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Ninth International Conference on Permafrost ... - IARC Research

Ninth International Conference on Permafrost ... - IARC Research

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Modeling <strong>Permafrost</strong> Evoluti<strong>on</strong> and Impact <strong>on</strong> Hydrogeology at the Meuse/Haute-Marne Sedimentary Site (Northeast France) During the Last 120,000 YearsVanessa Teles, Emmanuel Mouche, Christophe Grenier, Damien RegnierLaboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Envir<strong>on</strong>nement, UMR CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, FranceJacques Brulhet, Hakim BenaberrahmaneAndra, Agence nati<strong>on</strong>ale pour la gesti<strong>on</strong> des déchets radioactifs, FranceIntroducti<strong>on</strong>The Callovo-Oxfordian layer in the eastern part of theParisian Basin (France) was recognized as a potential nuclearwaste repository layer. To evaluate transfers from the hostformati<strong>on</strong> to the biosphere, it is important to understand thetemporal evoluti<strong>on</strong> of the hydraulic boundary c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s ofthe clayey layer, which means to understand the evoluti<strong>on</strong> ofthe whole hydrogeological system. The Callovo-Oxfordianunit is part of the Parisian Basin c<strong>on</strong>sisting of piled upsedimentary units ranging over thousands of meters indepth at maximum and covering the northern half of France.Besides this specific sedimentary geological structure, pastpermafrost extensi<strong>on</strong> differs from Nordic situati<strong>on</strong>s, becauseice cover remained here very limited in time and depth so<strong>on</strong>followed by a cold and dry steppic landscape.A few years ago, Andra (Nati<strong>on</strong>al Agency for NuclearWaste Management) launched a research program <strong>on</strong> thegeoprospective of the MHM (Meuse/Haute-Marne) site,including the study of the impact of glacial cycles <strong>on</strong> theunderground flow patterns (Andra 2005, Andra 2004,Brulhet 2004).Recent efforts to study the impact of permafrost <strong>on</strong>underground flow patterns, modeling of permafrost extensi<strong>on</strong>through geological times as well as <strong>on</strong> going activities, arereported here involving the LSCE (Laboratoire des Sciencesdu Climat et de l’Envir<strong>on</strong>nement) team. This work followsa former phase of pure hydrological modeling of the MHMsite.The studies c<strong>on</strong>ducted at LSCE are presented here al<strong>on</strong>g3 major issues: (1) impact of permafrost rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong>hydrogeology during the last 120,000 years; (2) 3D thermalmodeling of permafrost extensi<strong>on</strong>s based <strong>on</strong> solar radiati<strong>on</strong>evoluti<strong>on</strong> (120,000-year period); and (3) coupled thermohydrologicalmodeling and role of small-scale surface andsubsurface units (valley vs. hill, river, lake, aquifer).The thermal and hydrodynamic simulati<strong>on</strong>s have beenperformed with the Cast3M code, developed and implementedby the CEA (Atomic Energy Commissi<strong>on</strong>), using finiteelementor mixed hybrid finite-element formulati<strong>on</strong>s.The extensi<strong>on</strong> of the modeled z<strong>on</strong>e is 75 km x 80 km,involving the actual present-time topography and rivers, aswell as geological layers (from bottom to surface: Dogger,Callovo-Oxfordien, Oxfordien-Calcaire, Kimmérigien,Cretacé-Barrois) corresp<strong>on</strong>ding for the latter to roughly a500 m depth.Impact of <strong>Permafrost</strong> Rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong>Hydrogeology During the Last 120,000 YearsThe idea behind this first modeling phase (refer to Teles& Mouche 2005) c<strong>on</strong>sists in taking rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong>s ofpermafrost extensi<strong>on</strong>s over the last 100,000 years, transferit into permeability informati<strong>on</strong>, and simulate transient flow<strong>on</strong> the MHM domain with adequate boundary c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s.More precisely, rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong>s from Van Vliet (2004)c<strong>on</strong>cerning the MHM regi<strong>on</strong> were c<strong>on</strong>sidered. They involvefive development stages with associated time periods:present c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s for 10,000 years BP, installati<strong>on</strong> of athin permafrost (starting 95 BP), permafrost <strong>on</strong> hills withfree valleys (from 75,000 years BP <strong>on</strong>), thick c<strong>on</strong>tinuouspermafrost (starting 20,000 years BP), relict permafrost(from 13,000 years BP). Three-dimensi<strong>on</strong>al simulati<strong>on</strong>sof transient flow were c<strong>on</strong>ducted starting from initialc<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s close to present state. Freezing causes a stop inthe infiltrati<strong>on</strong> as permafrost develops, so surface boundaryc<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s are changed from imposed heads assumed closeto the local altitude to no flow c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s. Furthermore, the3D permeability field is modified to account for the presenceof permafrost. Practically speaking, permeability tensors areassociated with each mesh element corresp<strong>on</strong>ding verticallyto harm<strong>on</strong>ic mean between permafrost permeability(arbitrary put at 10 -13 m/s) and actual geological formati<strong>on</strong>permeability; horiz<strong>on</strong>tally, arithmetic mean was c<strong>on</strong>sidered.C<strong>on</strong>sequently, vertical flow is limited, whereas horiz<strong>on</strong>talflow is directly a functi<strong>on</strong> of the vertical fracti<strong>on</strong> of unfrozenformati<strong>on</strong> thickness.Results show that the flow velocities are reduced ascompared with present-state c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s in all geologicalformati<strong>on</strong>s during permafrost phases. This is the result of thestop in the recharge as well as reducti<strong>on</strong> in the permeability.Flow velocity in the aquifers not directly c<strong>on</strong>cernedthemselves by freezing is roughly reduced by a factor oftwo.It should be stressed here, nevertheless, that c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>sinferred at the MHM site for the last glacial cycle are verydifferent from c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s rec<strong>on</strong>structed for more Nordiclocati<strong>on</strong>s, where the ice thickness was large and lead to amechanical load <strong>on</strong>to the geological units. C<strong>on</strong>sequently,increased pressure boosted access of water to deeper z<strong>on</strong>es,though recharge from the surface was actually stopped. Thesituati<strong>on</strong> at the MHM site is c<strong>on</strong>sidered best represented asa mere stop in recharge, leading to a pure aquifer drainagesituati<strong>on</strong> for deeper units.311

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