Award Date

1-1-1999

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

First Committee Member

James Cardle

Number of Pages

114

Abstract

This thesis investigates the effect of atmospheric variations on subsurface flow and transport at the proposed high level waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The conditions of subsurface transport were simulated with NUFT (Nonisothermal Unsaturated-Saturated Flow and Transport model) modeling software developed by the Lawrence Livermore National Labs (Nitao, 1995). Rock properties and surface ambient conditions specific to the mountain, including diurnal and seasonal changes in temperature, pressure and humidity were incorporated into the NUFT model. The effects of changing atmospheric conditions on the liquid and vapor phase components and fluxes were examined as well. Time swing analysis of weather data is simulated with a trigonometric projection of actual site data. Climate changes in the mountain, due to superimposed temperature and barometric cycles over diurnal and seasonal cycles, are then compared to both actual site data reports and a numerical representation of Stokes' Second Problem (The Oscillating Plate).

Keywords

Atmospheric; Effect; Flow; Nevada; Subsurface; Transport; Variations

Controlled Subject

Environmental engineering; Civil engineering; Physical geography

File Format

pdf

File Size

2775.04 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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