. The GPR data also showed a small-diameter pipe oriented north-south located east of the building

Geophysics: Building E5476 decommissiong, Aberdeen Proving Ground

Building E5476 was one of ten potentially contaminated sites in the Canal Creek and Westwood areas of the Edgewood section of Aberdeen Proving Ground examined by a geophysical team from Argonne National Laboratory in April and May of 1992. Noninvasive geophysical surveys, including magnetics, electrical resistivity, and ground-penetrating radar, were conducted around the perimeter of the building to guide a sampling program prior to decommissioning and dismantling. The large number of magnetic sources surrounding the building are believed to be contained in construction fill. The smaller anomalies, for the most part, were not imaged with ground radar or by electrical profiling. Large magnetic anomalies near the southwest comer of the building are due to aboveground standpipes and steel-reinforced concrete. Two high-resistivity areas, one projecting northeast from the building and another south of the original structure, may indicate the presence of organic pore fluids in the subsurface. A conductive lineament protruding from the south wall that is enclosed by the southem, high-resistivity feature is not associated with an equivalent magnetic anomaly. Magnetic and electrical anomalies south of the old landfill boundary are probably not associated with the building. The boundary is marked by a band of magnetic anomalies and a conductive zone trending northwest to southeast. The cause of high resistivities in a semicircular area in the southwest comer, within the landfill area, is unexplained