Mineralogical and Bulk-Rock Geochemical Signatures of Ringold and Hanford Formation Sediments

TL;DRAbstract

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducted this study for the Groundwater Protection Project managed by Fluor Hanford, Inc., and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The purpose of the study was to explore the possibility of using statistical methods to classify sediment samples belonging to the Hanford and Ringold formations using mineralogy and geochemistry data. Visual examinations of the sediment do not always conclusively identify the geologic formation to which a sample belongs. The Hanford and Ringold formations constitute the majority of the vadose zone sediments within DOE's Hanford Site. They are particularly important because of the control they exert on contaminant transport in the subsurface environment. Although much is known about the formations from geologists' studies, quantitative methods for distinguishing between them had not been developed. In this study, PNNL constructed a database consisting of existing mineralogy measurements made using electron micr

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