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| 2. |
- Moon, S., et al.
(författare)
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Present-Day Stress Field Influences Bedrock Fracture Openness Deep Into the Subsurface
- 2020
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Ingår i: Geophysical Research Letters. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 47:23
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Fracturing of bedrock promotes water-rock interactions and influences the formation of the life-sustaining layer of soil at Earth's surface. Models predict that present-day stress fields should influence bedrock fracture openness, but testing this prediction has proven difficult because comprehensive fracture data sets are rarely available. We model the three-dimensional present-day stress field beneath the deglaciated, low-relief landscape of Forsmark, Sweden. We account for ambient regional stresses, pore pressure, topography, sediment weight, and seawater loading. We then compare the modeled stresses to a data set of similar to 50,000 fractures reaching depths of 600 m at Forsmark. We show that modeled failure proxies correlate strongly with the fraction of observed open fractures to depths of similar to 500 m. This result implies that the present-day regional stress field, affected by surface conditions and pore pressure, influences fracture openness in bedrock hundreds of meters beneath the surface, thereby preparing the rock for further weathering. Plain Language Summary The "critical zone"-the life-sustaining part of the Earth that extends from the top of the tree canopy to the bottom of permeable bedrock-is essential for ecosystems and agriculture. The opening of bedrock fractures and onset of water-rock interaction are crucial to the formation of the critical zone. Within the bedrock, the intensities of horizontal regional forces and vertical gravitational forces typically increase with depth. These force intensities, or stresses, are modified by surface effects associated with topography, the weight of overlying seawater and sediment, and by groundwater pressure. However, the influence of these surface effects on fractures has been difficult to observe because comprehensive fracture data sets are rare. In this study, we examine whether, and to what depths, bedrock may fracture under the influence of stress associated with surficial conditions. We compare bedrock stress calculations with similar to 50,000 fractures from 18 cores reaching depths of 600 m at Forsmark, Sweden. We find that the present-day stress field influences the opening of fractures to depths of 500 m, contributing to the formation of the critical zone and the preparation of rock for weathering hundreds of meters beneath the surface, much deeper than previously thought.
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| 3. |
- Bozkurt, S., et al.
(författare)
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Long-term processes in waste deposits
- 2000
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 250:03-jan, s. 101-121
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A conceptual model, which is a unitary and continuous description of the overall processes in waste deposits, has been developed. In the model the most important processes governing the long-term fate of organic matter in landfills and the transport and retention of toxic metals are included. With the model as a base, a number of scenarios with different levels of complexity have been defined and studied in order to carry out long-term assessments of the chemical evolution in waste deposits for industrial and municipal solid waste containing much organic matter and the leaching of toxic metals. The focus of the modelling has been to quantify the important processes occurring after the methane production phase has ceased, i.e. during the humic phase. The scenarios include the main mechanisms based on various transport processes as well as different landfill constructions, e.g. binding capacities of sulfides and humic substances. They also include transport mechanisms by which the reactant oxygen can intrude into a deposit, sorption capacities of hydrous ferric oxides, and pH-buffering reactions, etc. Scoping calculations have shown that the binding capacity of humic substances is sufficient to bind all toxic metals (Cd, Cr, Pb, Zn and Hg). In addition, the humics could also bind a smaller part of Ca, Fe and Al, provided much of the organic waste remain as humic substances. Sulfides on the other hand can bind approximately twice the amount of all toxic metals. The binding capacity of hydrous ferric oxides, which can be formed by oxidation reactions during the humic phase, is estimated to be three times the total content of metals that can sorb on hydrous ferric oxides. In the studied landfill the pi-I-buffering capacity, primarily represented by calcite, is estimated to be 1 mol/kg dry waste. Quantifications indicate that the alkalinity of the wastes is high enough to buffer the acidity produced by the oxidation of sulfides and by the degradation of organic matter, as well as that added by acid precipitation. Therefore, the main conclusion is that higher remobilisation rates of heavy metals due to lowering of pH are not expected for many thousands of years.
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| 4. |
- Bozkurt, S., et al.
(författare)
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Peat as a potential analogue for the long-term evolution in landfills
- 2001
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Ingår i: Earth-Science Reviews. - 0012-8252 .- 1872-6828. ; 53:02-jan, s. 95-147
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- A survey of the existing studies on peat and its decomposition processes is presented with the aim to characterise the long-term behaviour of peat accumulating systems. The chemical and physical characteristics of peat together with its accumulation and decay processes have been analysed. Peat is an acidic mixture of dead and decomposed. mainly vegetable, matter formed in boggy areas; it is the youngest and least altered component of the combustible rocks and is characterised by the lowest content of fixed carbon and the highest content of volatile constituents. Peat is formed by degeneration processes under exclusion of atmospheric oxygen by the action of water; the speed of formation depends upon the climatic and environmental conditions. In most peatlands two layers can be characterised: the aerobic acrotelm and the anaerobic catotelm, their relative importance being controlled mainly by the position of the water table. In the acrotelm the aerobic processes are responsible for the loss of up to 90% of the original mass, Degeneration in the acidic and anaerobic catotelm is still imperfectly characterised even though the catotelm is the real site of peat accumulation. Most of the recent literature considers peat as composed of easily degradable compounds, e.g. polysaccharides. and recalcitrant matter (lignin and complex aromatics). The lone-term destiny of peat has not been sufficiently characterised: although in a large majority of cases it seems probable that peat decomposes completely (even though slowly) provided that it is given a sufficiently long residence rime in the catotelm, some cases can still be interpreted as examples of simple accumulation. The rates of influx of oxygen and hence the degradation of organic matter into both saturated and partially saturated peat have been estimated. The depletion rate is about 4500 g m(-1) year(-1) for partially saturated peat. The average depletion rate of the peat for this case will then be such that it will take on the order of 5 to 50 years to degrade half of the organics in a 10 cm partially saturated layer. For the water-saturated case the depletion rate varies between 8 and 12 g m(-2) year(-1), which is considerably lower than in the partially saturated region. The models used to analyse the field and laboratory data on generation, diffusion and emission of methane and carbon dioxide indicate that laboratory data and field observations agree reasonably well. It is suggested that peat-accumulating ecosystems may be valuable natural analogues for the study of the long-term destiny of industrial and municipal solid wastes. Accurate studies of active mires together with an ad hoc review of the existing literature give valuable insights in this problem. Peatlands might then be considered as organic waste deposition experiments lasting up to several thousands years.
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| 5. |
- Bozkurt, S., et al.
(författare)
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The long-term evolution of and transport processes in a self-sustained final cover on waste deposits
- 2001
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 271:03-jan, s. 145-168
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A new principle for confinement of waste based on a self-sustained seal is presented. The top cover is considered to consist of two main layers; an organic carbon rich surface layer that is able to support vegetation and an inorganic layer beneath it. The function of the cover is to mitigate oxidation and acidification of landfilled waste and hence the release of toxic metals. It is suggested that forest soil formation and soil development could prove to be valuable information sources for the study of the long-term behaviour of a final cover on waste deposits. Since the cover is expected to develop in northern temperate climate the focus is on Spodosol soil. A number of simulations of the long-term behaviour of the final self-sustained landfill cover are made, including the rates of influx of oxygen into the cover. A cover having a large portion of organic matter compared with a cover with no organics can considerably decrease the oxygen concentration and thus the influx of oxygen into a landfill. The calculated oxygen intrusion rate for the former case is of the order of 0.05 kg m(-2) year(-1). Degradation of the organics produces acids. Our simulations indicate that the pH-buffering capacity of the mineral layer, represented by calcite and primary rock minerals, will last for many thousands of years.
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| 6. |
- Chan, T., et al.
(författare)
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DECOVALEX III BMT3/BENCHPAR WP4 : The thermo-hydro-mechanical responses to a glacial cycle and their potential implications for deep geological disposal of nuclear fuel waste in a fractured crystalline rock mass
- 2005
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Ingår i: International Journal of Rock Mechanics And Mining Sciences. - : Elsevier BV. - 1365-1609 .- 1873-4545. ; 42:5-6, s. 805-827
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A number of studies related to past and on-going deep repository performance assessments have identified glaciation/ deglaciation as major future events in the next few hundred thousand years capable of causing significant impact on the long term performance of the repository system. Benchmark Test 3 (BMT3) of the international DECOVALEX III project has been designed to provide an illustrative example that explores the mechanical and hydraulic response of a fractured crystalline rock mass to a period of glaciation. The primary purpose of this numerical study is to investigate whether transient events associated with a glacial cycle could significantly influence the performance of a deep geological repository in a crystalline Shield setting. A conceptual site-scale (tens of kilometres) hydro-mechanical (HM) model was assembled based primarily on site-specific litho-structural, hydrogeological and geomechanical data from the Whiteshell Research Area in the Canadian Shield, with simplification and generalization. Continental glaciological modelling of the Laurentide ice sheet through the last glacial cycle lasting approximately 100,000 years suggests that this site was glaciated at about 60 ka and between about 22.5 and 11 ka before present with maximum ice sheet thickness reaching 2500 m and maximum basal water pressure head reaching 2000m. The ice-sheet/drainage model was scaled down to generate spatially and temporally variable hydraulic and mechanical glaciated surface boundary conditions for site-scale subsurface HM modelling and permafrost modelling. Under extreme periglacial conditions permafrost was able to develop down to the assumed 500-m repository horizon. Two- and three-dimensional coupled HM finite-element simulations indicate: during ice-sheet advance there is rapid rise in hydraulic head, high transient hydraulic gradients and high groundwater velocities 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than under nonglacial conditions; surface water recharges deeper than under nonglacial conditions; upon ice-sheet retreat, the gradients reverse; fracture zone network geometry, interconnectivity and hydraulic properties significantly influence flow domain response; residual elevated heads are preserved for 10,000s in the low-diffusivity rock; and no hydraulic jacking or shear failure occurs at depth. It was found that transient coupled modelling is necessary to capture the essence of glacial effects on Performance Assessment. Model dimensionality also significantly affects simulated results.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Hudson, John A., et al.
(författare)
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Characterising and modelling the excavation damaged zone in crystalline rock in the context of radioactive waste disposal
- 2009
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Ingår i: Environmental Geology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0943-0105 .- 1432-0495. ; 57:6, s. 1275-1297
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper describes current knowledge about the nature of and potential for thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical modelling of the excavation damaged zone (EDZ) around the excavations for an underground radioactive waste repository. In the first part of the paper, the disturbances associated with excavation are explained, together with reviews of Workshops that have been held on the subject. In the second part of the paper, the results of a DECOVALEX [DEmonstration of COupled models and their VALidation against EXperiment: research funded by an international consortium of radioactive waste regulators and implementers (http://www.decovalex.com)] research programme on modelling the EDZ are presented. Four research teams used four different models to simulate the complete stress-strain curve for Avro granite from the Swedish A"spo Hard Rock Laboratory. Subsequent research extended the work to computer simulation of the evolution of the repository using a 'wall-block model' and a 'near-field model'. This included assessing the evolution of stress, failure and permeability and time-dependent effects during repository evolution. As discussed, all the computer models are well suited to sensitivity studies for evaluating the influence of their respective supporting parameters on the complete stress-strain curve for rock and for modelling the EDZ.
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| 9. |
- Lazzari, Elisa, et al.
(författare)
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Advances, current limitations and future requirements for a numerical shear box for rock joints using PFC2D
- 2014
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Ingår i: Rock Engineering and Rock Mechanics. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 9781138001497 ; , s. 763-768
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Rock mechanical problems are often governed by the shear strength of joints, but assessing it theoretically is difficult because of the many underlying factors. Consequently, expensive and time-consuming shear tests must be performed either in laboratory or in situ. Artificial shear tests based on numerical models would therefore be a valuable complement. In this paper, results from an initial study on real shear tests are compared with numerically simulated shear tests performed with the computer software PFC2D. The results from the analyses are good from a qualitative view, but also revealed the need for further research. In this paper, the results from the performed analyses are presented and the current limitations and requirements of further development are discussed.
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| 10. |
- Libby, S., et al.
(författare)
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Dynamic fracture network generation : A new method for growing fractures according to their deformation history
- 2019
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Ingår i: 53rd U.S. Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium. - : American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA).
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents a new method for generation of simulated fractures where fractures ‘grow’ dynamically, permitting interaction during formation. These interactions mimic the natural processes of stress shadowing, termination of fractures on other fractures, linking of fractures, and the varied growth on a single fracture due to contrasting rock properties. By simulating these interactions and providing the user with fine control over them, the new fracture generation method can create simulated fracture networks that match natural fracture networks more closely than other established methods. These behaviours are implemented mechanistically, allowing fracture generation to be achieved without the significant additional computational cost required to explicitly model the stresses in a fracturing rock volume. A suite of test cases is demonstrated, illustrating how different configurations of the dynamic fracture model allows different connectivity characteristics to be modelled.
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