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2004 Denver Annual Meeting (November 7–10, 2004)

Paper No. 8
Presentation Time: 1:30 PM-5:30 PM

TRACING A CONNECTION BETWEEN TURQUOISE LAKE AND MINE TUNNELS IN THE SUGARLOAF MINING DISTRICT USING SF6


ENGBLOM, Josiah N.1, SANFORD, William E.1, STEDNICK, John D.2 and WALTON-DAY, Katherine3, (1)Department of Geosciences, Colorado State Univ, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1482, (2)Watershed Science Program, Colorado State Univ, Fort Collins, CO 80523, (3)WRD, USGS, Denver Federal Center, Box 25046 MS415, Denver, CO 80225, jengblom@cnr.colostate.edu

The water levels of Turquoise Lake are suspected of contributing to water draining from mine tunnels of the Sugarloaf Mining District near Leadville, CO. Turquoise Lake, a reservoir in the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project with a capacity of 1.6x108 m3 (129,440 acre-ft), was tagged with approximately 5 kilograms of the gas sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) in July 2003. Water samples were collected from the mouths of several area dewatering tunnels located at elevations below the average lake level, including the Dinero and Bartlett. SF6 has a low solubility and will de-gas over time but the tracer effectively tagged the reservoir with detectable concentrations for 4 months. SF6 was detected in the Bartlett Tunnel 45 days after the injection, suggesting a flow rate of 18 m/day for water moving from the lake to the tunnel. The detection of tracer at the Bartlett Tunnel confirms a hydraulic connection to Turquoise Lake. The Dinero Tunnel is lower in elevation than the Bartlett Tunnel but there was no detection of SF6 in the Dinero. The lack of tracer may be due to degassing along the flow path coupled with lower fracture permeability with depth in the system. We successfully tagged a large body of water and showed a hydraulic connection between Turquoise Lake and a mine tunnel in the Sugarloaf Mining District.

Session No. 54--Booth# 86

T7. The Occurrence, Storage, and Flow of Groundwater in Mountainous Terrain (Posters)
Sunday, 7 November 2004: 1:30 PM-5:30 PM
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 36, No. 5, p.142
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