Speaker: Augustin Gouy

Date: Thursday 9th of March 2023, 1:15pm.

Abstract:

Karst systems, which are often present in carbonate rocks, are characterized by a complex ensemble of underground drains which strongly control the water flow in the massif. It is therefore necessary to take into account the karst network to model the hydrogeological functioning of karstified rocks. Information on the position and the geometry of those caves is however often scarce, indirect and imprecise. A discrete karst network simulation approach is proposed, capable of representing the diversity of possible models for a given dataset, while exploiting those data to reduce the ensemble distribution. This method solves a shortest path algorithm between sinks and springs –respectively the inlets and outlets of the network- with the use of an anisotropic cost function defined in the whole domain. The cost represents in a simplified way the physico-chemical processes of karstification, while facilitating control of the geometry and topology of the generated networks. Examples derived from a real case study show how the position, density, connectivity rules and hierarchy of the network’s inlets and outlets can be used to create realistic karst networks under various underlying hypotheses.