Award Date

1-1-1999

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Geoscience

First Committee Member

Charalambos Papelis

Number of Pages

104

Abstract

The fate and transport of contaminants released during nuclear testing at the NTS are partly controlled by interactions of their aqueous species with mineral surfaces. It has been shown that retardation of contaminants in the subsurface may be controlled by intraparticle mass transfer rather than equilibrium partitioning. For this reason, the rate of lead (Pb) and Strontium (Sr) uptake by zeolitized tuff from Rainier Mesa, NTS, was studied as a function of pH, ionic strength, and metal concentration; To test the hypothesis that sorption of Pb occurs through surface precipitation and Sr sorbs through diffusion, the data were modeled by a first order model and a diffusion model. The sorption of Pb(II), displaying rapid uptake by the zeolitized tuff, is described well by the first order model but the diffusion model cannot reproduce the fast initial uptake which is consistent with precipitation. Sorption of Sr(II) is consistent with diffusion and subsequent cation exchange.

Keywords

Lead; Mesa; Modeling; Nevada; Nevada test; Rainier; Rates; Site; Strontium; Test; Tuff; Uptake; Zeolitized

Controlled Subject

Geochemistry

File Format

pdf

File Size

2877.44 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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