Clays are considered as suitable materials for the geological storage of toxic and radioactive waste, however, it is generally believed that the nuclear waste are buried at very deep, say 2 km underground, well, clay are usually buried at a very shallow depth, therefore, my question is why clay exists at such deep locations?
Not necessarily clays exist so deep. Clays have such a high retentive surface. In deep layers, microbiological action is weakest at such deeper locations...
FYI:
As shown in following picture, radioactive waste can be divided into different categories according to its activity level and half-life and due to the difference, the disposal is various.
”Clays and clay minerals occur under a fairly limited range of geologic conditions. The environments of formation include soil horizons, continental and marine sediments, geothermal fields, volcanic deposits, and weathering rock formations. Most clay minerals form where rocks are in contact with water, air, or steam. Examples of these situations include weathering boulders on a hillside, sediments on sea or lake bottoms, deeply buried sediments containing pore water, and rocks in contact with water heated by magma (molten rock). All of these environments may cause the formation of clay minerals from preexisting minerals.” https://pubs.usgs.gov/info/clays/
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Physical Sciences
- Materials Science
- Materials
- Inorganic Materials
- Metals
- Alloys
- Steel