Two-dimensional steady-rate model of ground-water flow, Nevada test site and vicinity Nevada-California: State of Nevada, agency for nuclear projects/nuclear waste project office

A two-dimensional, steady-state, finite-element model of the ground-water flow system of the Nevada Test Site and vicinity in Nye and Clark Counties, Nevada, and Inyo County, California, was developed using parameter-estimation techniques. The model simulates flow in an area underlain by clastic and carbonate rocks of Precambrian and Paleozoic age, and volcanic rocks and alluvial deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age. Normal Basin-and-Range faulting and both right- and left-lateral strike-slip faults have caused the juxtaposition of rocks of differing hydraulic conductivities. Characteristics of the flow system are principally determined by locations of low-hydraulic-conductivity rocks (barriers); by amounts of recharge originating in the Spring Mountains, Pahranaget, Timpahute, and Sheep Ranges, and in Pahute Mesa; and by amount in flow into the study area from Gold Flat and Kawich Valley. Discharge areas (Ash Meadows, Oasis Valley, Alkali Flat, and Furnace Creek Ranch) are upgradient from barriers. Analyses of sensitivity of hydraulic head with respect to model-parameter variations indicate that the flux terms having the greatest impact on model output are recharge on Pahute Mesa, underflow from Cold Flat and Kawich Valley, and discharge at Ash Meadows. The most important transmissivity terms are those for rocks underlying the Amargosa Desert (exclusive of Amargosa Flat area), the Eleana Formation along the west side of Yucca Flat, and the Precambrian and Cambrian clastic rocks underlying the Groom Range