Arnaud Watlet

Title

Linking superficial hydrological processes in the critical zone to karst groundwater recharge: a climate change perspective.

Description

Groundwater resources in karst landscapes are particularly vulnerable to climate change and need to be carefully managed as they feed a quarter of the world’s population. Because of the high heterogeneity of the subsurface usually encountered in karst systems, complex water infiltration processes are difficult to understand and model adequately. This project aims to further investigate the role of the critical zone, at the plant-soil interface, in delaying water infiltration and hosting temporary perched water reservoirs. The Rochefort Cave Laboratory will be used as a testbed to monitor superficial hydrological processes, using open-source non-invasive geophysical monitoring tools, and their links with water infiltration behaviours measured in the cave. The observed soil moisture and water percolation data will be further investigated in the light of climate projections in order to assess the future role of the critical zone in the karst aquifer recharge regionally.

Publications
  • Kelevitz, K., Novellino, A., Watlet, A., Boyd, J., Whiteley, J., Chambers, J., Jordan, C., Wright, T., Hooper, A. and Biggs, J., 2022. Ground and satellite-based methods of measuring deformation at a UK landslide observatory: Comparison and integration. Remote Sensing, 14(12), p.2836.
  • Holmes, J., Chambers, J., Wilkinson, P., Meldrum, P., Cimpoiaşu, M., Boyd, J., Huntley, D., Williamson, P., Gunn, D., Dashwood, B., Whiteley, J., Watlet, A., Kirkham, M., Sattler, K., Elwood, K., Sivakumar, V. and Donohue, S., 2022. Application of petrophysical relationships to electrical resistivity models for assessing the stability of a landslide in British Columbia, Canada. Engineering Geology, 301, p.106613.
  • Delforge, D., de Viron, O., Vanclooster, M., Van Camp, M. and Watlet, A., 2022. Detecting hydrological connectivity using causal inference from time series: synthetic and real karstic case studies. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 26(8), pp.2181-2199.
  • Blondel, S., Uhlemann, S., Inauen, C., Watlet, A., Maurer, H., Jordan, C., Lee, J. and Chambers, J., 2022. Imaging mass‐wasting sliding surfaces within complex glacial deposits along coastal cliffs using geophysics. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms.
  • Whiteley, J.S., Watlet, A., Kendall, J.M. and Chambers, J.E., Brief communication: The role of geophysical imaging in local landslide early warning systems. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 2021, 21(12), pp.3863-3871.
  • Boyd, J., Chambers, J., Wilkinson, P., Peppa, M., Watlet, A., Kirkham, M., Jones, L., Swift, R., Meldrum, P., Uhlemann, S. and Binley, A., A linked geomorphological and geophysical modelling methodology applied to an active landslide, Landslides, 2021, 18,  pp.2689–2704.
  • Whiteley, J.S., Watlet, A., Uhlemann, S., Wilkinson, P., Boyd, J.P., Jordan, C., Kendall, J.M. and Chambers, J.E., Rapid characterisation of landslide heterogeneity using unsupervised classification of electrical resistivity and seismic refraction surveys. Engineering Geology, 2021, 290, p.106189.
  • Delforge, D., Watlet, A., Kaufmann, O., Van Camp, M. and Vanclooster, M., Time-series clustering approaches for subsurface zonation and hydrofacies detection using a real time-lapse electrical resistivity dataset. Journal of Applied Geophysics, 2021, 184, p.104203.
  • Watlet, A., Van Camp, M., Francis, O., Poulain, A., Rochez, G., Hallet, V., Quinif, Y. and Kaufmann, O., Gravity monitoring of underground flash flood events to study their impact on groundwater recharge and the distribution of karst voids. Water Resources Research, 2020, 56(4), p.e2019WR026673.
  • Whiteley, J., Chambers, J., Uhlemann, S., Boyd, J., Cimpoiasu, M., Holmes, J., Inauen, C., Watlet, A., Hawley-Sibbett, L., Sujitapan, C. and Swift, R., Landslide monitoring using seismic refraction tomography–The importance of incorporating topographic variations, Engineering Geology, 2020, 268, p.105525.
  • Delobbe, L., Watlet, A., Wilfert, S. and Van Camp, M., Exploring the use of underground gravity monitoring to evaluate radar estimates of heavy rainfall. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 2019, 23(1), pp.93-105.
  • Triantafyllou, A., Watlet, A., Le Mouélic, S., Camelbeeck, T., Civet, F., Kaufmann, O., Quinif, Y. and Vandycke, S., 3-D digital outcrop model for analysis of brittle deformation and lithological mapping (Lorette cave, Belgium). Journal of Structural Geology, 2019, 120, pp.55-66.
  • Watlet, A., Kaufmann, O., Triantafyllou, A., Poulain, A., Chambers, J.E., Meldrum, P.I., Wilkinson, P.B., Hallet, V., Quinif, Y., Van Ruymbeke, M., & Van Camp, M., Imaging groundwater infiltration dynamics in the karst vadose zone with long-term ERT monitoring, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 2018, 22, pp.1563-1592.
  • Poulain, A., Watlet, A., Kaufmann, O., Van Camp, M., Jourde, H., Mazzilli, N., Rochez, G., Deleu, R., Quinif, Y. and Hallet, V., Assessment of groundwater recharge processes through karst vadose zone by cave percolation monitoring. Hydrological Processes, 2018, 32(13), pp.2069-2083.
  • Triantafyllou, A., Berger, J., Baele, J.-M., Bruguier, O., Diot, H., Ennih, N., Monnier, C., Plissart, G., Vandycke, S., Watlet, A., Intra-oceanic arc growth driven by magmatic and tectonic processes recorded in the Neoproterozoic Bougmane complex (Anti-Atlas, Morocco), Precambrian Research, 2018, 304, pp.39-63.
  • Van Camp, M., de Viron, O., Watlet, A., Meurers, B., Francis, O., Caudron, C., Geophysics From Terrestrial Time-Variable Gravity Measurements, Reviews of Geophysics, 2017, 55(4), 938-992.
  • Triantafyllou, A., Watlet, A., Bastin, C., Geolokit: An interactive tool for visualising and exploring geoscientific data in Google Earth, International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 2017, 62, pp.39-46.
  • Van Camp, M., de Viron, O., Pajot‐Métivie, G., Casenave, F., Watlet, A., Dassargues, A., Vanclooster, M. 2016. Direct measurement of evapotranspiration from a forest using a superconducting gravimeter, Geophysical Research Letters, 43(19), pp.10225-10231
  • Triantafyllou, A., Berger, J., Baele, J.-M., Diot, H., Ennih, N., Plissart, G., Monnier, C., Watlet, A., Bruguier, O., Spagna, P., Vandycke, S., The Tachakoucht-Iriri-Tourtit arc complex (Morrocan Anti-Atlas): neoproterozoic records of polyphased subduction-accretion dynamics during the Pan-African orogeny, Journal of Geodynamics, 2015, 96, pp.81-103.
  • Caudron, C., Lecocq, T., Syahbana, D.K., McCausland, W., Watlet, A., Camelbeeck, T., Bernard., A., Surono, Stress and mass changes at a “wet” volcano: Example during the 2011–2012 volcanic unrest at Kawah Ijen volcano (Indonesia). Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 2015, 120(7), pp.5117-5134.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska Curie grant agreement No 101034383

Caroline Vliegen

C2W Project Manager

vasb@pbzrgbjnyybavn.rh
Place du Parc, 22 |7000 Mons |Belgium