Bull Eng Geol Environ (2005) 64: 139150

DOI 10.1007/s10064-004-0247-4

Pierre Thierry
Nicole Debeblia
Ardnand Bitri

Received: 12 February 2004

Accepted: 6 April 2004
Published online: 21 October 2004
Springer-Verlag 2004

P. Thierry (&) N. Debeblia A. Bitri

BRGM, BP6009 45060,
Orleans Cedex 2, France
E-mail: p.thierry@brgm.fr
Tel.: +332-386-43264
Fax: +332-386-43399

ORIGINAL PAPER

Geophysical and geological characterisation

of karst hazards in urban environments:
application to Orleans (France)

Abstract Surface or shallow karst

constitutes a signicant problem for
many cities, including Orleans,
France. However, the detection of
cavities in an urban environment
presents numerous diculties (buried
networks, reworked soils, geophysical noise, etc.). A methodology has
been developed to respond to this
need based on the integration of four
complementary methods: geological
and geostatistical analysis of existing
borehole descriptions, microgravimetry, spectral analysis of surface
waves (SASW) and ground penetrating radar (GPR). This combination
of dierent methods, applied to a test
sector in the city of Orleans and validated by control borings, made it
possible to locate the principal karstic
conduits beneath the study area and
identify a zone of mechanical weakness associated with one such feature.
It also revealed that the presence of
buried networks does not create signicant gravity anomalies.

le`me grave a` beaucoup de villes, dont

la ville dOrleans, en France. En effet, la detection de cavites dans un
environnement urbain presente de
nombreuses dicultes (reseaux enterres, sols remanies, bruit de fond
geophysique, etc.). Pour repondre a`
ce besoin, on a developpe une methodologie basee sur lintegration de
quatre methodes complementaires :
lanalyse geologique et geostatistique
des donnees des sondages existants,
la microgravimetrie, lanalyse spectrale des ondes de surface et le
georadar. Cette combinaison de
dierentes methodes a ete appliquee
a` un secteur-test de la ville dOrleans
et validee par des sondages de controle. Elle a permis de localiser les
principaux conduits karstiques de la
zone etudiee et didentier un secteur
de faibles proprietes mecaniques associe a` une telle particularite. Cela a
aussi montre que la presence de reseaux enterres ne cree pas danomalies gravimetriques signicatives.

Keywords Urban environment

Karst Microgravimetry SASW
Orleans Geostatistics

Mots-clefs Environnement urbain

Karst Microgravimetrie
Georadar Orleans Geostatistique

Resume Lexistence dun karst superciel ou profond pose un prob-

Introduction
Among the drawbacks encountered in urban and suburban planning, the existence of subsurface karsts is

both common and particularly problematic. Diculties

take the form of the risk of collapse or damage to construction through subsidence and increased development
costs due to geotechnical conditions that are not easily

140

anticipated such as variable bearing capacity. In some

cases, cavities may constitute a vector facilitating the
movement of pollutants into the groundwater, thus
endangering drinking water resources. Karstic features
can take the form of signicant cavities several metres
wide or networks of more limited open fractures (White
1988). They can also include areas of surcial dissolution
on the uppermost zone of exposed karstied rocks
(Klimchouck 1997). This epikarst is often lled by
unconsolidated material.
The detection of karstic cavities in urban environments and the evaluation of the degree of danger they
represent are thus a major issue for numerous cities in
France and elsewhere in the world. This is particularly
true for the city of Orleans in France.
In addition to the use of archives, geophysical
methods can play an eective role in the detection and
geometric characterisation of karstic features. Density
and resistivity parameters are known to be very good
markers of the alteration and ssuring characteristic of
drainage zones associated with epikarst while electric
behaviour may be amplied by the presence of shallow
groundwater and strong water circulation. Microgravimetry, electrical methods and electromagnetic imagery
are proven methods for detecting karstic circulation,
providing anthropogenic interference permits their use
(Guerin and Benderitter 1995; Kaufmann 2000; Ioannis
et al. 2002; Van Schoor 2002). Despite signicant noise
and weak penetration due to intensive surcial fracturing, karst reservoirs have been successfully investigated
by seismic tomography (Rossi et al. 2002). This method
has led to a description of the principal geological
interfaces present, namely soils and a poorly consolidated cover, fractured limestone and unfractured limestone. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is particularly
suitable where limestone formations crop out directly
and where soils or an argillaceous cover that absorbs
radar waves are absent or highly discontinuous (AlFares et al. 2002). In this case, the structures characteristic of the karst environment, epikarst, fractured
zones, compact limestone and deep conduits can be
dierentiated on the radar section to a depth of about
20 m. Unfortunately, such conditions are not common.
The soils of the Orleans region are far too argillaceous
for this method to be eective in revealing deep conduits. In addition, the urban setting is unsuitable for
electric imagery methods. The direct detection of deep
conduits thus becomes problematic. The gravity method
is one of the few methods that can be considered in
urban environments, providing that the size and depth
of the voids are favourable (Crawford 2000; Beres et al.
2001; Rybakov et al. 2001).
Nevertheless, no single method can guarantee the
unambiguous detection of karst structures and the
combination of several geophysical methods is always
indispensable in obtaining a correctly constrained

model. For example, the exploration of a karst in the

Swiss Jura was conducted by combining GPR, which
provides a precise image of the most surcial voids and
structures, with gravimetry, which is sensitive to the
presence of deeper and larger heterogeneities (Beres et al.
2001). Due to the weak penetration anticipated for GPR
in a context with surcial argillaceous formations, it
seemed worthwhile to examine the possibility of combining gravimetry with the spectral analysis of surface
waves (SASW). In addition, the characteristics of
urbanisation (articial nature of soils, developed sites,
buried networks, geophysical noise) greatly increase the
diculties encountered during the investigation and
interpretation of geophysical methods. It was thus necessary to nd a way of overcoming these diculties
through the integration of four complementary methods:
geological and geostatistical analysis of existing borehole
descriptions, microgravimetry, SASW and GPR.
The study area
The study was conducted in Orleans, a city of about
270,000 inhabitants in a 330-km2 area on the banks of
the Loire River some 100 km to the south of Paris. The
marly-limestone substratum underlying the entire conurbation is highly karstied. As proof, the Loiret
Springs, amongst the most important karst exsurgences
in France, have an average discharge of 0.9 m3/s (Alberic 2001, 2004). The signicant discharge circulating
through this karst network constitutes the principal
drinking water resource of the city. Certain cavities are
very near the surface and a sinkhole recently appeared
within the campus of the University of Orleans (Fig. 1).
The cavities also generated major unforeseen expenses
during the construction of a tramway line and a bridge
over the Loire.

Fig. 1 Sinkhole within the university campus, Orleans la Source, in

March 1986 (photo: P. Alberic, ISTOCNRS-University of
Orleans)

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Fig. 2 Location of the study

area; extract of the 1/50,000
scale geological map La FerteSaint-Aubin (black line
shows location of the principal prole of the study and the
two secondary proles; stars
show known boreholes)

The study was conducted along a principal prole

1 km in length near the Parc Floral of Orleans La
Source where the Loiret Springs are located (see Fig. 2).
This sector was chosen for several reasons:
Urbanization of the ground (signicant anthropogenic articial reworking, road surfacing, presence of
numerous buried networks)
Presence of signicant karstic conduits partially
mapped by cave divers
Suciently open space to facilitate measurement
A lack of buildingsthe only dierence from a classic
urban environmentmakes it possible to better dene
the eects of human activities on the geophysical
signals.

Geological context
The study area is located on either side of a slope that is
an ancient terrace on the margin of the alluvial plain of
the Loire. Relief is very low, 95 m NGF on the alluvial
plain, rising to about 100 m for the ancient terrace.
Five dierent geological formations are recognized
(Gigout 1970). From youngest to oldest, they are:
Present-day formations: principally loam or topsoil,
as well as man-made ll and reworked colluvium.

Various types exist, but sandy or sandy-argillaceous

are the most common. They are often thin, generally
less than a metre.
Recent Loire alluvium: grain size ranges from ne
sand (overow loam) to pebbles. The alluvium is
siliceous. The pebbles are int, quartz, sandstone and
other siliceous rocks. The modern alluvium generally
becomes ner with distance from the present-day
riverbed.
Ancient terrace alluvium dating from the Riss (likely
age). This is composed of siliceous and argillaceous
material with grain sizes from clay to pebbles and even
boulders; no limestone is present. The bedding is
lenticular with horizons of clay-decient gravelly sand
(red sand) and clay or pebble lenses. In the study
area, this formation is a polygenetic alluvial deposit
with the alluvium commonly composed of a ne sandy
facies.
Sands and marls of the Orleans region (Burdigalian):
these are described from various boreholes and
underlie the ancient alluvium in the southern half of
the study area. This formation has a lenticular bedding containing lenses of sand and green or white marl
with limestone concretions.
The Beauce Formation, of Aquitainian age, constitutes the substratum of the conurbation. It is a
lacustrine limestone with marly lenses and bands of

142

millstone grit. The Beauce Formation can reach a

thickness of more than 50 m in the study area. In its
uppermost zone, the Formation is essentially represented by marl several metres thick, before grading
into compact limestone. Although marl can be a recognized facies of the Aquitainian Formation, it is
often a product of weathering and reworking: an
agglomerate of limestone and marly-limestone nodules, with elements of millstone grit within marly clay.
This frost-fractured colluvial deposit developed at the
surface at the expense of the Beauce Formation. These
limestone and marly-limestone formations have produced signicant karst dissolution features. An
abundance of karst depressions has resulted from
them including: avens, chasms and sinkholes, swallow
holes and dolines. Karst dissolution also occurs at the
surface that separates the Beauce Formation and the
alluvium (or the base of the Burdigalian Marl). This
surface is very irregular and pockmarked.
Geostatistical modelling
The geological understanding of a site is based on the
material identied in a limited number of boreholes. To
interpolate or extrapolate this information to cover an
entire study area, geological modelling can be used: the
surfaces (base and top) of the dierent geological formations are calculated as regular grids. These grids give
the elevation Z of the surface at each node of the grid.
These nodes are spaced at constant intervals based on
the X and Y axes.
The geological modelling developed for this study
uses geostatistical tools (Chiles and Delner 1999). It
should be noted that in any problem requiring automatic
interpolation techniques, the technique itself has a major
inuence on the quality of the results; hence, the choice
of interpolation parameters cannot be neglected if the
goal is to make the best use of the available information.
Fig. 3 Variogram of the top of
the Tertiary

Two major reasons justify the use of a geostatistical

approach:
It is possible to characterise the spatial variability of
the phenomenon under study, in this case topography,
using the variable elevation. The tool used is the
variogram, which synthesises the structure of the
variable. In an established direction, it indicates the
standard deviation of the values at two points X and
X+h as a function of the distance h; it provides
information on possible anisotropies and on the variables degree of regularity.
It facilitates the resolution of the optimal interpolation problem, i.e. of the optimal estimate of an unknown value Z(x0), on the basis of the available
experimental data.
Kriging was used for the interpolation, as it is the
only technique that simultaneously provides the optimal
estimate and the precision of this estimate, characterised
as the kriging standard deviation (which represents a
measurement of the error of the estimation).
It is necessary to emphasise that surfaces calculated in
this way represent a statistically plausible image of
reality. The representation makes it possible to better
approximate the situation, in particular by showing the
geometric tendencies and detecting possible discrepancies in the data.
For the study area, descriptions of 50 borings were
found in the dierent archives. The major source was the
BSS (subsurface databank), a national database of
borings managed by the BRGM. Of these, two were
unacceptable due to inaccurate information hence the
variogram analysis was done without integrating these
two borings (Fig. 3). It should be noted that this is a
very reduced statistical population for this type of
analysis.
Under these conditions, the variogram can be adjusted on the basis of a spherical model and the result
obtained is satisfactory. Note the nugget eect of

143

Fig. 4 Geological cross-section

based on geostatistical modelling and calculations

0.5 m. This condence interval, expressed as the value

of the nugget eect, indicates elevation variations of the
top of the limestone caused by phenomena such as
erosion or weathering.
In addition, it is possible to calculate a predictive
geological cross-section of the principal study prole
(Fig. 4), along which a relatively constant thickness of
about 5 m is observed for the surcial deposits. Kriging
standard deviation calculated along the same prole
ranged between 1.5 and 1 m.
Choice of methods, array and exploration strategy
Predictive gravity modelling of an explored conduit
showed that its eect, although weak, is detectable. A
single feature can cause an anomaly of about 15 lGal.
The modelling also shows that a spacing of 5 m is sufcient for this type of exploration. This was veried in
the Parc Floral by conducting two gravity calibration
proles to intersect known conduits (Fig. 2). Subsequently a prole was explored outside the Parc Floral
perpendicular to the assumed extension of the explored
karstic conduits. There was a risk that numerous buried
networks known to be present at the site, but whose
locations are imprecise, would distort the anomalies.
Radar proles were used to locate these networks
accurately. Along these same proles, gravity measurements on a smaller, 2 m grid were undertaken to help
verify the eect of the dierent structures detected by
radar and to estimate the potential interference they may
cause. The interpretation of gravity anomalies is not
unique. In order to reduce the ambiguity, gravimetry
coupled with seismic SASW was used to detect possible
zones of weakness caused by the presence of karstic
cavities.

anomaly expected from an isolated karstic conduit. On

the other hand, geological noise cannot be estimated
by gravity measurement alone.
In fact, the two proles studied in the La Source Parc
Floral showed that negative gravity anomalies are
commonly associated with known karstic conduits
(Fig. 5). These anomalies have amplitudes and dimensions that are greater than anomalies modelled for a
single feature. Other anomalies with similar characteristics were also shown where no feature had been explored. These anomalies may be explained by the
presence of systems that are more complex than anticipated, characterised by the juxtaposition of several
conduits and the association of decompressed zones.
The gravity-radar proles showed that the inuence
of buried networks on measured gravity anomalies is
negligible as the few gravity eects observed in correlation with radar anomalies only slightly exceeded the
statistical uncertainty of the measurements (Fig. 6).

Results of the geophysics

The uncertainty of the gravity measurements, inferred
from a statistical analysis of deviations observed at repeated stations, was on average 7 lGal, lower than the

Fig. 5 Location map and results of the two gravity proles run
over the explored Loiret karst (Black line represents karst system;
white stars represents negative residual anomaly; grey stars indicate
positive residual gravity anomaly)

144

Fig. 6 Example of a gravity

and radar prole run over some
buried networks (EDF electricity, GDF gas, CGE water, vat
settling tank)

Except for the settling tankthe source of a 10 lGal

anomalythe conduits identied by the radar method
did not create signicant gravity anomalies.

Fig. 7 Principal gravity prole

in the car park of Parc Floral.
The control borings are represented by vertical segments in
dashed line (borings that did not
encounter voids) and solid line
(borings that encounter voids)

Along the principal prole outside the park, two

signicant zones of anomalies were detected in the car
park: one at the slope along the extension of the

145

anomalies detected inside the park and the other at the

base of the car park, along the assumed axis of one of
the explored features (Fig. 7).
Here also, the anomalies were wider and more intense
than those expected for a single karst conduit having the
characteristics of the tunnels explored by divers. They
are probably the sum of the eects of juxtaposed karst
conduits, to which are probably added the eects of
zones of weakness and uncompacted ground produced
by karstic circulation. In fact, the two cored boreholes
(SC1 and SC2) located near the two principal negative
gravity anomalies in this prole encountered several
successive levels of water-saturated open voids. These
voids were found at depths of 520 m. The modelling at
borehole SC2 showed that these voids do not explain the
total anomaly observed. The eects of the deep explored
conduit not encountered in the borehole must be added,
in addition to that of other unrecognised voids or
uncompacted zones (Fig. 8). According to the modelling, the width of the low-density area disturbed by
karstic drainage could be in the order of 60 m.
On the same prole outside the park, the SASW
method was used to measure a vertical prole of shear
wave velocity and to visualise zones of weak
mechanical properties such as uncompacted areas or
Fig. 8 Gravity modelling at borehole SC2

possible sinkholes in the process of formation. The

SASW method is a rapid means of determining rigiditydepth proles of surcial formations, which can complement or partially replace pressure tests in boreholes
(Matthews et al. 1996). Indeed, in the case of horizontal
planar beds, SASW can be used to evaluate the vertical
prole Vs of shear waves. These Vs velocities are directly
related to the maximum shear modulus (Gmax=q Vs2,
q being the volumetric mass of soil), which after calibration can be correlated to the pressure modulus as it is
measured during geotechnical drilling tests.
Initial reconnaissance (Fig. 9) was conducted on the
principal prole using the following acquisition parameters:
24 trace acquisition array
5 m distance between geophones
50200 m of distance between shots.
This reconnaissance prole identied an anomalous
zone that corresponds to a negative anomaly located to
the north of the prole. The spacing was then reduced in
this sector to obtain a very high-resolution image.
During this second phase, the array was made up of 24
traces, the spacing of geophones was 2 m and the distance between shots was 4 m.
These high-resolution data show a disturbed zone
superimposed on the gravity anomaly and characterised

146

Fig. 9 Vs section resulting from

the interpolation of the results
of the SASW inversion on the
principal reconnaissance prole. Location of the prole at
very high resolution

by the appearance of several dispersion modes

(Fig. 10b). This last feature probably represents sudden
variations in rigidity.
The prole also shows a 70 m wide zone characterised by attenuation of the continuity of seismic markers
(Fig. 11), probably due to the fracturing of epikarst.
The karstication also seems to distort the Vs velocity
eld by the introduction of velocity inversions. The
anomalous gravity and seismic zones have the same
width, the seismic anomaly being slightly oset to the
south with respect to the gravity anomaly. This oset
can perhaps be explained by a local obliqueness of the
karst structure, which was demonstrated by a parallel
prole about 15 m to the west of the principal prole;
this obliqueness would aect the two methods
dierently.

Fig. 10 Dispersion diagrams associated with shots recorded at the

Parc Floral site along the high-resolution prole. a southern shots,
b central part near the gravity anomaly, c northern shots)

Comparison between geophysical results

and geological modelling
Figure 12 shows a comparison of the results obtained by
the dierent methods along the principal prole:
Results of gravity measurements (Bouger and residual
anomalies)
Velocity section of surface waves directly below
SASW reconnaissance arrays
Simplied geological cross-sections of destructive and
cored boreholes
Pressure measurements recorded in the destructive
boreholes
As previously noted, the boreholes conrmed the
low-density anomalies with cavities encountered in cored
boreholes SC1 and SC2. A very good overall agreement
was found between the geological model and the SASW
prole. This allowed a preliminary characterisation of
the dierent formations in terms of Vs. Table 1 shows

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Fig. 11 Reconnaissance of the

Loiret karst by very high-resolution SASW and gravimetry. a
gravity anomaly, b SASW image, c Vs velocity section

the Vs ranges as a function of the dierent facies. It

should also be noted that for some facies in the massive
limestone, Vs values can reach or exceed 1,000 m/s.
There appears to be a clear dierence in the SASW
response along the two negative gravity anomalies. For
the southern anomaly, the elevated values of Vs (up to
700 m/s) extend to a depth of about 10 m, corresponding to a limestone of relatively good mechanical properties. The northern anomaly, on the contrary, is
characterised by a signicant interval, about 15 m, of
soils of low velocity (approximately 400 m/s). Pressure
tests conducted on the top of the Beauce marl and marly
limestone yielded values for the E pressure modulus of
1.57 MPa. In comparison, the values of this modulus
measured nearby, away from the gravity anomalies, at
the same depths and in the same formations, range from
735 MPa. Similar correlations between the presence of
incompetent weathered material characterised by an
elevated depth of refusal and low-density/conductive
zones have been detected in the Tournaisis directly
above particular palaeo-karst features in which karst
collapses are concentrated (Kaufmann 2000).
As a consequence, a high-resolution SASW prole
was undertaken on this northern anomaly that conrmed the range of Vs values observed for the altered
upper part of the Beauce limestone, of the order of
300 m/s. It also showed notable degradation of the
surcial formations at the northern gravity anomaly.

Discussion of results
Microgravity data
In general, gravity anomalies are considered signicant
if they have an amplitude greater than the measurement uncertainty and are observed at two or three
stations, or if they have an amplitude two to three
times the measurement uncertainty observed at a single station. The use of an expanded uncertainty obtained by multiplying the standard uncertainty by a
coverage factor of two or three is recommended by
international measurement authorities such as the
BIPM (International Bureau of Weights and Measures) and the CIPM (International Committee on
Weights and Measures). For gaussian error distribution, it is assumed that a coverage factor of two
provides a 95% condence level, whereas a factor of
three provides a 99% condence level (guidance on
the expression of uncertainty in measurement, International Organisation of Normalisation, 1995).
In the Parc Floral, with a standard uncertainty of
7 lGal resulting from repeated gravity measurements,
anomalies having an amplitude greater than 15
20 lGal can be considered and signicant features have
been detected by the three proles. Anomalies with low
to medium amplitude (1530 lGal), sometimes at the
detection limit, are located directly above karst con-

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Fig. 12 Juxtaposition of geophysical and geological results along

the principal prole

duits recognised by SSL1 divers and very probably

indicate the presence of these conduits. In the car park,
the two most intense anomalies (50 and 30 lGal) correspond well to voids empirically conrmed by two
control boreholes, while the three other boreholes, located on positive anomalies, have encountered unfractured rock with no cavities. Other anomalies have been
detected where it has been impossible to verify the
existence of voids because they have not been drilled.
Numerical simulation of gravity anomalies shows that
an isolated karst conduit with the dimensions and
depth of conduits explored by cave divers cannot itself
explain the entire 30-lGal-anomaly measured north of
the car park. It is necessary to add other cavities or
decompressed ground to this conduit to account for the
anomaly. It seems that the gravity signatures observed
represent epikarst rather than isolated deep karstic

Subaquatic Speleology of the Loiret.

conduits whose eect here is at the limit of the methods detection threshold.
In addition to the eects of voids, the amplitude,
shape and position of gravity anomalies are also inuenced by topography (if the topographic corrections are
insucient) and by geological heterogeneity. In this
case, precise topographic corrections have eliminated the
rst source of uncertainty. In contrast, for some geometric congurations of surcial heterogeneity, the
minimum gravity anomaly may not be located exactly
above the cavity, or may even be masked. In addition,
ambiguities regarding the interpretation of a gravity
anomaly are always possible. For example, an identical
80-lGal-gravity anomaly can be created either by a
cavity 20 m in diameter and 3 m high, at a depth of
Table 1 VS ranges for the principal lithological facies encountered
Facies

VS

Anthropogenic ll
Sandy-argillaceous alluvium
Weathered marly limestone
Marly limestone
Limestone

200350 m/s
250350 m/s
300500 m/s
500700 m/s
>600 m/s

149

10 m, for a density contrast of )2; or by a sandy zone

that extends from the surface to a depth of 20 m
encompassing a density contrast of )0.2. This is why any
signicant gravity anomalies must always be checked by
borings.
Other parameters also inuence the capacity of a
method to detect a void, in particular the measurement
interval. For example, a well 20 m deep and 1.5 m in
diameter produces a gravity anomaly of about 50 lGal,
but over a very short distance (about 2 m). This is why
preliminary modelling is indispensable in the selection of
a suitable measurement array. In this case, predictive
modelling showed that an interval of 5 m was appropriate for the detection of deep tunnels with broad lateral extent and the choice was made to measure gravity
anomalies along three proles perpendicular to known
karst features. This allowed comparison of measurements of the rst two proles with speleological surveys
in order to estimate the gravity signature of the karst
features and to propose an extension of known conduits
along the third prole.
Radar data
Detailed radar and gravity proles to estimate interference caused by urban networks and infrastructure,
showed that the conduits present are too small to have a
detectable gravity inuence. Thus, they will not interfere
with the eects being studied. Only the oil-settling tank,
whose dimensions are larger, caused an anomaly of the
order of 10-lGal, close to the threshold of the precision
of the method and thus capable of slightly distorting the
measurements. Conversely, if a developer wanted to
determine the location of certain shallow networks, the
radar method is an advantageous option that has been
used for a long time.
SASW imagery
The results obtained by SASW have been fully conrmed by control borings installed along the principal
prole (cored boreholes and pressure measurement
borings); this eciency was partly due to the tabular
nature of the geological formations.
In addition, this method oers two advantages for
use in an urban environment:
The use of gimbals (sensors placed on the ground)
means that it is totally non-intrusive. The road surfacing thus remains intact and the implementation
time is likewise decreased.
It is not necessary to disrupt trac. The measurements can be done between the passage of two vehicles (in the case of average trac density).

Conclusions
The results obtained from this study show the advantages of an approach integrating geological and geostatistical analysis with dierent methods of geophysical
measurement in an urban environment in order to
determine the geometric and mechanical characteristics
of a subsurface composed of a substratum of tabular
and karstied marly-limestone covered by alluvium and
man-made formations.
Geological and geostatistical analysis of existing archive data enables a deductive approach to the local
geological context (thickness and position of dierent
formations). Such analysis constitutes a framework
that is extremely useful for the interpretation of geophysical measurements.
Microgravimetry makes it possible to locate the
principal karst conduits. Quantitative interpretation
of the results can be made on the basis of knowledge
of the geometry of the geological formations and
information provided by SASW (identication of
fractured zones forming a link between the karst
features and the surface).
SASW can be used to represent the vertical prole of
shear wave velocity through a cross-section of the
subsurface. Here again the results of the geological
and geophysical analysis provide valuable support for
the interpretation of the results and the identication
of sensitive zones. Very high-resolution proles on
sensitive zones lead to very precise localization of the
dierent disturbed areas.
Radar allows the very precise location of buried systems.
The comparison of the SASW proles with the results
of the geostatistical analysis aids in the validation of
the model and may allow its use in zones where there
is very limited information or too much variability.
The results obtained in Orleans during this rst phase
of the study thus made it possible to:
Specify, at several points, the actual position of the
top of the Beauce limestone with respect to the calculated model
Determine the position of two principal karst features
that supply the Loiret Spring on topographic surveys
prepared by SSL divers
Detect a zone of mechanical weakness, marked by
both a notable reduction of the mechanical quality of
the limestone and a probable degradation of the
material
Acknowledgements The spelaeological divers of the SSL (Subaquatic Spelaeology of the Loiret), aliated with the French

150

Federation of Spelaeology, kindly made available the topographic

surveys of the principal karst conduits. In addition, Bernard
Bourgine contributed his expertise in geostatistics and P. Alberic

and Mr. Lepiller contributed their thorough understanding of the

hydrogeology of the Loire Valley. Our thanks go also to R. Stead
for translating the initial text.

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