Search USGS⌕ Search

Geology topics

Research about Salt Valley

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Salt Valley.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1982

Results of hydraulic tests in U.S. Department of Energy's wells DOE-4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, Salt Valley, Grand County, Utah

Six exploratory wells were drilled into the cap rock underlying Salt Valley, Utah, for geologic, geophysical, and hydrologic data to augment information obtained from three previous test wells. Drilling of three other test holes was abandoned due to caving and loss of drilling tools, Before reaching the zone of saturation; the upper 100 meters of cap rock is unsaturated. Within the saturated part of the cap rock, hydraulic heads generally decrease with depth and to the northwest in this part of the valley. Hydraulic conductivity of the cap rock, as determined from pumping tests, ranged from 9.3 X 10 -5 to 2.06 X 10 -1 meters per day; as a result, groundwater flow rates in the cap rock are low. Water ranges from a calcium bicarbonate sulfate type on the western edge of the valley to a calcium magnesium sodium bicarbonate, sulfate, chloride type near the center of the valley. Carbon-14 specific activity for cap-rock water yielded an uncorrected age of about 17,000 to 26,000 years before present near the western edge of the valley and about 41,000 years before present near the center of the valley.

Utah↗
USGS1980

Analysis of borehole geophysical data in an evaporite sequence at Salt Valley, Utah

Interpretation of the lithology of an interbed sequence (thin-bedded sediments between thick layers of salt) is often difficult due to the presence of dolomitic sandstones and halite inclusions. The most useful well logging measurements in an evaporite sequence are gamma-ray, neutron-neutron, density, and acoustic velocity. The high resistivity of salt and the low resistivity of commonly used drilling fluids (brine muds) make it difficult to obtain measurements of electrical properties in an evaporite sequence. Tests of a single-coil induction probe at Salt Valley show good resolution of the interbed lithologies and may be useful in determining moisture in the halite. Complex structural features (faulting and folding) are difficult to interpret with individual well logs. Interpretation of complex folding can be aided by plotting the percent frequency of occurrence of well log response values for the interbeds. Limbs of a fold that intersect the drill hole at different dip angles yield similar distribution patterns on these percent-frequency plots.

Utah↗
USGS1980

Hole-to-surface resistivity measurements at Salt Valley, Utah

Evaporites are an important potential medium for the storage of radioactive wastes. In order to ascertain the viability of a proposed waste isolation site, it is necessary to study its geology without extensive drilling that might destroy its structural integrity. Hole-to-surface and hole-to-hole geophysical measurements can be useful in supplementing geologic data obtained from a few drill holes and can be used to aid the interpretation of surface geophysical measurements. The study presented in this paper was conducted at Salt Valley, Utah to test the feasibility of using hole-to-surface direct-current resistivity measurements to detect geologic inhomogeneities in evaporites. These measurements show the following: (1) It is feasible to make hole-to-surface resistivity measurements over evaporites. However, near-surface steel casing can make it difficult to quantitatively analyze the field data with present interpretation techniques. Future investigations should include theoretical studies to solve interpretation problems when steel casing is in the hole and the mud is a high-conductivity brine. (2) A comparison of measurements made from the three different source drill holes shows that the halite acts as an electrical insulator and most of the current emitted from the source is contained in the caprock. (3) A comparison of measurements made parallel and perpendicular to the valley walls shows that there are more variations in the halitecaprock interface perpendicular than parallel to the axis of the Salt Valley anticline. (4) Structurally complex interbeds within the salt may cause differences in the current distribution measured at the surface from current sources buried at different depths. (5) Total field mapping would be more useful than the single-component data that were collected in this study.

Utah↗