Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) as a tool for the assessment of karst features in carbonate aquifers.
Résumé
In the Mediterranean Basin, most of the groundwater resources are located in carbonate aquifers. In
the Montpellier area, southern France, several regional faults affecting these carbonate reservoirs
control the location of the main flow paths and thus the groundwater flow. These faults zones are
characterized by a strong anisotropy of permeability, sometimes induced by an offset between
compartments on both sides of the fault. Fluid flow generally occurs preferentially in the fault-parallel
direction. Fractures located in the damaged zone of these faults, partly responsible for this anisotropy,
are also at the origin of karst features development. Thus, to identify the main permeability
components of such fault zones, it is essential to identify- -(i) the structure of the damaged zone+ -(ii)
the fault offset and, -(iii) the presence of karst features and their geometry. A methodology based on
Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) was thus proposed with this purpose. It allowed -(i) to
highlight en-echelon fracturing in the studied fault-zones+ -(ii) to identify the presence of karst feature
and -(iii) to precise their geometry. Though the fault was a priori considered as a conduit-barrier, we
demonstrated that groundwater flow across the fault probably occurs due to the en echelon offset of
the fractures and that karst features preferentially located along bedding planes control most of the
flow.