Distribution and Geochemistry of Contaminated Subsurface Waters in Fissured Volcanogenic Bed Rocks of the Lake Karachai Area, Chelyabinsk, Southern Urals

The present investigation is devoted to the study of the distribution and geochemistry of contaminated subsurface waters, beneath the site of temporary storage of liquid radioactive waste known as Lake Karachai. For this purpose a method of hydrogeochemical logging (HGCL) together with standard hydrogeochemical and geophysical methods of uncased hole logging were used. The distribution of sodium nitrate brine plumes in the subsurface was determined by the physical and physico-chemical properties of these brines and by the petrochemical composition of enclosing rocks and the structural setting of the flow paths. The latter is represented by fractures and large faults in the bedrock of volcanogenic and volcanogenic-sedimentary rocks of intermediate-to-basic composition. The volcanogenic rocks are overlain in some places by a thin cover of unconsolidated sediments, i.e., by loams and relatively impermeable silts. Contaminated waters flow-in accordance with the eluvium bottom relief towards local areas of natural (Mishelyak and Techa rivers) and artificial (Novogomenskii water intake) discharge of subsurface waters. The large Mishelyak fault, southwest of Lake Karachai and under fluvial sediments of the Mishelyak, is assumed to significantly influence the flow pattern of contaminated waters, diverting them from an intake of drinking water.