Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : The present study addresses the question of increasing need in water supply. One line of research consists in investigating karst aquifers that represent significant water supplies for the areas around the Mediterranean. This work aims at developing a methodology of predictive evaluation of karst distribution and karst thickness within the carbonate massifs. It is based on the study of the Tethysian carbonate platform from the area of Montpellier, South of France. This area underwent a polyphased, complex, tectonic evolution, involving successive karst forming events. The approach is based on the relationships between eustacy and geodynamics, on one hand, and base-level variation recorded within palaeokarsts, on the other hand. Sedimentary fill of palaeokarsts allows to identify distinct karstification phases and sometimes to date them. It is a marker of base-level variations, which we attempt to quantify, that is responsible for karst formation and karst filling and sealing. For three palaeokarsts of regional extent, we analyze : karst sedimentary-fill, the distribution along upstream-downstream profile, the vertical extension of palaeokarsts, indicative of the base-level lowering. - The " Bauxite palaeokarst " results from the two-stage evolution of the " Isthme Durancien " : i) Bauxitic weathering of the Neocomian cover over the southern Massif Central , related to an inversion during Barremian ; ii) ≥1600 m uplift and exhumation during Aptian-Albian, inducing erosion of alterites, upstream, and deposition of detrital bauxites, downstream. - The " Early Paleocene palaeokarsts with marine sedimentary-fill " indicate base level variations of more than 350m in the upstream area. It is suggested here that such base-level variations, exceeding eustacy and recorded in tabular undeformed series, result from desiccation-flooding events in an endoreic silled basin. - The " Miocene palaeokarst with Cevennes-sourced sediment-fill " records a Serravalian-Tortonian base-level drop, depicted by canyon incision in the hinterland of the Gulf of Lion Margin. Uplift values of ≥ 400m upstream, about 250m in an intermediate area and 10's of m downstream, are measured. The present 3D geometry and distribution of carbonate massifs (exposed and covered) are modeled in the study area, from the Cevennes to the Mediterranean. The 3D geological model integrates seismic reflection, borehole and gravimetric data. Tectonic restoration of a N-S section, extracted from the 3D model, allows to reconstruct paleo-base-levels with respect with the carbonate massifs, at different stages of deformation and successive phases of karstification. The 3D paleo-flows through carbonates across the study area, are thus constrained, especially during the Messinian desiccation stage. Application of the results to hydrogeology leads to the following : - Uplift of upstream hinterland (Cretaceous, Miocene) produces large amplitude karsts, but they do not make significant reservoirs. - Karstification responsible for the development of important and deep karst reservoirs is related to desiccation of endoreic basins (early Paleocene and Messinian). - Theses two events have produced two main deep karst reservoirs, with a gravimetric signature : (1) Upstream of Montpellier Thrust, between Pic St Loup, Les Matelles Fault and Hérault Basin, a deep karsts developed over 900m thickness in the Malm limestone, during Paleocene. (2) Downstream (south) of Montpellier Thrust, the coastal karsts extend offshore over more than 10km, they are sealed by a thick Miocene to Quaternary cover, and they result from the Messinian event.
Cette étude s'inscrit dans un contexte de demande croissante en ressources en eau, conduisant à mieux contraindre et estimer la distribution des aquifères karstifiés qui représentent une ressource importante, notamment sur le pourtour méditerranéen. Le but de ce travail est d'élaborer une méthode prédictive de la distribution de la karstification et de l'épaisseur de massifs carbonatés karstifiés, notamment pour les karsts profonds. La méthodologie est développée à partir de l'étude des karsts de la plateforme carbonatée téthysienne du Languedoc montpelliérain; région qui a subi une histoire tectonique complexe et polyphasée, entrainant des phases de karstification successives. Elle est basée sur la compréhension des relations entre eustatisme, géodynamique et niveau de base, enregistrées par les paléokarsts de la région. Le remplissage sédimentaire des paléokarsts permet d'identifier les épisodes de karstification et de les dater ; c'est un marqueur des variations -que l'on cherche à quantifier- du niveau de base local responsable de la formation et du comblement des karsts. On analyse 3 paléokarsts d'extension régionale dont on peut étudier : le remplissage karstique, la distribution le long de profils amont-aval et l'extension verticale indicatrice de l'amplitude de l'abaissement du niveau de base dont il est issu. On en déduit les causes géodynamiques à l'origine de leur formation: - Le " paléokarst des bauxites " à remplissage caractéristique, résulte de l'évolution en 2 phases de " l'Isthme Durancien " : altération bauxitique de la couverture néocomienne sur le sud du Massif Central, liée à une inversion au Barrémien, suivi d'une surrection ≥ 1600m à l'Aptien-Albien, causant l'érosion des altérites en amont et le dépôt des bauxites détritiques en aval. - Le " paléokarst à remplissage marin paléocène inférieur " indique des variations du niveau de base local ≥350m dans la zone amont sud-cévenole. On propose que ces variations de niveau de base d'amplitude très supérieures aux variations eustatiques et dans une zone faiblement déformée, résultent d'assèchements et d'ennoiements d'un bassin endoréique à seuil. - Le " paléokarst à remplissage détritique d'origine cévenole ", enregistre la chute du niveau de base au Serravalien-Tortonien, qui se traduit par l'incision de canyons dans l'arrière-pays de la marge du Golfe du Lion. On détermine une surrection de plus de 400 mètres à l'amont, près de 250m dans les blocs faillés intermédiaires et quelques dizaines de mètres dans la zone avale. En parallèle, on établit la géométrie et la distribution actuelles des massifs carbonatés dans la zone d'étude (y compris sous couverture), en construisant un modèle géologique 3D, des Cévennes à la Méditerranée. On intègre les données de sismique réflexion, de forages et les données gravimétriques. La restauration tectonique séquentielle d'une coupe Nord-Sud extraite du modèle géologique permet d'appréhender la position des paléo-niveaux de base par rapport aux massifs carbonatés, pour chaque époque de karstification. On déduit l'organisation 3D des paléo-écoulements à travers la géométrie complexe des massifs carbonatés languedociens, notamment pendant l'évènement messinien. En terme d'évaluation de la ressource en eau, on déduit que: - Les surrections de l'arrière-pays (Crétacé " moyen ", Miocène) produisent des karsts de grande amplitude, mais ne constituent pas de réservoirs significatifs. - La karstification à l'origine de réservoirs exploitables importants et profonds est créée par l'assèchement de bassins endoréiques, qui ont affecté la région au Paléocène inférieur et au Messinien . - Ces deux évènements sont à l'origine de deux principaux réservoirs karstiques profonds qui ont une signature gravimétrique : (1) En amont du chevauchement de Montpellier, entre le Pic Saint Loup, la faille des Matelles et le bassin de l'Hérault, le karst profond se développe sur une épaisseur atteignant 900m, et est attribuée à l'événement du Paléocène. (2) Au Sud du chevauchement de Montpellier les karsts côtiers s'étendent jusqu'à plus de 10 km au large, scellés par une épaisse couverture Miocène et Plio-Quaternaire, et résultent de l'événement Messinien.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00936257

tel-00936257
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00936257
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00936257/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00936257/file/thA_se_husson_couleurs.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Parentis and Arzacq-Mauleon basins located in front of the V-shaped oceanic propagator in the Bay of Biscay present evidence for extreme crustal thinning. In this paper we investigate the 3D structure of these rift basins, based on field observations and the interpretation of seismic data. We compare these results with those obtained from two different and independent inversion methods: first a 3D gravity inversion and second the standard Euler deconvolution.;For the Mauleon Basin our results show that the positive gravimetric anomaly identified above its southern margin is the consequence of two shallower high density bodies that are separated by the Pamplona fault and a deeper high density body. The high density bodies can be explained by the presence of mid-crustal and mantle rocks that were exhumed or uplifted at shallower depth during Early Cretaceous rifting before they were reworked and integrated to the Pyrenean chain during compression phase. Also, during this reactivation phase, some slices of the exhumed mid-crustal and mantle rocks were sheared off and were integrated in the present-day thrust belt in the Mauleon basin. For the Parentis Basin we can demonstrate, based on seismic data and gravimetric inversion methods, a decrease in extension from west to east, which is compatible with the V-shape geometry of the overall basin. Along strike, a change in the fault geometry from downward concave top-basement detachment faults to upward concave high-angle faults can be observed eastwards, i.e. towards the termination of the basin. A key structure, controlling the evolution of the Parentis Basin, is the east-west trending Ibis fault. We interpret this fault to have initially formed as a strike slip fault before it was reactivated during later crustal thinning. At present, it forms the limit between an upper plate sag basin to the north and a lower plate sag basin, floored at least locally by a top-basement detachment faults to the south. The strong asymmetry of the basin is supported by the shape of the basin and the results of standard Euler deconvolution.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00523444
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00523444
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2010.04.023

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Our knowledge and understanding of the 3-D lithospheric structure of the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau is still challenging although numerous geophysical studies have been performed in the region. The GOCE satellite mission has the ambitious goal of mapping Earth's gravity field with unprecedented precision (i.e. an accuracy of 1-2 mGal for a spatial resolution of 100 km) to observe the lithosphere and upper-mantle structure. Consequently, it gives new insights in the lithospheric structure beneath the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Indeed, the GOCE gravity data now allow us to develop a new strategy for joint gravimetry-seismology inversion. Combined with teleseismic data over a large region in a joint inversion scheme, they will lead to lithospheric velocity-density models constrained in two complementary ways. We apply this joint inversion scheme to the Hi-CLIMB (Himalayan-Tibetan Continental Lithosphere during Mountain Building) seismological network which was deployed in South Tibet and the Himalayas for a 3-yr period. The large size of the network, the high quality of the seismological data and the new GOCE gravity data set allow us to image the entire lithosphere of this active area in an innovative way. We image 3-D low velocity and density structures in the middle crust that fit the location of discontinuous low S-velocity zones revealed by receiver functions in previous geophysical studies. In the deeper parts of our velocity model we image a positive anomaly interpreted to be the heterogenous Indian lithosphere vertically descending beneath the centre of the Tibetan Plateau.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00858024
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00858024
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggs110

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
We use 3 yr of surface absolute gravity measurements at three sites on the Larzac plateau (France) to quantify the changes induced by topography and the building on gravity time-series, with respect to an idealized infinite slab approximation. Indeed, local topography and buildings housing ground-based gravity measurement have an effect on the distribution of water storage changes, therefore affecting the associated gravity signal. We first calculate the effects of surrounding topography and building dimensions on the gravity attraction for a uniform layer of water. We show that a gravimetric interpretation of water storage change using an infinite slab, the so-called Bouguer approximation, is generally not suitable. We propose to split the time varying gravity signal in two parts (1) a surface component including topographic and building effects (2) a deep component associated to underground water transfer. A reservoir modelling scheme is herein presented to remove the local site effects and to invert for the effective hydrological properties of the unsaturated zone. We show that effective time constants associated to water transfer vary greatly from site to site. We propose that our modelling scheme can be used to correct for the local site effects on gravity at any site presenting a departure from a flat topography. Depending on sites, the corrected signal can exceed measured values by 5-15 μGal, corresponding to 120-380 mm of water using the Bouguer slab formula. Our approach only requires the knowledge of daily precipitation corrected for evapotranspiration. Therefore, it can be a useful tool to correct any kind of gravimetric time-series data.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00795590
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00795590
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggs007

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Optimizing the resource extraction and limiting the environmental constraint motivate to accurately characterize reservoirs. The extraction of resources induces volume change of the reservoir causing displacements in the surrounding medium up to the surface. The resulting surface deformation is usually significant enough to be measurable by geodetic instruments (GPS, satellites, tiltmeters, strainmeters). However, the data needs to be associated to a reservoir model using an inverse scheme to allow the estimation of physical properties of the reservoir. Complete geodetic data including InSAR, GPS, tilt, strain and gravimetric data are uncommon for conventional, unconventional or mining exploitations. In this study, we work on the one site that gathers a wide range of geodetic data: the salt exploitation of Vauvert, France, operated by KemOne. Our approach aims at estimating the volume changes of the cavities created by the extraction combining all the available geodetic data. To do so, we minimize a global functional including weighting factors for each data type. The weighting factors are optimally estimated for our study and can be adapted depending on the issue. Hence, an optimal distribution of data can be suggested for a specific reservoir characterization.
79th EAGE Conference
Paris, France

Droits : http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/licences/copyright/
hal-01575426
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01575426
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01575426/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01575426/file/reservoir-characterization-inversion.pdf
DOI : 10.3997/2214-4609.201700987

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We investigate the contribution of atmospheric and its induced non-tidal oceanic loading effects on surface time-varying gravity and tilt measurements for several stations in Western Europe. The ocean response to pressure forcing can be modelled accordingly to the inverted barometer, i.e. assuming that air pressure variations are fully compensated by static sea height changes, or using ocean general circulation models.Wevalidate two runs of theHUGO-mbarotropic ocean model by comparing predicted sea surface height variations with hundred tide-gauge measurements along the European coasts. We then show that global surface pressure field, as well as a barotropic high-resolution ocean model forced by air pressure and winds allow in most cases a significant reduction of the variance of gravity residuals and, to a smaller extends tilt residuals. Wefinally show that precise gravity measurements with superconducting gravimeters allow the observation of large storm surges, occurring in the North Sea, even for inland stations. However, we also confirm that the continental hydrology contribution cannot be neglected. Thanks to their specific sensitivity feature, only tiltmeters closest to the coast can clearly detect the loading due to these storm surges.
ISSN: 0264-3707

hal-00708046
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00708046
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00708046/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00708046/file/ETS2008_BOY.pdf
BIBCODE : 2009JGeo...48..182B