How basin model results enable the study of multi-layer aquifer response to pumping: the Paris Basin, France

Abstract : The Albian aquifer of the Paris Basin (France) has been exploited since 1841 and shows drastic drawdown. A three-dimensional (3D) groundwater flow model is used to study the hydrodynamic response of the multi-layered aquifers to pumping activity in the Albian, at basin scale over 167 years. This 3D flow model uses geometry and hydrodynamic parameter distributions that are inherited from a genetic approach through basin modelling, the basin model creating a geometric pattern of hydrodynamic properties constrained by geological history. The paper aims to promote the use of the basin model approach (long time scale, 248 Ma) for the study of deep-aquifer response to anthropogenic perturbation (short time scale, 167 years) in situations for which hydrodynamic data are scarce but geological data are numerous. The results show that parameter distribution is insufficient to reproduce the Albian aquifer behaviour, notably highlighting a different meaning of the specific storage coefficient between basin modelling and groundwater-flow modelling. Dividing the storage coefficient by 100 and including available transmissivity data significantly improved the model/data comparison. The potential impact on a deep aquitard is then discussed. This study sheds light on the advantages and limitations of the basin model approach for groundwater-flow modelling in 3D.