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Experimental investigation of the effect of high-pH solutions on the Opalinus Shale and the Hammerschmiede Smectite

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

H. Taubald ,
A. Bauer ,
T. Schäfer ,
H. Geckeis ,
M. Satir  and
J . I . Kim
H. Taubald
Affiliation:
Universität Tübingen, Institut für Mineralogie, Petrologieund Geochemie, Lehrstuhl fuer Geochemie, Wilhelmstr.56, D-72074 Tübingen
A. Bauer*
Affiliation:
Forschungszentum Karlsruhe, Institut für Nukleare Entsorgungstechnik, PO Box 3640, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
T. Schäfer
Affiliation:
Forschungszentum Karlsruhe, Institut für Nukleare Entsorgungstechnik, PO Box 3640, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
H. Geckeis
Affiliation:
Forschungszentum Karlsruhe, Institut für Nukleare Entsorgungstechnik, PO Box 3640, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
M. Satir
Affiliation:
Universität Tübingen, Institut für Mineralogie, Petrologieund Geochemie, Lehrstuhl fuer Geochemie, Wilhelmstr.56, D-72074 Tübingen
J . I . Kim
Affiliation:
Forschungszentum Karlsruhe, Institut für Nukleare Entsorgungstechnik, PO Box 3640, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
*
*E-mail: bauer@ine.fzk.de
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Abstract

The alteration and transformation behaviour of the Tertiary Hammerschmiede Smectite and the Jurassic Opalinus Shale in an alkaline solution was studied in column experiments. The Hammerschmiede Smectite is proposed as potential backfill material and the Opalinus Shale as host rock for the Swiss low-level nuclear waste storage site. Over a period of 18 months, the evolution of permeability, pH and solution concentrations were measured. After the experiment, the columns were cut into pieces to study the mineralogical and the chemical evolution of the clays. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed no significant appearance or disappearance of diffraction peaks at the end of the experiments. The scanning electron micrographs of the clays revealed that both clays exhibited a precipitation zone, which extends from 0 to 2 cm below the infiltration surface. Both clays showed significant differences in the evolution of pH and hydraulic conductivity. The solution front crossed the Opalinus Shale column entirely after only 11 weeks and the initial values for K+ and Na+ were conserved in the solution. For both clays, the salt concentrations in the percolating fluids mirror the evolution of pH.

Keywords

Opalinus ShaleHammerschmiede Smectitehydraulic conductivity
Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , June 2000 , pp. 515 - 524
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2000

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