Hydrogeology and ground-water quality in the Sanders area, western Puerco River basin, Arizona

Ground-water in the western Puerco River basin near Sanders, Arizona, was evaluated to identify areas of poor water quality and possible radionuclide contamination from natural and/or anthropogenic sources. In addition to documented radioactive occurrences in the regional Chinle Formation, the headwaters of the Puerco River have been host to uranium mine waste discharge and spoils from a tailings pond failure in 1979. Samples from 42 wells and springs were collected during 1987-88 for inorganic ion and radionuclide analysis. Waters, originating from the Alluvial, Bidahochi, and Chinle aquifers, contained variable amounts of dissolved solids and radioactivity. Dissolved solids content ranged from 105 to 1390 mg/{dollar}l{dollar}, and combined gross alpha and beta activities ranged from 1 to 590 pCi/{dollar}l{dollar}. However, regional radioactive occurrences and overall low correlation values suggested most elevated radioactivity in ground water was produced by natural sources and not by recharge water from the Puerco River.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Geoscience

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

1989

Author dc:creator

• Dixon, Earle Campbell

Contributors dc:contributor

• John W. Hess

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/70

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-1069