Caractérisation hydrodynamique des sols : analyse simplifiée des essais de drainage interne

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Evidence of soil pollution by nitrates derived from pig effluent using 18O and 15N isotope analyses

International audienceIn Réunion Island, expanding human populations, urbanization and agriculture during the last 50 years have all contributed to a steady increase in the level of nitrates in drinking water. Various nitrate point sources are responsible for the nitrate contamination around the island including chemical fertilizers, animal effluent applied to pasture and crops, and urban waste such as sewage and domestic waste water. In terms of agricultural fertilizers, pig effluent is the most widely used, but the cumulative effects of slurry applications on soil water and groundwater are unknown. Our objectives were (1) to characterize and follow in situ the fate of nitrogen through the subsurface after application of pig effluent onto a cultivated soil using stable nitrate isotopes, δ15N and δ18O, and (2) to compare the isotopic signatures of Réunion Island's principal aquifers with results from the experimental site to infer potential contamination sources. The study was conducted on an experimental field site planted with maize in the western part of Réunion Island during the rainy season. A control site with no fertilizer application to the maize was compared with the investigation site which had pig effluent applied once a year. The site which had pig effluent applied over one year had an average maximum surface soil water 15N-${\rm NO}_{3}^{-}$ value of +9.0‰ at 0.45 m depth. This signature was significantly more enriched in 15N than the corresponding subsurface soil water 15N-${\rm NO}_{3}^{-}$ value of +3.8‰ at 10 m depth. The control site average maximum surface soil water 15N-${\rm NO}_{3}^{-}$ value of +3.6‰ at 0.45 m is similar to the subsurface pig effluent application plot. This indicates that nitrates derived from pig effluent have not reached 10 m depth in the subsurface, even though over the last 18 months this site was subjected to two effluent applications, each around 200 kg N ha−1, and more than 1900 mm of rain, more than half of which drains directly into the root zone. This slow migration shows that mobilization of nitrates through cultivated soil can take many tens of years before infiltrating and contaminating the saturated zone situated at several tens, and in places, hundreds of meters depth. On an island-wide scale, an isotopic assessment of nitrates from the experimental site's soil water and other drinking water wells highlights a nitrogenous contamination derived primarily from urban and/or agriculture via effluent application

Caractérisation et modélisation de la dynamique de l'évapotranspiration en Afrique Soudanienne en zone de socle (interaction entre les aquifères et la végétation)

Dans un contexte où des millions de personnes dépendent de la ressource en eau exposée au caprice de la mousson en Afrique de l'Ouest, ce travail de thèse vise à mieux appréhender les processus hydrologiques en zone de socle, et notamment à évaluer le rôle de la redistribution latérale de l'eau dans le sol par les interactions entre les réservoirs souterrains, la végétation et l'atmosphère, par la caractérisation et la modélisation à l'échelle de la parcelle et du versant. Ce travail s'appuie sur le dispositif expérimental déployé dans le petit bassin versant de l'Ara dans le cadre de l'observatoire AMMA-CATCH. La mise en oeuvre du modèle ParFlow-CLM permet de simuler les transferts dans la zone saturée et la zone non saturée par la résolution de l'équation de Richards en 3D, en étant conditionné par un forçage atmosphérique en surface. Après avoir identifié les paramètres influents pour les transferts verticaux, une caractérisation spatiale de ces paramètres a été menée. La configuration du modèle a ensuite été évaluée en 1D. Il est montré que le modèle reproduit de manière pertinente les séries temporelles du bilan d'énergie et la distribution de l'eau dans le sol. L'effet de la variabilité spatiale des paramètres hydrodynamiques est ensuite étudié à l'échelle de la parcelle. Enfin, en incluant les géométries de socle connues et une distribution de végétation, les transferts horizontaux souterrains sont mis en évidence avec la formation de zones sèches ou humides en relation avec des distributions spatiales d'évapotranspiration.In West Africa, millions of people rely on water resources exposed to the monsoon variability. In this context, the aim of this thesis is to better understand hydrological processes in bedrock areas, and more particularly to estimate the role of lateral redistribution of soil water by the interactions between underground reservoirs, vegetation and atmosphere, using hydrogeological prospection and modeling at field and catena scale. This work is supported by the experimental device implemented in the small Ara catchment in the framework of the AMMA-CATCH observatory. The use of the ParFlow-CLM model allows the simulation of transfers in the saturated and the vadose zone by solving the Richards equation in 3D. The model was forced using observed atmospheric forcing at the surface. We first identify influential parameters for vertical water transfers. Then a spatial characterization of these parameters is carried out. The 1D version of the Parflow-CLM model is assessed using observed data. We show that the model provides relevant times series of the surface energy balance and of soil water distribution as compared to the observations. The impact of the spatial variability of the hydraulic parameters at the field scale (<1 ha) is studied. Finally, the bedrock geometry and the spatial distribution of vegetation are taken into account in the modelling. This allows the identification of horizontal subsurface lateral fluxes, which generate wet and dry patterns, which are related to the spatial distribution of evapotranspiration.SAVOIE-SCD - Bib.électronique (730659901) / SudocGRENOBLE1/INP-Bib.électronique (384210012) / SudocGRENOBLE2/3-Bib.électronique (384219901) / SudocSudocFranceF