Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (5) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Smith, R. P. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Geologic Setting of the Snake River Plain Aquifer and Vadose Zone

Geosciences Research Department, Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, P.O. Box 1625, Mail Stop 2107, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-2107

Correspondence: ^* Corresponding author (rps3{at}realwest.com).

Received for publication 6 February 2003. The Snake River Plain aquifer owes its existence and abundance to a unique sequence of tectonic, volcanic, and sedimentologic processes associated with the migration of the North American tectonic plate southwestward across the Yellowstone hotspot, or mantle plume. The basalt lava flows that host the aquifer and comprise the overlying vadose zone are very porous and permeable due to emplacement processes and fracturing during cooling. Rubble zones between lava flows and cooling fractures allow very rapid flow of water in the saturated zone, rapid infiltration of water and contaminants, and deep penetration of air into the vadose zone. Alluvial, eolian, and lacustrine sediments interbedded within the basalt sequence are generally fine-grained, commonly serving as aquitards below the water table, and affecting infiltration and contaminant transport in the vadose zone. The subsiding eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) and the high elevations of the surrounding recharge areas comprise a large drainage basin that receives enormous amounts of precipitation and feeds high-quality groundwater into the aquifer. Northeast–southwest directed extension of the ESRP produces significant anisotropy to the hydraulic conductivity of the rocks. High heat flow and upwelling of geothermal fluids from the crust beneath the aquifer affect geothermal gradients, aquifer temperatures, and solute chemistry.

Abbreviations: ESRP, eastern Snake River Plain • INEEL, Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. L. Duke, R. C. Roback, P. W. Reimus, R. S. Bowman, T. L. McLing, K. E. Baker, and L. C. Hull Elucidation of Flow and Transport Processes in a Variably Saturated System of Interlayered Sediment and Fractured Rock Using Tracer Tests Vadose Zone J., November 20, 2007; 6(4): 855 - 867. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. R. Nimmo, J. P. Rousseau, K. S. Perkins, K. G. Stollenwerk, P. D. Glynn, R. C. Bartholomay, and L. L. Knobel Hydraulic and Geochemical Framework of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory Vadose Zone Vadose Zone J., February 1, 2004; 3(1): 6 - 34. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. D. Mattson, S. O. Magnuson, and S. L. Ansley Interpreting INEEL Vadose Zone Water Movement on the Basis of Large-Scale Field Tests and Long-Term Vadose Zone Monitoring Results Vadose Zone J., February 1, 2004; 3(1): 35 - 46. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]