Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Contribution Of Recharge Along Regional Flow Paths To Discharge At Ash Meadows, Nevada, Michelle Bushman

Theses and Dissertations

Springs in the Ash Meadows, Nevada wetland area are discharging groundwater at a high volume that cannot be sustained by local, present-day precipitation and associated recharge. Previous groundwater flow models for this region have required groundwater to flow through complex geology for long distances (160km) through fractures that, in the current stress field, should be closed in many instances in the presumed flow direction. This thesis examines several possible flow paths and evaluates each flow path using chemical and isotopic signatures in the water, as well as geologic and geophysical constraints, and determines that flow from beneath the Yucca Mountain …