Geology topics
Eurybiades Busenberg
Publications and source records attributed to Eurybiades Busenberg.
CFC tracing of groundwater in fractured rock aided with 14C and 3H to identify water mixing
No abstract available.
Chemistry of unsaturated zone gases sampled in open boreholes at the crest of Yucca Mountain, Nevada: Data and basic concepts of chemical and physical processes in the mountain
Boreholes open to the unsaturated zone at the crest of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, were variously sampled for CO 2 (including 13 C and 14 C), CH 4 , N 2 , O 2 , Ar, CFC-11, CFC-12, and CFC-113 from 1986 to 1993. Air enters the mountain in outcrops, principally on the eastern slope, is enriched in CO 2 by mixing with soil gas, and is advected to the mountain crest, where it returns to the atmosphere. The CFC data indicate that travel times of the advecting gas in the shallow Tiva Canyon hydrogeologic unit are ≤5 years. The 14 C activities are postbomb to depths of 100 m, indicating little retardation of 14 CO 2 in the shallow flow systems. The 14 C activities from 168 to 404 m in the Topopah Spring hydrogeologic unit are 85–90 pMC at borehole USW-UZ6. The CFC data show that the drilling of USW-UZ6 in 1984 has altered the natural system by providing a conduit through the Paintbrush Nonwelded unit, allowing flow from Topopah Spring outcrops in Solitario Canyon on the west to USW-UZ6, upward in the borehole through the Paintbrush, to the shallow Tiva Canyon flow systems, and out of the mountain.
Chlorofluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and dissolved permanent gases in ground water from selected sites in and near the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Idaho, 1994-97
From July 1994 through May 1997, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Department of Energy, sampled 86 wells completed in the Snake River Plain aquifer at and near the Idaho N ationa1 Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). The wells were sampled for a variety of constituents including one- and two-carbon halocarbons. Concentrations of dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC-12), trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11) and trichlorotrifluororoethane (CFC-113) were determined. The samples for halocarbon analysis were collected in 62-milliliter flame sealed borosilicate glass ampoules in the field. The data will be used to evaluate the ages of ground waters at INEEL. The ages of the ground water will be used to determine recharge rates, residence time, and travel time of water in the Snake River Plain aquifer in and near INEEL. The chromatograms of 139 ground waters are presented showing a large number of halomethanes, haloethanes, and haloethenes present in the ground waters underlying the INEEL. The chromatograms can be used to qualitatively evaluate a large number of contaminants at parts per trillion to parts per billion concentrations. The data can be used to study temporal and spatial distribution of contaminants in the Snake River Plain aquifer. Representative compressed chromatograms for all ground waters sampled in this study are available on two 3.5-inch high density computer disks. The data and the program required to decompress the data can be obtained from the U.S. Geological Survey office at Idaho Falls, Idaho. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) concentrations were measured in selected wells to determine the feasibility of using this environmental tracer as an age dating tool of ground water. Concentrations of dissolved nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and methane were measured in 79 ground waters. Concentrations of dissolved permanent gases are tabulated and will be used to evaluate the temperature of recharge of ground water in and near the INEEL.
Applications of the transient tracers tritium/helium-3, and chlorofluorocarbons for tracing and age-dating yound ground water: Field examples from the USA and Germany
The transient tracers tritium/helium-3 ( 3 H/ 3 He) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-113) are well suited for tracing and age-dating young ground water. Their detection in ground water indicates waters recharged within the past 30 ( 3 H/ 3 He, CFC-113) to 50 (CFC-11, CFC-12) years, or ground water mixtures that contain at least a portion of young water. The ground water age can be determined independently from measurements of 3 H/ 3 He, CFC-11, CFC-12, and CFC-113, and in each case refers to the time elapsed since the recharge water was isolated from the soil air. Ground water age can be used to define recharge rates and refine numerical models of ground water flow. Transient tracers are particularly useful in characterising ground water flow in hydrologic systems where, because of insufficient geologic and hydro-logic data, numerical simulation may be difficult. Transient tracers are also useful in defining movement of ground water contaminants in studies aimed, for example, at the design of strategies to safeguard drinking water supplies.
Water-resources data for the Valdosta area, south-central Georgia, 1961-93
The Upper Floridan aquifer is the sole source of water supply for the city of Valdosta, Ga., and much of the surrounding area. Users and water-resources managers and developers are concerned about the quality of water in the aquifer. The water quality of a large part of the Upper Floridan aquifer in the Valdosta area is affected by direct recharge of water from the Withlacoochee River to the aquifer through sinkholes in the river channel north of Valdosta. Furthermore, because the Withlacoochee River receives little filtration as it recharges the aquifer in this area, ground water might be vulnerable to contamination as a result of human activities within the Withlacoochee River basin. Stream-discharge and water-quality data from 17 surface-water sites and ground-water-quality dam from 111 wells in the vicinity of Valdosta, Ga., are presented for the period 1961-93. Also, ground- water-level data for the Upper Floridan aquifer in the Valdosta area are presented in a series of potentiometric-surface maps. The water-resources data were collected mostly in Lowndes County in the vicinity of Valdosta and lesser amounts were collected in surrounding Berrien, Brooks, Cook, Echols, and Lanier Counties.
Data on chlorofluorocarbons (CCl3F and CCl2F2) as dating tools and hydrologic tracers in shallow ground water of the Delmarva Peninsula
No abstract available.
Reply to Dr. Stoesselfs comment on “Reaction paths and equilibrium end-points in solid-solution aqueous-solution systems”
In reply to the Critical Comment of R. K. Stoessell (this issue), limiting activity coefficients of bromide in halite ( γ NaBr ) have been calculated by least-squares fitting of Simons et al.'s (1952) bromide distribution coefficient data for the Na(Cl,Br)-NaOH-H 2 O system at 35°C. Regular and subregular solidsolution model fits give γ NaBr = 7.4 and γ NaBr = 8.8, respectively. The Br contents of halite at equilibrium with seawater at initial halite saturation, calculated from the regular and subregular fits, are 17 ppm and 14 ppm, respectively. A survey of literature data for trace bromide in halite shows a wide spread in distribution coefficients, with lower values ( D Br ≈ 0.01) reported by Bloch and Schnerb (1953), Puchelt et al. (1972), and Lutz (1975), and higher values ( D Br − ≈ 0.03) reported by Braitsch and Herrmann (1963), Kühn (1968), Herrmann (1972), Herrmann (1980), Mccaffrey et al. (1987), valiashko et al. (1976), Valiashko and Lavrova (1976), and Fontes (pers. commun., 1990). The measurement of stoichiometric saturation states for halite (or sylvite) with trace bromide mole-fractions is not practical, given the insensitivity of the measured solubilities on the bromide mole-fractions. Distribution coefficient measurements, with proof of thermodynamic equilibrium, need to be obtained instead, to conclusively determine the thermodynamic-mixing properties of both Na(Cl,Br) and K(Cl,Br) solidsolution series at very low mole-fractions of bromide. The applicability of the stoichiometric saturation concept to the interpretation of precipitation processes is questionable, primarily because the concept requires solid-solutions to behave as one-component solids with fixed composition. Lippmann diagrams are useful in depicting stoichiometric saturation, endmember saturation, and thermodynamic equilibrium states in binary-solid-solution aqueous-solution systems. Lippmann diagrams can contribute a better understanding of these systems, regardless of the concentration of the endmember components.
The solubility of strontianite (SrCO 3 ) in CO 2 -H 2 O solutions between 2 and 91°C, the association constants of SrHCO + 3 (aq) and SrCO 0 3 (aq) between 5 and 80°C, and an evaluation of the thermodynamic properties of Sr 2+ (aq) and SrCO 3 (cr) at 25°C and 1 atm total pressure
Seventy new measurements (Sr T -P co2 of the solubility of strontianite were used to evaluate the equilibrium constant for the reaction SrCO 3 ( cr ) = Sr 2+ ( aq ) + CO 2− 3 ( aq ) between 2 and 91 °C. The temperature dependence of the equilibrium constant is given by the expression Log K = 155.0305 − 7239.594/ T − 56.58638 log T where T is in degrees Kelvin. The log K of strontianite, the Gibbs energy, enthalpy and entropy of the reaction at 25°C are −9.271 ± 0.020, 52.919 ± 0.08 kJ · mol −1 , −1.67 ± 1.30 kJ · mol −1 , and −183.1 ± 4.0 J · mol −1 · K −1 , respectively. The equilibrium constants are consistent with an aqueous model that includes the ion pairs SrHCO + 3 (aq) and SrCO 0 3 (aq) which were evaluated by potentiometric methods between 5 and 80°C. The equilibrium constant for the association reaction Sr 2+ ( aq ) + HCO − 3 ( aq ) = SrHCO + 3 aq ) is given by the expression Log K SrHCO + 3 = −3.248 + 0.014867 T . The log of the association constant, the Gibbs energy, enthalpy and entropy of the reaction at 25°C are 1.18, −6.76 kJ · mol −1 , 25.30 kJ · mol −1 , and 107.5 J · mol −1 · K −1 , respectively. The equilibrium constant for the association reaction Sr 2+ ( aq ) + CO 2− 3 ( aq ) = SrCO 0 3 aq ) is given by the expression Log K SrCO 0 3 = −1.019 + 0.012826 T . The log of the association constant, the Gibbs energy, enthalpy, and entropy of the reaction at 25°C are 2.81, −16.01 kJ · mol −1 ,21.83 kJ · mol −1 , and 126.9 J · mol −1 · K −1 , respectively. These results lead to reliable calculation of the aqueous speciation and solubility of strontianite in the system SrCO 3 -CO 2 -H 2 O from 0 to more than 90°C. Literature data on the solubility of strontianite have been evaluated and compared with these results. Our new data for strontianite have been used in an evaluation of the thermodynamic properties of Sr 2+ (aq), SrCO 3 (cr) and related compounds. The following values are recommended for the standard enthalpy (kJ · mol −1 ), Gibbs energy (kJ · mol −1 ), and entropy (J · mol −1 · K −1 ), respectively, of Sr 2+ aq): −550.90 ± 0.50, −563.83 ± 0.8 and −31.50 ± 2.0, and for SrCO 3 (cr): −1225.77 ± 1.1, −1144.73 ± 1.0 and 97.2.
Chemical and X-ray analyses of 175 calcite and marble samples from the collection of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
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The solubilities of calcite, aragonite and vaterite in CO2-H2O solutions between 0 and 90°C, and an evaluation of the aqueous model for the system CaCO3-CO2-H2O
Calculations based on approximately 350 new measurements (Ca T -PCO 2 ) of the solubilities of calcite, aragonite and vaterite in CO 2 -H 2 O solutions between 0 and 90°C indicate the following values for the log of the equilibrium constants K C , K A , and K V respectively, for the reaction CaCO 3 (s) = Ca 2+ + CO 2− 3 : where T is in o K. At 25°C the logarithms of the equilibrium constants are −8.480 ± 0.020, −8.336 ± 0.020 and −7.913 ± 0.020 for calcite, aragonite and vaterite, respectively. The equilibrium constants are internally consistent with an aqueous model that includes the CaHCO + 3 and CaCO 0 3 ion pairs, revised analytical expressions for CO 2 -H 2 O equilibria, and extended Debye-Hückel individual ion activity coefficients. Using this aqueous model, the equilibrium constant of aragonite shows no PCO 2 -dependence if the CaHCO + 3 association constant is between 0 and 90°C, corresponding to the value log K Cahco + 3 = 1.11 ± 0.07 at 25°C. The CaCO 0 3 association constant was measured potentiometrically to be between 5 and 80°C, yielding log K CaCO 0 3 = 3.22 ± 0.14 at 25°C. The CO 2 -H 2 O equilibria have been critically evaluated and new empirical expressions for the temperature dependence of K H , K 1 and K 2 are , and log K 2 = −107.8871 − 0.03252849 T + 5151.79/ T + 38.92561 log T − 563713.9/ T 2 which may be used to at least 250°C. These expressions hold for 1 atm. total pressure between 0 and 100°C and follow the vapor pressure curve of water at higher temperatures. Extensive measurements of the pH of Ca-HCO 3 solutions at 25°C and 0.956 atm PCO 2 using different compositions of the reference electrode filling solution show that measured differences in pH are closely approximated by differences in liquid-junction potential as calculated by the Henderson equation. Liquid-junction corrected pH measurements agree with the calculated pH within 0.003-0.011 pH. Earlier arguments suggesting that the CaHCO + 3 ion pair should not be included in the CaCO 3 -CO 2 -H 2 O aqueous model were based on less accurate calcite solubility data. The CaHCO + 3 ion pair must be included in the aqueous model to account for the observed PCO 2 -dependence of aragonite solubility between 317 ppm CO 2 and 100% CO 2 . Previous literature on the solubility of CaCO 3 polymorphs have been critically evaluated using the aqueous model and the results are compared.
The kinetics of dissolution of dolomite in CO2-H2O systems at 1.5 to 65 degrees C and 0 to 1 atm PCO2
No abstract available.