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Recent measurements of 36Cl in Yucca Mountain rock, soil and seepage

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Abstract

Samples of rock, soil and seepage were collected from Yucca Mountain, USA, and analyzed for 36Cl/Cl ratios by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Rock excavated from the Drill Hole Wash fault at repository horizon depths produced a ratio suggesting that small amounts of water with “bomb-pulse” 36Cl had percolated to that site over the past 50 years. Rock from four other sites within the exploratory studies facility did not yield bomb-pulse ratios. Ratios in the soil varied depending on depth and location, with some samples producing bomb-pulse signatures. Ratios for seep water were slightly elevated above the present cosmogenic background value. This paper also discusses results from a column study mimicking the passage of 36Cl through volcanic rock and from an experiment using bromide instead of chloride as a carrier in sample preparation for AMS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies, University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV, 89154, USA

    J. V. Cizdziel, Y. Wei & K. J. Stetzenbach

  2. Department of Chemistry, UNLV, Las Vegas, USA

    V. F. Hodge

  3. Department of Geoscience, UNLV, Las Vegas, USA

    J. Cline & R. Howley

  4. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, MSEC 202, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM, 87801, USA

    F. M. Phillips

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  1. J. V. Cizdziel
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  2. Y. Wei
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  3. K. J. Stetzenbach
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  4. V. F. Hodge
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  5. J. Cline
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  6. R. Howley
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  7. F. M. Phillips
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Correspondence to J. V. Cizdziel.

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Cizdziel, J.V., Wei, Y., Stetzenbach, K.J. et al. Recent measurements of 36Cl in Yucca Mountain rock, soil and seepage. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 275, 133–144 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-007-7002-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-007-7002-9

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