Tracing the origin of water and solute transfers in deep groundwater from Oxfordian, Dogger and Trias formations in the east of the Paris Basin – France

In order to assess the feasibility for long lived radioactive wastes storage facilities in deep geological formation, solute transport processes must be investigated in the vicinity of the host formation. In France, the Oxfordian and Dogger limestone layers surrounding the Callovo-Oxfordian (COx) argillite in the east of the Paris Basin are investigated for this purpose. More than 60 samples of Oxfordian and Dogger formation groundwater and one sample of Triassic formation groundwater, located at the bottom section of the investigated sedimentary cover, were collected over a 250 km2 area, and were analysed for major ions, δ18O and δ2H of water, 87Sr/86Sr, and δ34S and δ18O of dissolved sulphate. Oxfordian and Dogger formation water is from meteoric origin, and no direct water flow between Oxfordian, Dogger, nor Triassic formations was evidenced. Mineralization processes of the Dogger limestone groundwater were fully investigated. These processes correspond to a series of geochemical reactions including: calcite dissolution, incongruent dissolution of dolomite, ion addition from upward vertical diffusion through the sedimentary pile inducing cation exchange and further dissolution due to the increased ionic strength of the solutions. A PHREEQC model was developed to simulate inferred chemical processes. The model output is consistent with observed data.