Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T15:03:51.947Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Microcracks and Radioactive Waste Disposal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

Gene Simmons
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
Louis Caruso
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
Get access

Abstract

Examination of microcracks in crystalline rocks has shown that the open microcracks form a spatially continuous network that communicates with larger openings. The open cracks become filled with new minerals that often contain U and LREEs. The crystalline rocks most desirable as a host for a repository have low crack porosity, moderate alteration, and occur in an environment that promotes rapid sealing.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Christensen, N., J. Geophys. Res. 70, 6147 (1965).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2. Christensen, N., J. Geophys. Res. 71, 3549 (1966a).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. Christensen, N., J. Geophys. Res. 71, 5921 (1966b).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Peselnick, L. and Nicolas, A., J. Geophys. Res. 83, 1227 (1978).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. Brace, W. F., J. Geophys. Res. 70, 391 (1965a).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Brace, W. F., J. Geophys. Res. 70, 5657 (1965b).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7. Nur, A. and Simmons, G., J. Geophys. Res. 74, 6667 (1969).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. Siegfried, R. and Simmons, G., J. Geophys. Res. 83, 1269 (1978).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9. Feves, M., Simmons, G., and Siegfried, R. in: The Earth's Crust: Its Nature and Physical Properties, Heacock, J.G. ed. (American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC 1977) pp. 95117.Google Scholar
10. Brace, W. F., Orange, A. S., and Madden, T. R., J. Geophys. Res. 70, 5669 (1965).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11. Simmons, G., Siegfried, R. W., and Feves, M., J. Geophys. Res. 79, 4383 (1974).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12. Padovani, E. R., Shirey, S., and Simmons, G., Geophys, J.. Res. in press (1982).Google Scholar
13. Robinson, V. N. E. and Robinson, B. W., Scanning Electron Microscopy 1, 595 (1978).Google Scholar
14. Simmons, G., Siegfried, R., and Richter, D., Proc. Lunar Sci. Conf.6th, 3227 (1975).Google Scholar
15. Caruso, L. and Simmons, G. in: Electron Microscopy in Geology, proceedings of a conference held in Tempe Arizona, 6–11 May 1981, in press (1982).Google Scholar
16. Richter, D. and Simmons, G. in: The Earth's Crust: Its Nature and Physical Properties, Heacock, J.G. ed. (American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC 1977) pp. 149180.Google Scholar
17. Batzle, M. L. and Simmons, G. in: The Earth's Crust: Its Nature and Physical Properties Heacock, J. G. ed. (American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC 1977) pp. 233242.Google Scholar
18. Wang, H. and Simmons, G., J. Geophys. Res. 83, 5849 (1978).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19. Simmons, G. and Richter, D. in: The Physics and Chemistry of Minerals and Rocks, Strens, R. G. J. ed. (Wiley-Interscience, New York 1976) pp. 105137.Google Scholar
20. Sprunt, E. and Brace, W. F., Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. 11, 139 (1974)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21. Padovani, E. R., Batzle, M. L., and Simmons, G., Proc. Lunar Sci. Conf.9th, 2731 (1978).Google Scholar
22. Batzle, M. L. and Simmons, G., Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 30, 71 (1976).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23. Caruso, L. and Simmons, G., Geol Soc. Am., Abstr. with Programs 12, 399, 1980.Google Scholar
24. Caruso, L. and Simmons, G., EOS 62, 1064 (1981).Google Scholar
25. Fleischer, R. L., Price, P. B., and Walker, R. M., Nuclear Tracks in Solids: Principles and Applications (University of California Press, Berkeley 1975) 605 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar