Yucca Mountain
| Yucca Mountain | |
|---|---|
 Yucca Mountain | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 6,707 ft (2,044 m)NAVD 88[1] |
| Prominence | 1,333 ft (406 m)[2] |
| Coordinates | 36°56′25″N116°29′06″W/ 36.940210656°N 116.485006506°W[1] |
| Geography | |
  Yucca Mountain | |
| Topo map | USGSTopopah Spring |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type(s) | Caldera, cinder cones |
| Last eruption | 80,000 years ago |
Yucca Mountainis a mountain inNevada,near its border withCalifornia,approximately 100 miles (160 km) northwest ofLas Vegas.Located in theGreat Basin,Yucca Mountain is east of theAmargosa Desert,south of theNevada Test and Training Rangeand in theNevada National Security Site.It is the site of theYucca Mountain nuclear waste repository,which is currently identified by Congressional law as the nation's spent nuclear waste storage facility. However, while licensure of the site through theNuclear Regulatory Commissionis ongoing, political maneuvering led to the site being de-funded in 2010.
Geology
[edit]
The formation that makes up Yucca Mountain was created by several large eruptions from acalderavolcanoand is composed of alternating layers ofignimbrite(weldedtuff), non-welded tuff, and semi-welded tuff. The volcanicunitshave been tilted alongfaultlines, thus forming the current ridge line called Yucca Mountain. In addition to these faults, Yucca Mountain is criss-crossed by fractures, many of which formed when the volcanic units cooled.
Volcanic history
[edit]A series of large explosive volcanic eruptions occurred to the north of Yucca Mountain millions of years ago, producing dense clouds of volcanic ash and rock fragments which melted or compressed together to create layers of rock called tuff, forming the mountains and hills of the region. The volcanic eruptions that produced Yucca Mountain ended about 12 million years ago. This explosive volcanism produced almost all (more than 99 percent) of the volcanic material in the Yucca Mountain region.[3]
Several million years ago, a different type of eruption began in the area. These eruptions were smaller and much less explosive. These small eruptions were marked by lava and cinders seeping and sputtering from cones or fissures. The last such small eruption occurred about 80,000 years ago. The remaining volcanic material (less than one percent) in the Yucca Mountain region is a result of these smaller eruptions.[4][5]Yucca Mountain borders a region known asCrater Flatcontaining several small cones.
Cultural history
[edit]
Yucca Mountain and surrounding lands were central in the lives of theWestern ShoshoneandSouthern Paiutepeoples, who shared them for religious ceremonies, resource uses, and social events; Yucca Mountain continues to be considered sacred by the Shoshone people living today.[6][7]
References
[edit]- ^ab"Yucca".NGS Data Sheet.National Geodetic Survey,National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,United States Department of Commerce.Retrieved2011-05-20.
- ^"Chocolate Mountain, Nevada".Peakbagger.com.Retrieved2011-05-20.
- ^Crowe, B. M.; W. J. Carr (1980).Preliminary assessment of the risk of volcanism at a proposed nuclear waste repository in the southern Great Basin.U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 80-375. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Geological Survey.
- ^"Summary of Yucca Mountain Oversight and Impact Assessment Findings".State of Nevada. 1997.Retrieved2008-05-16.
- ^Smith, E.I.; D. L. Keenan (30 August 2005)."Yucca Mountain Could Face Greater Volcanic Threat"(PDF).Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union.86(35): 317, 321.doi:10.1029/2005eo350001.Retrieved2009-01-03.
- ^"Environmental Justice Case Study: The Yucca Mountain High-Level Nuclear Waste Repository and the Western Shoshone".University of Michigan.Retrieved2010-07-08.
- ^Catherine S. Fowler; Maribeth Hamby; Elmer Rusco; Mary Rusco (October 1991)."Native Americans and Yucca Mountain"(PDF).Cultural Resource Consultants, Ltd.State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects.Retrieved2010-07-08.
External links
[edit]
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Yucca MountainGNIS - Feature Detail Report for Yucca Mountain
- Potter, Christopher J.; Dickerson, Robert P.; Sweetkind, Donald S.; Drake, Ronald M. II; Taylor, Emily M.; Fridrich, Christopher J.; San, Carma A. Juan; Day, Warren C. (2002).Geologic map of the Yucca Mountain region, Nye County, Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Investigations Series I-2755.Denver, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey.
- "Google Maps satellite imagery".Retrieved2011-05-20.
- "Yucca Mountain".Sacred Land Film Project.Retrieved2011-05-20.
- "A Western Shoshone Perspective on Yucca Mountain".Native American Netroots.Retrieved2011-05-20.
- "Audiovisual Gallery: Yucca Mountain".United States Department of Energy.Archived fromthe originalon 2009-05-14.Retrieved2011-05-21.
- "Yucca Mountain Standards".Radiation Protection.United States Environmental Protection Agency.Retrieved2011-05-20.
- "Real time earthquake map for California and Nevada".U.S. Geological Survey.Retrieved2011-05-21.
- Smith, E.I.; D.L. Keenan (30 August 2005)."Yucca Mountain Could Face Greater Volcanic Threat"(PDF).Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union.86(35): 317, 321.doi:10.1029/2005eo350001.Retrieved2011-05-20.
- "Yucca Mountain: Nuclear Waste in Nevada"(news archive).Las Vegas Review-Journal.Retrieved2011-05-20.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
- Amargosa Desert
- Extinct volcanoes of the United States
- History of Nye County, Nevada
- Mountains of Nye County, Nevada
- Miocene volcanoes
- Mojave Desert
- Mountains of Nevada
- Mountains of the Great Basin
- Pleistocene volcanoes
- Pliocene volcanoes
- Religious places of the Indigenous peoples of North America
- Sacred mountains of the Americas
- Volcanoes of Nevada
- Cinder cones of the United States
- North American 2000 m summits
- Calderas of Nevada