Isotopic signals in fracture-filling calcite showing anaerobic oxidation of methane in a granitic basement

Mizuno, Takashi; Suzuki, Yohei*; Milodowski, A. E.*; Iwatsuki, Teruki

Applied Geochemistry, 150, p.105571_1 - 105571_11, 2023/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2023.105571

Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) affects both the redox conditions and carbon cycle in groundwater. However, examples of studies on crystalline rock deep in terrestrial subsurface as well as the potential host rock for geological disposal are few. Therefore, we conducted a paleohydrogeological study on fracture-filling calcite in the Toki Granite. The O value (-32.7 to -0.59 permil) revealed that the groundwater that precipitated the calcite was groundwater derived from hydrothermal fluid, freshwater that came from the surface, and seawater that penetrated during marine transgression. On the other hand, C (-56.6 to 6.0 permil) was wider than the isotopic range of DIC that originated from hydrothermal, freshwater, and seawater sources (-25 to 2 permil). Calcite with C that was lighter than -25 permil was believed to have precipitated DIC, which was provided by AOM. In contrast to previous studies, the Mizunami AOM calcite was precipitated in a freshwater environment, indicating that various processes could have generated AOM in crystalline rocks deep in the terrestrial subsurface.

Precipitation sequence of fracture-filling calcite in fractured granite and changes in the fractionation process of rare earth elements and yttrium

Mizuno, Takashi; Milodowski, A. E.*; Iwatsuki, Teruki

Chemical Geology, 603, p.120880_1 - 120880_16, 2022/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.120880

This study has focused on the formation sequence and Rare earth elements with yttrium (REY) of fracture-filling calcite in the Toki Granite in the Mizunami area, central Japan. The morphological, chemical and isotopic characteristics of the calcite and chemistry of fluid inclusions reveal that the calcite in the Toki Granite can be differentiated into four discrete generations: Calcite I (oldest) to Calcite IV (most recent). The precipitation history of calcite reflects the changes in the hydrogeochemical regime of paleo-groundwaters, controlled by the evolution of groundwater by seawater infiltration associated with marine transgression and surface water infiltration associated with marine regression and uplift. The post-Archean average shale-normalized REY patterns in generations of calcite show no significant Ce anomaly, negative Eu anomaly, and light REY (LREY)-depleted pattern in dominates. These features are also common to the Toki Granite. The consistency of the features in each generation of calcite indicates that REY was supplied from the Toki Granite by water-rock interaction. The lack of a Ce anomaly in the calcite demonstrates that groundwaters have maintained reducing conditions during the calcite precipitation. However, the fractionation of LREY and heavy REY (HREY) in each generation of the calcite is more pronounced than in the granite. The fractionation process in the paleo-groundwaters from which each generation of calcite precipitated closely relates to the systematic variation of carbonate complex in REY series and/or pH in palaeo-groundwater. The findings of this study will be necessary for assessing the long-term safety of geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste.

Method for groundwater monitoring on the disposal of radioactive waste

Murakami, Hiroaki; Iwatsuki, Teruki; Takeuchi, Ryuji; Nishiyama, Nariaki*

Genshiryoku Bakkuendo Kenkyu (CD-ROM), 27(1), p.22 - 33, 2020/06

https://doi.org/10.3327/jnuce.27.1_22

Geological disposal of radioactive waste requires the large amounts of fundamental technical knowledge throughout the project. Monitoring is carried out to collect site-relevant information for the creation of an environmental database, to assist in the decision-making process, etc. We summarized the current technical level and problems of the groundwater monitoring in the world. Through the research and technology development so far, the technologies have been developed for drilling borehole in the geological environment survey prior to monitoring and the selection of the monitoring site. However, the following technical developments are remaining issues: long-term operation method of monitoring equipment, retrieving method of monitoring equipment after long-term operation, transport method of backfill material for borehole sealing, technical basis for the sealing performance when the borehole-protective casing and strainer tube are left.

Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory Project, Annual report for fiscal year 2018

Takeuchi, Ryuji; Iwatsuki, Teruki; Matsui, Hiroya; Nohara, Tsuyoshi; Onoe, Hironori; Ikeda, Koki; Mikake, Shinichiro; Hama, Katsuhiro; Iyatomi, Yosuke; Sasao, Eiji

JAEA-Review 2020-001, 66 Pages, 2020/03

JAEA-Review-2020-001.pdf:7.6MB

The Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory (MIU) Project is being pursued by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) to enhance the reliability of geological disposal technologies through investigations of the deep geological environment in the crystalline rock (granite) at Mizunami City, Gifu Prefecture, central Japan. On the occasion of JAEA reformation in 2014, JAEA identified three remaining important issues on the geoscientific research program based on the synthesized latest results of research and development (R&D): "Development of countermeasure technologies for reducing groundwater inflow", "Development of modeling technologies for mass transport" and "Development of drift backfilling technologies". The R&D on three remaining important issues have been carrying out in the MIU Project. In this report, the current status of R&D and construction activities of the MIU Project in fiscal year 2018 is summarized.

Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory Project, Plan for fiscal year 2019

Takeuchi, Ryuji; Iwatsuki, Teruki; Matsui, Hiroya; Ikeda, Koki; Mikake, Shinichiro; Hama, Katsuhiro; Iyatomi, Yosuke; Matsuoka, Toshiyuki; Sasao, Eiji

JAEA-Review 2019-014, 30 Pages, 2019/10

JAEA-Review-2019-014.pdf:4.72MB

The Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory (MIU) Project is being pursued by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency(JAEA) to enhance the reliability of geological disposal technologies through investigations of the deep geological environment in the crystalline host rock(granite) at Mizunami City, Gifu Prefecture, central Japan. On the occasion of the reform of the entire JAEA organization in 2014, JAEA identified three important remaining issues on the geoscientific research program based on the synthesized latest results of research and development (R&D): "Development of countermeasure technologies for reducing groundwater inflow", "Development of modeling technologies for mass transport" and "Development of drift backfilling technology". The R&D on three remaining important issues have been carrying out in the MIU Project. This report summarizes the R&D activities planned for fiscal year 2019 on the basis of the MIU Master Plan updated in 2015 and Investigation Plan for the Third Medium to Long-term Research Phase.

Development of evaluation method for variability of groundwater flow conditions associated with long-term topographic change and climate perturbations

Onoe, Hironori; Kosaka, Hiroshi*; Matsuoka, Toshiyuki; Komatsu, Tetsuya; Takeuchi, Ryuji; Iwatsuki, Teruki; Yasue, Kenichi

Genshiryoku Bakkuendo Kenkyu (CD-ROM), 26(1), p.3 - 14, 2019/06

https://doi.org/10.3327/jnuce.26.1_3

In this study, it is focused on topographic changes due to uplift and denudation, also climate perturbations, a method which is able to assess the long-term variability of groundwater flow conditions using the coefficient variation based on some steady-state groundwater flow simulation results was developed. Spatial distribution of long residence time area which is not much influenced due to long-term topographic change and recharge rate change during the past one million years was able to estimate through the case study of the Tono area, Central Japan. By applying this evaluation method, it is possible to identify the local area that has low variability of groundwater flow conditions due to topographic changes and climate perturbations from the regional area quantitatively and spatially.

DECOVALEX-2019 Task C; GREET Intermediate report

Iwatsuki, Teruki; Onoe, Hironori; Ishibashi, Masayuki; Ozaki, Yusuke; Wang, Y.*; Hadgu, T.*; Jove-Colon, C. F.*; Kalinina, E.*; Hokr, M.*; Balvn, A.*; et al.

JAEA-Research 2018-018, 140 Pages, 2019/03

JAEA-Research-2018-018.pdf:40.68MB

DECOVALEX-2019 Task C aims to develop modelling and prediction methods using numerical simulation based on the water-filling experiment to examine the post drift-closure environment recovery processes. In this intermediate report, the results of Step 1 (Modelling and prediction of environmental disturbance by CTD excavation) are summarized from each of the research teams (JAEA, Sandia National Laboratories, Technical University of Liberec). Groundwater inflow rates to the tunnel during the excavation, hydraulic drawdown, and variation of chlorine concentration at monitoring boreholes in the vicinity of the tunnel were chosen as comparison metrics for Step1 by mutual agreement amongst the research teams. It is likely to be possible to foresee the scales of inflow rate and hydraulic drawdown based on a data from the pilot borehole by current simulation techniques.

Data of long term hydro-pressure monitoring on Tono Regional Hydrogeological Study Project for fiscal year 2015-2016

Keya, Hiromichi; Takeuchi, Ryuji; Iwatsuki, Teruki

JAEA-Data/Code 2018-020, 58 Pages, 2019/03

JAEA-Data-Code-2018-020.pdf:3.19MB
JAEA-Data-Code-2018-020-appendix1(CD-ROM).zip:203.36MB
JAEA-Data-Code-2018-020-appendix2(CD-ROM).zip:168.01MB

A wide range of geoscientific research aims to establish comprehensive techniques for the investigation, analysis and assessment of the deep geological environment in fractured crystalline rock. The Regional Hydrogeological Study (RHS) project is a one of the geoscientific research program at Tono Geoscience Center. This project started since April 1992 and main investigations were finished to March 2004. Since 2005, hydrogeological and hydrochemical monitoring have been continued using the existing monitoring system. This report describes the results of the long term hydro-pressure monitoring from April 2015 to March 2017.

Hydrochemical influence of shotcrete used in underground facilities on groundwater chemistry; Proposal of the evaluation method by geochemical simulation code

Iwatsuki, Teruki; Shibata, Masahito*; Murakami, Hiroaki; Watanabe, Yusuke; Fukuda, Kenji

Doboku Gakkai Rombunshu, G (Kankyo) (Internet), 75(1), p.42 - 54, 2019/03

https://doi.org/10.2208/jscejer.75.42

In order to clarify the influence of shotcrete in the underground facility on the groundwater chemistry, an in-situ closed test was conducted in the mock-up tunnel at the depth of 500 m. Brucite, Ettringite, Ca(OH) , Gibbsite, KCO, NaCO 10HO, SiO (a) and Calcite were identified as the dominant minerals affecting the water chemistry. Furthermore, the shotcrete constructed in the tunnel has a reaction capacity which can produce about 570 m of alkaline groundwater (pH12.4) saturated with Ca(OH). The estimation would improve the accuracy of prediction analysis of the long-term chemical influence of cement materials after the closure of the tunnel.

Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical (HMC) simulation of Groundwater REcoverry Experiment in Tunnel (GREET)

Ozaki, Yusuke; Ishibashi, Masayuki; Onoe, Hironori; Iwatsuki, Teruki

Proceedings of 10th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium & The ISRM International Symposium for 2018 (ARMS 2018) (USB Flash Drive), 11 Pages, 2018/11

Understanding of a post-closure geological environment around a large underground facility is important for the safety assessment of geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has performed the GREET (Groundwater REcovery Experiment in Tunnel) at the Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory (MIU) to evaluate the environmental recovery process after closure. For understanding of coupled behavior of subsurface environment after closure of drift, we perform a Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical coupled simulation of GREET. This study presents the simulation results of excavation stage of test drift for closure test. Our simulation results show that the inflow rate into test drift after excavation is relatively predictable variavle comparing to the hydraulic pressure or chlorite concentration observed in borehole.