Crosswell electromagnetic measurements are a promising new geophysical technique for mapping subsurface electrical conductivity which can provide information about the subsurface distribution of water, oil or steam. In this work the fields from a low frequency vertical magnetic dipole have been examined from the specific point of view of their application to the determination of the conductivity of a layered medium. The source and the receiver were placed inside two separate boreholes. The range of penetration of such a crosswell system for typical earth resistivities and for currently available transmitter and receiver technologies was found to be up to 1,000 meters so problems in ground water and petroleum reservoir characteristics can be practically examined. An analysis of the behavior of the magnetic fields at the boundary between two half-spaces showed that the horizontal magnetic field component, H{rho}, and the vertical derivative of a vertical component, {delta}H{sub z}/{delta}z, are more sensitive to conductivity variations than H{sub z}. The analysis of derivatives led to the concept of measuring the conductivity directly using a second vertical derivative of H{sub z}. Conductivity profiles interpreted from field data using this technique reproduced accurately the electrical logs for a test site near Devine, Texas. It was …

The highly heterogeneous nature of most geologic media, coupled with the restricted view of the subsurface available through boreholes, makes it difficult to determine the spatial distribution of subsurface hydrologic properties. Without such a description one cannot predict how fluid flow or solute transport will occur through permeable geologic media, and these predictions are critically needed to address many important environmental problems, including toxic chemical spills, leaking underground storage tanks, and long-term radioactive waste isolation. A common concern of these problems is the possible existence of high-permeability pathways connecting the problem to the biosphere. An understanding of flow and transport behavior is also necessary to optimize energy extraction from petroleum or geothermal reservoirs, where identifying low-permeability barriers that compartmentalize reservoirs and hamper efficient resource utilization is a key problem. The present work describes the development and application of a new inverse method for determining the spatial distribution of hydrologic properties (permeability and specific storage) in heterogeneous geologic media, using pressure transients from interference well tests. The method employs fractal concepts to improve efficiency and reliability. It is applicable to any sort of heterogeneous geologic medium in which wells communicate with each other, whether it be porous, fractured, or a combination …

A comprehensive theoretical study has been carried out on the flow behavior of both single and multiple phase non-Newtonian fluids in porous media. This work is divided into three parts: (1) development of numerical and analytical solutions; (2) theoretical studies of transient flow of non-Newtonian fluids in porous media; and (3) applications of well test analysis and displacement efficiency evaluation to field problems. A fully implicit, integral finite difference model has been developed for simulation of non-Newtonian and Newtonian fluid flow through porous media. Several commonly-used rheological models of power-law and Bingham plastic non-Newtonian fluids have been incorporated in the simulator. A Buckley-Leverett type analytical solution for one-dimensional, immiscible displacement involving non-Newtonian fluids in porous media has been developed. Based on this solution, a graphic approach for evaluating non-Newtonian displacement efficiency has been developed. The Buckley-Leverett-Welge theory is extended to flow problems with non-Newtonian fluids. An integral method is also presented for the study of transient flow of Bingham fluids in porous media. In addition, two well test analysis methods have been developed for analyzing pressure transient tests of power-law and Bingham fluids, respectively. Applications are included to demonstrate this new technology. The physical mechanisms involved in immiscible displacement with …

The objective of this study was to examine the hypothesis that select functional groups of bacteria from pristine sites have an innate ability to degrade synthetic aromatics that often contaminate groundwater environments,due to exposure to naturally occurring recalcitrant aromatics in their environment. This study demonstrates that subsurface microbial communities are capable of utilizing lignin and humic acid breakdown products. Utilizers of these compounds were found to be present in most all the wells tested. Even the deepest aquifer tested had utilizers present for all six of the aromatics tested. Highest counts for the aromatics tested were observed with the naturally occurring breakdown products of either lignin or humic acid. Carboxylic acids were found to be an important sole carbon source for groundwater bacteria possibly explained by the fact that they are produced by the oxidative cleavage of aromatic ring structures. The carbohydrate sole carbon sources that demonstrated the greatest densities were ones commonly associated with humics. This study indicates that utilization of naturally occurring aromatic compounds in the subsurface is an important nutritional source for groundwater bacteria. In addition, it suggests that adaptation to naturally occurring recalcitrant substrates is the origin of degradative pathways for xenobiotic compounds with analogous structure. …

This thesis investigates the use of a fast imaging technique to deduce the spatial conductivity distribution in the earth from low frequency (< 1 MHz), cross well electromagnetic (EM) measurements. The theory embodied in this work is the extension of previous strategies and is based on the Born series approximation to solve both the forward and inverse problem. Nonlinear integral equations are employed to derive the series expansion which accounts for the scattered magnetic fields that are generated by inhomogeneities embedded in either a homogenous or a layered earth. A sinusoidally oscillating, vertically oriented magnetic dipole is employed as a source, and it is assumed that the scattering bodies are azimuthally symmetric about the source dipole axis. The use of this model geometry reduces the 3-D vector problem to a more manageable 2-D scalar form. The validity of the cross well EM method is tested by applying the imaging scheme to two sets of field data. Images of the data collected at the Devine, Texas test site show excellent correlation with the well logs. Unfortunately there is a drift error present in the data that limits the accuracy of the results. A more complete set of data collected at the …

The hydrogeologic properties of a shallow, fractured granitic rock aquifer in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, California were investigated via the analysis of borehole geophysical logs and pumping tests. The drawdowns produced during these tests are not indicative of any simple conceptual aquifer model, and borehole logs show that the granite is intensely fractured. These observations are suggestive of a complex fracture-flow geometry which is extremely difficult to decipher. However, through the measurement of orientations of individual subsurface fractures from acoustic televiewer logs, and correlation between particular fractures and electrical resistivity and thermal-pulse flowmeter logs, it was found that the aquifer is, in general, comprised of two subhorizontal and nearly parallel zones of unloading fractures. Downhole flowmeter measurements taken in several wells provide further evidence for the inferred dual-layer structure of the aquifer, as well as yield quantitative measures of the contribution of flow from each zone. Analysis of drawdowns in pumped wells reveals that there are zones of relatively high transmissivity immediately around them. It was found that these properties, as well as a nearby zone of lower transmissivity, can account for their observed drawdowns. A numerical model was constructed to test whether these major heterogeneities could also …

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Objectives of this field experiment were: (1) determine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the radon concentrations of samples collected by EPA`s standard method, using a syringe, and an alternative, slow-flow method; (2) determine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the measured radon concentrations of samples mailed vs samples not mailed; and (3) determine whether there was a temporal variation of water radon concentration over a 7-month period. The field experiment was conducted at 9 sites, 5 private wells, and 4 public wells, at various locations in North Carolina. Results showed that a syringe is not necessary for sample collection, there was generally no significant radon loss due to mailing samples, and there was statistically significant evidence of temporal variations in water radon concentrations.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for radon-222 in public drinking water supplies of 300 pCi/L. Proposed monitoring requirements include collecting quarterly grab samples for the first year, then annual samples for the remainder of the compliance cycle provided first year quarterly samples average below the MCL. The focus of this research was to study the temporal variation of groundwater radon concentrations to investigate how reliably one can predict an annual average radon concentration based on the results of grab samples. Using a {open_quotes}slow-flow{close_quotes} collection method and liquid scintillation analysis, biweekly water samples were taken from ten public water supply wells in North Carolina (6 month - 11 month sampling periods). Based on study results, temporal variations exist in groundwater radon concentrations. Statistical analysis performed on the data indicates that grab samples taken from each of the ten wells during the study period would exhibit groundwater radon concentrations within 30% of their average radon concentration.

This thesis discusses characterization of two ferroelectric materials and the fabrication of bolometers. Potassium tantalate niobate (KTN) and potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) are chosen because they can be optimized for operation near 100K. Chap. 2 reviews the physics underlying pyroelectric materials and its subclass of ferroelectric materials. Aspects of pyroelectric detection are discussed in Chap. 3 including measurement circuit, noise sources, and effects of materials properties on pyroelectric response. Chap. 4 discusses materials selection and specific characteristics of KTN and KDP; Chap. 5 describes materials preparation; and Chap. 6 presents detector configuration and a thermal analysis of the pyroelectric detector. Electrical techniques used to characterize the materials and devices and results are discussed in Chap. 7 followed by conclusions on feasibility of KDP and KTN pyroelectric detectors in Chap. 8.

Multilayer thin films are used as Bragg reflectors for soft x-rays in the energy range 50eV < E < 1000eV in many x-ray optics applications such as x-ray microscopes and telescopes, reducing optics for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, and x-ray polarizers and phase retarders. Applications often depend critically on reflectivity, which has not been systematically characterized for multilayer periods below 20{angstrom}. For this study, W/B{sub 4}C multilayers were fabricated by magnetron sputtering on Si(111), with periods from 48{angstrom} to as little as 4.7{angstrom}. The x-ray reflectivity measured at {lambda} = 1.54{angstrom} and at 45{degrees} incidence (289 eV < E < 860 eV) was found to decrease sharply for multilayer periods less than 15-20{angstrom}. Examination by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) showed an expansion of the thickness of the W-rich layers of 30-40% from the nominal values, consistent with intermixture of the two materials during sputter growth, and discontinuous W-rich layers for multilayer periods below about 15{angstrom}. The experimental data for the specular reflectivity in the hard and soft x-ray regimes and the diffuse scattering fit well to a model of multilayer roughness. The model is expressed as a power-law dependence of roughness on spatial frequency. Analysis of small-angle scattering in …

Potassium tantalate niobate (KTN) pyroelectric detectors are expected to provide detectivities, of 3.7 x 10{sup 11} cmHz {sup {1/2}}W{sup {minus}1} for satellite-based infrared detection at 90 K. The background limited detectivity for a room-temperature thermal detector is 1.8 x 10{sup 10} cmHz{sup {1/2}}W{sup {minus}1}. KTN is a unique ferroelectric for this application because of the ability to tailor the temperature of its pyroelectric response by adjusting its ratio of tantalum to niobium. The ability to fabricate high quality KTN thin films on Si-based substrates is crucial to the development of KTN pyroelectric detectors. Si{sub x}N{sub y} membranes created on the Si substrate will provide the weak thermal link necessary to reach background limited detectivities. The device dimensions obtainable by thin film processing are expected to increase the ferroelectric response by 20 times over bulk fabricated KTN detectors. In addition, microfabrication techniques allow for easier array development. This is the first reported attempt at growth of KTN films on Si-based substrates. Pure phase perovskite films were grown by pulsed laser deposition on SrRuO{sub 3}/Pt/Ti/Si{sub x}N{sub y}/Si and SrRuO{sub 3}/Si{sub x}N{sub y}/Si structures; room temperature dielectric permittivities for the KTN films were 290 and 2.5, respectively. The dielectric permittivity for bulk grown, …

Arsenic in drinking water is a major public health problem threatening the lives of over 140 million people worldwide. In Bangladesh alone, up to 57 million people drink arsenic-laden water from shallow wells. ElectroChemical Arsenic Remediation(ECAR) overcomes many of the obstacles that plague current technologies and can be used affordably and on a small-scale, allowing for rapid dissemination into Bangladesh to address this arsenic crisis. In this work, ECAR was shown to effectively reduce 550 - 580 mu g=L arsenic (including both As[III]and As[V]in a 1:1 ratio) to below the WHO recommended maximum limit of 10 mu g=L in synthetic Bangladesh groundwater containing relevant concentrations of competitive ions such as phosphate, silicate, and bicarbonate. Arsenic removal capacity was found to be approximately constant within certain ranges of current density, but was found to change substantially between ranges. In order of decreasing arsenic removal capacity, the pattern was: 0.02 mA=cm2&gt; 0.07 mA=cm2&gt; 0.30 - 1.1 mA=cm2&gt; 5.0 - 100 mA=cm2. Current processing time was found to effect arsenic removal capacity independent of either charge density or current density. Electrode polarization studies showed no passivation of the electrode in the tested range (up to current density 10 mA=cm2) and ruled out oxygen …

Yucca Mountain, Nevada is the proposed site of a geologic repository for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in the United States. In the event repository engineered barriers fail, the saturated alluvium located south of Yucca Mountain is expected to serve as a natural barrier to the migration of radionuclides to the accessible environment. The purpose of this study is to improve the characterization of uranium retardation in the saturated zone at Yucca Mountain to support refinement of an assessment model. The distribution of uranium desorption rates from alluvium obtained from Nye County bore holes EWDP-19IM1, EWDP-10SA, EWDP-22SA were studied to address inconsistencies between results from batch sorption and column transport experiments. The alluvium and groundwater were characterized to better understand the underlying mechanisms of the observed behavior. Desorption rate constants were obtained using an activity based mass balance equation and column desorption experiments were analyzed using a mathematical model utilizing multiple sorption sites with different first-order forward and reverse reaction rates. The uranium desorption rate constants decreased over time, suggesting that the alluvium has multiple types of active sorption sites with different affinities for uranium. While a significant fraction of the initially sorbed uranium desorbed …

Elastic wave propagation in highly heterogeneous media is investigated and theoretical calculations and field measurements are presented. In the first part the dynamic composite elastic medium (DYCEM) theory is derived for one-dimensional stratified media. A self-consistent method using the scattering functions of the individual layers is formulated, which allows the calculation of phase velocity, attenuation and waveform. In the second part the DYCEM theory has been generalized for three-dimensional inclusions. The specific case of spherical inclusions is calculated with the exact scattering functions and compared with several low frequency approximations. In the third part log and VSP data of partially water saturated tuffs in the Yucca Mountain region of Nevada are analyzed. The anomalous slow seismic velocities can be explained by combining self-consistent theories for pores and cracks. The fourth part analyzes an air injection experiment in a shallow fractured limestone, which has shown large effects on the amplitude, but small effects on the travel time of the transmitted seismic waves. The large amplitude decrease during the experiment is mainly due to the impedance contrast between the small velocities of gas-water mixtures inside the fracture and the formation. The slow velocities inside the fracture allow an estimation of aperture and …

A study was undertaken to examine permeable zones identified in boreholes open to the underlying basalt and to describe the vertical cross flows present in the boreholes. To understand the permeable zones in the boreholes detailed descriptions and measurements of three outcrops in the Snake River Plain, three cores at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) at the INEL, and over fifty borehole TV logs from the INEL were carried out. Based on the observations made on the three outcrops an idealized basalt lava flow model was generated that used a set of nomenclature that would be standard for the basalt lava flows studied. An upper vesicular zone, a sometimes absent columnar zone, central zone, and lower vesicular zone make up the basalt lava flow model. The overall distinction between the different zones are based on the vesicle shape size, vesicularity, and fractures present. The results of the studies also indicated that the basalt lava flows at the INEL are distal to medial facies pahoehoe lava flows with close fitting contacts. The most permeable zones identified in these basalts are fractured vesiculated portions of the top of the lava flow, the columnar areas, and basalt-flow contacts in order of importance. …

Atmospheric iron (Fe) is thought to play an important role in cloudwater chemistry (e.g., S(IV) oxidation, oxidant production, etc.), and is also an important source of Fe to certain regions of the worlds oceans where Fe is believed to be a rate-limiting nutrient for primary productivity. This thesis focuses on understanding the chemistry, speciation and abundance of Fe in cloudwater and aerosol in the troposphere, through observations of Fe speciation in the cloudwater and aerosol samples collected over the continental United States and the Arabian Sea. Different chemical species of atmospheric Fe were measured in aerosol and cloudwater samples to help assess the role of Fe in cloudwater chemistry.

InGaN based light emitting devices demonstrate excellent luminescence properties and have great potential in lighting applications. Though these devices are already being produced on an industrial scale, the nature of their radiative transition is still not well understood. In particular, the role of the huge (&gt;1MV/cm), built-in electric field in these transitions is still under debate. The luminescence characteristics of InGaN quantum well structures were investigated as a function of excitation power, temperature, and biaxial strain, with an intent of discerning the effects of the electric field and inhomogeneous indium distribution in the QW on the radiative transition. It was found that the luminescence energy did not scale only with the indium concentration but that the QW thickness must also be taken into account. The thickness affects the transition energy due to quantum confinement and carrier separation across a potential drop in the QW. The luminescence peak width was shown to increase with increased indium fraction, due to increased indium inhomogeneity. The carrier lifetime increased exponentially with QW thickness and luminescence wavelength, due to increased carrier separation. Measuring the luminescence energy and carrier lifetime as a function of excitation density showed that the electric field can be screened by strong …

A digital network of 24 seismograph stations was operated from September 15, 1987 to September 30, 1988, by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Unocal as part of the Salton Sea Scientific Drilling Project to study seismicity related to tectonics and geothermal activity near the drilling site. More than 2001 microearthquakes were relocated in this study in order to image any pervasive structures that may exist within the Salton Sea geothermal field. First, detailed velocity models were obtained through standard 1-D inversion techniques. These velocity models were then used to relocate events using both single event methods and Double-Differencing, a joint hypocenter location method. An anisotropic velocity model was built from anisotropy estimates obtained from well logs within the study area. During the study period, the Superstition wills sequence occurred with two moderate earthquakes of MS 6.2 and MS 6.6. These moderate earthquakes caused a rotation of the stress field as observed from the inversion of first motion data from microearthquakes at the Salton Sea geothermal field. Coulomb failure analysis also indicates that microearthquakes occurring after the Superstition Hills sequence are located within a region of stress increase suggesting stress triggering caused by the moderate earthquakes.

The potential for contamination of groundwater by organic pollutants leached from in-situ spent shale was studied in a series of laboratory leaching experiments. Both batch-mode and continuous-flow column experiments were conducted to study the leaching phenomenon. Experimental variables included retorting characteristics of spent shale, leaching time, initial quality of leach water, temperature of leach water, and particle size of spent shale. Several unique samples of spent shale were examined during the eaching experiments, including spent shale samples produced during combustion retorting, inert gas retorting, and combustion retorting employing recycle gas. The solid-phase organic carbon content of spent shale samples ranged from 0.2 to 3.9 percent by weight. Leachate derived from the batch-mode experiments was analyzed for organic carbon, organic nitrogen, phenols, and acid/base/netral fractions. The highest levels of organic carbon were detected in leachate derived from spent shale produced during either inert gas retorting or combstion retorting using recycle gas. The highest levels of phenols were observed in leachate obtained from spent shale produced during inert gas retorting; significant levels of organic nitrogen were also detected in various leachate samples. The most predominant organic fraction measured in leachate samples was the neutral fraction associated with spent shale produced during inert …

A quadrupole mass spectrometric system coupled with mechanical decrepitation was constructed and calibrated to study fluid inclusions from an active geothermal system. Fluid inclusions in Salton Sea Scientific Drilling Project well cores and ejects from flow tests were analyzed. Ion currents from selected mass/charge ratio numbers were measured for gases from ruptured inclusions in epidote, calcite, and hematite vein minerals from different depths. Water, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, and C1{minus}C4+ hydrocarbons and free nitrogen were analyzed.

Injection of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) into saline aquifers has been proposed as a means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (geological carbon sequestration). Large-scale injection of CO{sub 2} will induce a variety of coupled physical and chemical processes, including multiphase fluid flow, fluid pressurization and changes in effective stress, solute transport, and chemical reactions between fluids and formation minerals. This work addresses some of these issues with special emphasis given to the physics of fluid flow in brine formations. An investigation of the thermophysical properties of pure carbon dioxide, water and aqueous solutions of CO{sub 2} and NaCl has been conducted. As a result, accurate representations and models for predicting the overall thermophysical behavior of the system CO{sub 2}-H{sub 2}O-NaCl are proposed and incorporated into the numerical simulator TOUGH2/ECO{sub 2}. The basic problem of CO{sub 2} injection into a radially symmetric brine aquifer is used to validate the results of TOUGH2/ECO2. The numerical simulator has been applied to more complex flow problem including the CO{sub 2} injection project at the Sleipner Vest Field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea and the evaluation of fluid flow dynamics effects of CO{sub 2} injection into aquifers. Numerical simulation results show that …

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This dissertation is organized in an alternate format. Several manuscripts which have already been published or are to be submitted for publication have been included as separate chapters. Chapter 1 is a general introduction which describes the dissertation organization and introduces the human bone and ceramic materials as bone substitute. Chapter 2 is the background and literature review on dissolution behavior of calcium phosphate, and discussion of motivation for this research. Chapter 3 is a manuscript entitled ''Si,Zn-modified tricalcium phosphate: a phase composition and crystal structure study'', which was published in ''Key Engineering Materials'' [1]. Chapter 4 gives more crystal structure details by neutron powder diffraction, which identifies the position for Si and Zn substitution and explains the stabilization mechanism of the structure. A manuscript entitled ''Crystal structure analysis of Si, Zn-modified Tricalcium phosphate by Neutron Powder Diffraction'' will be submitted to Biomaterials [2]. Chapter 5 is a manuscript, entitled ''Dissolution behavior and cytotoxicity test of Si, Zn-modified tricalcium phosphate'', which is to be submitted to Biomaterials [3]. This paper discusses the additives effect on the dissolution behavior of TCP, and cytotoxicity test result is also included. Chapter 6 is the study of hydrolysis process of {alpha}-tricalcium phosphate in the …