Identification of Geochemical Facies Through Major Ion Data And
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UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 8-2010 Identification of geochemical facies through major ion data and additional parameters from shallow groundwater utilizing a comparison of geomathematics and traditional methods in Las Vegas Valley, Nevada Eric Dano University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Geochemistry Commons, Hydrology Commons, and the Water Resource Management Commons Repository Citation Dano, Eric, "Identification of geochemical facies through major ion data and additional parameters from shallow groundwater utilizing a comparison of geomathematics and traditional methods in Las Vegas Valley, Nevada" (2010). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 849. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/2197399 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. IDENTIFICATION OF GEOCHEMICAL FACIES THROUGH MAJOR ION DATA AND ADDITIONAL PARAMETERS FROM SHALLOW GROUNDWATER UTILIZING A COMPARISON OF GEOMATHEMATICS AND TRADITIONAL METHODS IN LAS VEGAS VALLEY, NEVADA by Eric L. Dano Bachelor of Science in Geology University of Nevada, Las Vegas 2001 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science Degree in Geoscience Department of Geoscience College of Sciences Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas August 2010 Copyright by Eric Dano 2010 All Rights Reserved THE GRADUATE COLLEGE We recommend the thesis prepared under our supervision by Eric L. Dano entitled Identification of Geochemical Facies through Major Ion Data and Additional Parameters from Shallow Groundwater Utilizing a Comparison of Geomathematics and Traditional Methods in Las Vegas Valley, Nevada be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geoscience David Kreamer, Committee Co-chair Zhongbo Yu, Committee Co-chair Joseph Leising, Committee Member Vernon Hodge, Graduate Faculty Representative Ronald Smith, Ph. D., Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate College August 2010 ii ABSTRACT Identification of Geochemical Facies through Major Ion Data and Some Additional Parameters from Shallow Groundwater Utilizing a Comparison of Geomathematics and Traditional Methods in Las Vegas Valley, Nevada by Eric Dano Dr. David Kreamer, Advisory Committee Chair Professor of Hydrology University of Nevada, Las Vegas There has been little exploration to identify geochemical facies in shallow groundwater in the Las Vegas Valley in Clark County, Nevada. Identification of hydrochemical facies in Las Vegas Valley is important for assessing the extent and nature of a potential groundwater resource. The identification of facies could be complicated by the possibility that secondary recharge constitutes a hydrochemical facies of its own. To identify geochemical facies, groundwater samples for major ions, stable isotopes and some municipal tracers were collected from 35 wells in an established network of monitor wells. Wells were purged with a bailer or 12V pump and EC, pH, and Temperature were collected in the field. Collected samples were submitted to SNWS laboratory for analysis. Total dissolved solids ranged from 997 to 9121 mg/l with a standard deviation of 1981. PCA was run with a Statistica and the resulting in 90% of the variance associated with the first five components. The results were then kriged with Surfer and projected as a raster grid in ArcMap. A successful attempt was made to identify facies utilizing PCA and a comparison of the results to traditional trilinear diagram methods supported the findings. Identified facies ranged from a Mg-Ca-SO4-HCO3 water in the northwest to a Na-Mg-SO4-Cl water in the southeast. Facies occur roughly perpendicular to the general direction of flow in the basin. An attempt to identify secondary recharge as a distinct facies was unsuccessful. This was either due to a uniform impact throughout the shallow groundwater system, or the impact of secondary recharge is less significant and more localized. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... vii ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................viii CHAPTER 1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE .............................................................................. 1 1.1 Hypothesis............................................................................................................ 5 1.2 Background .......................................................................................................... 8 1.2.1 Physiography............................................................................................... 8 1.2.2 Climate ........................................................................................................ 8 1.2.3 Structural Setting ........................................................................................ 9 1.2.4 Hydrogeology ............................................................................................. 9 1.2.5 Lithology of the Las Vegas Wash Aquitard ............................................ 12 CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................... 14 2.1 Well Selection ................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Groundwater Sampling Methodology............................................................... 16 2.3 Field Analysis ................................................................................................... 16 2.4 Major Ion, Trihalomethane, and Perchlorate Analyses .................................... 18 2.5 Stable Isotopes Sampling and Analysis ............................................................ 19 2.6 Quality Assurance ............................................................................................. 20 2.7 Data Visualization Methodology ...................................................................... 21 2.7.1 Piper Trilinear Diagrams .......................................................................... 22 2.7.2 Principal Component Analysis ................................................................ 22 2.7.3 Kriging ..................................................................................................... 25 2.7.4 Geographical Information Systems and Mapping ................................... 27 CHAPTER 3 RESULTS .................................................................................................. 28 3.1 Field Analytical Results .................................................................................... 28 3.2 Major Ion Analytical Results ............................................................................ 28 3.2.1 Analytical Results for Cations ................................................................. 29 3.2.2 Analytical Results for Anions .................................................................. 30 3.2.3 Analytical Results for Silica and Total Dissolved Solids ........................ 30 3.3 Analytical Results for Municipal Tracers ......................................................... 32 3.4 Analytical Results for Stable Isotopes .............................................................. 33 3.5 Quality Assurance ............................................................................................. 34 3.6 Piper Trilinear Diagram .................................................................................... 36 3.7 Principal Component Analysis ......................................................................... 36 iv CHAPTER 4 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................ 42 4.1 Field Chemistry ................................................................................................. 42 4.2 Major Ions ......................................................................................................... 43 4.3 Municipal Tracers ............................................................................................. 46 4.4 Stable Isotopes .................................................................................................. 49 4.5 Quality Assurance ............................................................................................. 50 4.6 Piper Trilinear Diagrams ................................................................................... 50 4.7 Principal Component Analysis