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Geology topics

Mel A. Kuntz

Publications and source records attributed to Mel A. Kuntz.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS1979

Preliminary geological interpretation and lithologic log of the exploratory geothermal test well (INEL-1), Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho

A 10,365 ft (3,159 m) geothermal test well was drilled in the spring of 1979 at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho: The majority of rock types encountered in the borehole are of volcanic origin. An upper section above 2,445 ft (745 m) consists of basaltic lava flows and interbedded .sediments of alluvial, lacustrine, and volcanic origin. A lower section below 2,445 ft (745 m) consists exclusively of rhyolitic welded ash-flow tuffs, air-fall ash deposits, nonwelded ash-flow ruffs, and volcaniclastic sediments. The lithology and thickness of the rhyolitic rocks suggest that they are part of an intracaldera fill.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1979

Geology, geochronology, and potential volcanic hazards in the Lava Ridge-Hells Half Acre area, eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho

The evaluation of volcanic hazards for the proposed Safety Test Reactor Facility (STF) at the Argonne National Laboratory-West (ANLW) site, Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL), Idaho, involves an analysis of the geology of the Lava Ridge-Hells Half Acre area and of K-At age determinations on lava flows in cored drill holes. The ANLW site at INEL lies in a shallow topographic depression bounded on the east and south by volcanic rift zones that are the locus of past shield-type basalt volcanism and by rhyolite domes erupted along the ring fracture of an inferred rhyolite caldera. The K-At age data indicate that the ANLW site has been flooded by basalt lava flows at irregular intervals from perhaps a few thousand years to as much as 300,000-400,000 years, with an average recurrence interval between flows of approximately 80,000-100,000 years. At least five major lava flows have covered the ANLW site within the past 500,000 years.

Idaho↗
USGS1978

Geology of the Arco-Big Southern Butte area, eastern Snake River Plain, and potential volcanic hazards to the radioactive waste management complex, and other waste storage and reactor facilities at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Idaho

The Arco-Big Southern Butte area of the eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho, includes a volcanic rift zone and more than 70 Holocene and late Quaternary basalt volcanoes. The Arco volcanic rift zone extends southeast for 50 km from Arco to about 10 km southeast of Big Southern Butte. The rift zone is the locus of extensional faults, graben, fissure basaltic volcanic vents, several rhyolite domes at Big Southern Butte, and a ferrolatite volcano at Cedar Butte. Limited radiometric age data and geological field criteria suggest that all volcanism in the area is younger than 700,000 years; at least 67 separate basaltic eruptions are estimated to have occurred within the last 200,000 years. The average volcanic recurrence interval for the Arco-Big Southern Butte area is approximately one eruption per 3,000 years. Radioactive waste storage and reactor facilities at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory may be subject to potential volcanic hazards. The geologic history and inferred past volcanic events in the Arco-Big Southern Butte area provide a basis for assessing the volcanic hazard. It is recommended that a radiometric age-dating study be performed on rocks in cored drill holes to provide a more precise estimate of the eruption recurrence interval for the region surrounding and including the Radioactive Waste Management Complex. It is also recommended that several geophysical monitoring systems (dry tilt and seismic) be installed to provide adequate warning of future volcanic eruptions.

Idaho↗