A new quasi-3D unsaturated-saturated hydrogeologic model of the Plateau de Saclay (France)

A new hydrogeologic model is developed for the Plateau de Saclay (20 km south-west of Paris, France), which covers an area of 74 km2. It is based on a 2D model of the Fontainebleau Sands aquifer, combined with a 1D model of the unsaturated zone, taking into account the spatial variability of the groundwater permeability field and the thickness of the unsaturated zone. The paper focuses on the estimation of a triplet of parameters (permeability, infiltration and effective porosity), based on transient flow simulations. First, the permeability is obtained by inversion of mean hydraulic head data for different values of infiltration. Then, infiltration and effective porosity are determined by using transient flow simulations and fitting the hydraulic head measurements at several piezometers over the 1970-2014 period. The infiltration is estimated at between 125 and 150 mm/yr, the mean permeability between 2 · 10−5 and 6 · 10−5 m/s, and the effective porosity between 20% and 30%. Furthermore, the role of the unsaturated zone is quantified and the induced delay is estimated at about 20 years in the case of the transport of a tracer.