Paleoclimate variations and impact on groundwater recharge in multi-layer aquifer systems using a multi-tracer approach (northern Aquitaine basin, France)

• Published in: Hydrogeology Journal
• Main Authors: SALTEL, Marc, REBEIX, Romain, THOMAS, Bertrand, FRANCESCHI, Michel, LAVIELLE, Bernard, BERTRAN, Pascal
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Physique [physics]; permafrost
• Online Access: https://oskar-bordeaux.fr/handle/20.500.12278/119873; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-019-01944-x

The northern Aquitaine basin (southwest France) is a large multi-layer aquifer system that contains groundwater with strong residence-time variability ranging from years to tens of thousands of years. This system constitutes an archive of paleoclimate variations. A multi-parameter approach involving isotopic tracers (14C, 18O, 2H) was used to determine the residence time of groundwater and to document climate fluctuations, while dissolved noble gases were used to estimate mean annual temperatures (noble gas recharge temperatures, NGRT) at the water table. Near-surface ground temperature reconstruction from 40 ka cal BP to the present was made using data collected from five aquifers. The coldest temperatures are recorded for late Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 3 and MIS 2, i.e. between 36 and 18 ka cal BP. The mean NGRT for the period 27–18 ka cal BP is estimated at 5.9 ± 0.9°C, and a strong increase towards modern values (11–13°C) is observed after 15 ka cal BP. The temperature change between the Holocene and the Last Glacial ranges from 5 to 7°C, in agreement with previous NGRT studies in Europe. Since mean near-surface ground temperatures during the glacial were well above 0°C, long-term presence of permafrost in northern Aquitaine is unlikely. However, a possible warm bias in reconstructed temperatures during the coldest events lies in the fact that NGRTs in cold regions do not reflect annual means but rather the ground temperature during the thaw months.