WE ASK FOR 20 MN BY PRESENTATION + 5 MN OF QUESTIONS

MERCREDI/WEDNESDAY MAY 9TH

8H00 – 8H30 : Welcome, registration

8H30 : Welcome by the local authorities

8H45 : INTRODUCTION OF THE CONFERENCE, by Matthew Yedlin, Chairman, UBC, Canada & Christophe Sudre, LSBB, France

Introduction to inter-Disciplinary Underground Sciences & Technology

9H00 : The LSBB URL : A New Platform For Fundamental & Applied Low Background Inter-Disciplinary Underground Science & Technology

Stéphane Gaffet, LSBB

The LSBB platform is dedicated to fundamental and applied research in a favorable geological environment with low environmental and anthropogenic back-grounds allowing multidisciplinary develop-ments. The exceptional potential of its properties allows interdisciplinary innovations at national, European and international levels. The URL facility enjoys a unique natural environment in the Luberon Regional Natural Park with a low human impact

9H30 : INTERNATIONAL, INTER-DISCIPLINARY INTERACTIONS IN UNDERGROUND RESEARCH LABORATORIES
Joseph Wang, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA

The findings of the workshop on Underground Research Laboratory associated with the 12th Congress on Rock Mechanics are summarized. Lectures cover rock mechanics challenges in deep excavations, rock mass alternations along emplacement tunnels, and energy/environmental evaluations through borehole complexes and around mines. Examples of innovative underground studies are essential for a new International Society for Rock Mechanics Commission on URL Networking through international inter disciplinary interactions.

Interdisciplinary Research Programs
Joe WANG (LBNL), Stéphane GAFFET (LSBB)

10H15 : EQUIPEX MIGA, MATTER WAVE – LASER BASED INTERFEROMETER GRAVITATION ANTENNA
Philippe Bouyer, Institut d’Optique, France

The Matter wave - laser based Interferometer Gravitation Antenna (MIGA) in a founded EQUIPEX project which aims at the construction of a novel infrastructure to study strain tensor of space-time and gravitation.

10H45 : ABSOLUTE ATOM GRAVIMETER AT LSBB, A FIRST STEP TO MIGA
Tristan Farah, Observatoire Paris-Meudon, France

Over a week, continuous g measurements have been performed with a mobile atom interferometer in the low noise environment of the LSBB. This last instrument and its measurements are presented in this paper. In particular, thanks to the use of an additional low noise seismometer, a short-term sensitivity to acceleration of 10-8 g at 1 s has been obtained both with or without the use of its isolation platform. This is the best performance ever reported for such an instrument without any
vibration isolation.

11H15 : ANR LINES - Longue base tiltmeter (150m base length) and borehole tiltmeter observation with an interferometer of Fabry Perot.
Jean Cherry, Géosciences Montpellier, France

11H45 : Analysis and modeling of tsunami-induced tilt for the 2007, M=7.6, Tocopilla and the 2010, M=8.8 Maule earthquakes, Chili, from long base tiltmeter and broad-band seismometer records.
Frédéric Boudin, Géosciences Montpellier, France

We present a detailed study of tsunami-induced tilt at in-land sites, to test the interest and feasability of such analysis for tsunami modeling and early warning. We analyzed the tiltmeter and broad-band seismometer records of the northern Chili, IPOC arrays, and detected a clear signature of the tsunamis generated by the 2007 Tocopilla (M=7.5) and of the 2010 Maule (M=8.7) earthquakes. 

12h30 REPAS, LUNCH, VÉLO-THEATRE 

Reserves and Resources : Reserves’ petrophysics
Yves GUGLIELMI (CEREGE), Jean CHERY (GEOSCIENCES MONTPELLIER)

14H00 : THE CLOSED ANR PROJECT MAXWELL ON MICROWAVE IMAGING SYSTEM : PROSPECTIVES
Mathew Yedlin, UBC, Canada

14H30 : Quality criteria of 3D Models : example of the Rustrel case study.
Sophie Viseur, CEREGE, France

3D geomodelling approaches aim at building 3D models of geological structures, conditioned to soft (trends, etc.) and hard (local data points, etc.) data. Since uncertainties exist (few data, lack of knowledge, etc.), stochastic approaches allows geoscientists to characterize these uncertainties through a series of plausible and equiprobable generated 3D models, on which descriptors (transfer functions) will be studied. The objectives of such a strategy is to determine how a priori uncertainties make a posteriori uncertainties varied. However, in many applications, stochastic approaches are not suited or expected. In a deterministic context, the obtained 3D models often represent a reconstruction of the structures compiling or managing these different constraints. Depending on the used approach, the uncertainties and the discrepancy between the different data sources, the obtained 3D model will not simultaneously and similarly fit all the input data but parts of them. In this context, the "quality" of a model is often questioned and criteria to estimate this "quality" are necessary to define. In this paper, it is proposed to address some of these criteria from the real case study of the Rustrel formation.

15H00 : Reservoir properties acquisition in tight carbonate : Example of lower Cretaceous hemipelagic limestones of southern part of Voconitan Basin (Middle Durance Zone, SE France)
Pierre-Olivier Bruna, CEREGE, Université de Marseille, France

Understanding tight reservoirs behaviour, characterised by low values of porosity and permeability of intact rock, is a major scientific and economic challenge, involving applications to fresh water management and industrial risks control. In hydrogeology, tight rocks are only considered for their fracture permeability, storage capacity of intact rocks being considered as negligible. Nevertheless, this is inconsistent with deep unconventional gas and petroleum resources where tight reservoirs can produce significant quantities of fluid. The key question that we address is the role of this tight intact rock in the fluid diffusion process. This problem is of importance to better understand fluid flow both in the near surface aquifers and in the deep sedimentary basin formations.

15H30 : STRATIGRAPHIC ANATOMY AND DIAGENESIS OF A BARREMIAN – APTIAN CARBONATE PLATFORM (MONTS-DE-VAUCLUSE, SE FRANCE)
Philippe Léonide, CEREGE, Marseille, France

The reservoir-scale stratigraphic anatomy and the diagenesis of a Barremian-Aptian carbonate platform (Mont-de-Vaucluse, South-East France) is based on 1) high-resolution measured sections in outcrops, 2) detailed microfacies analyses, 3) paleoenvironmental interpretations, 4) biostratigraphy, 5) sequence stratigraphic interpretations, 6) diagenetical and geochemical analyses.

16H00 - COFFEE BREAK

16H15 : Dissimilar properties of a small fault zone in a carbonate reservoir and their impact on the pressurization and leakage associated with CO2 injection
Pierre Jeanne, CEREGE, Marseille, France

This paper focuses on a small fault zone (too small to be detected by geophysical imaging) affecting a carbonate reservoir composed of porous and low-porous layers. In a gallery located at 250-m depth in the Underground Low Noise Laboratory, hydraulic properties of a 20-m thick section of the reservoir affected by the studied fault are characterized by structural measurements and by ahydraulic injection in boreholes. Main result is that the damage zone displays contrasted permeability values (up to two orders of magnitude) inherited from the differential alteration of the intact rock layers. To characterize the impact of these hydraulic properties variations on the flow of fluids, numerical simulations of supercritical CO2 injections were performed with the TOUGH2 code. It appears, the permeability variations inside the fault zone favor the appearance of high fluid overpressure located in the layers having the highest permeability and storativity.

Reserves and resources : Fluids storage, transfer and dynamic
Konstantinos CHALIKAKAIS (UAPV), MIichael MAXWELL (GOLDER)

16h45 : the carbonate R&D program in total
Gérard Massonat, Total, France

17h15 : Coupling hydrogeological and speleological data : interest of the approach through a comparison between the studies in LSBB and statements made in the sinkhole of Autrans.
Christophe Emblanch, EMMAH, UAPV-INRA, Avignon, France

17H45 : Invited/Invité : Le territoire du Ventoux, un milieu karstique privilégiée pour la connaissance des paléoenvironnements quaternaires

Evelyne Cregut, Musée Requien & UMR 5608 & Commission scientifique du Comité Départemental de Spéléologie, Avignon

 

Le territoire du Ventoux peut s’enorgueillir d’avoir sur son territoire des sites naturels permettant de retracer l’évolution des paléomilieux quaternaires pendant une période de 20.000 ans. Cette approche est possible grâce aux nombreux avens et galeries qui émaillent le karst vauclusien et qui ont révélé une faune rarement conservée dans les sites archéologiques du Sud-Est de la France. Au sud du mont Ventoux, le Coulet des Roches permet de retracer les principales étapes de la transformation du milieu dans une zone de plateaux d’altitude moyenne (700 à 800m). Cet aven-piège d’une dizaine de mètres de profondeur contient des squelettes quasi intacts d’espèces connues et chassées par les Hommes préhistoriques, de - 20 000 ans avant Jésus-Christ à – 11 000 ans avant Jésus-Christ. Les niveaux les plus anciens témoignent d’un paysage très ouvert et de conditions climatiques rigoureuses et plutôt sèches. Des espèces exceptionnelles pour le Sud-Est de la France y ont été découvertes : renard polaire, lynx boréal, cheval de Solutré, renne, lemming à collier, chouette harfang. Sur le flanc nord du Mont Ventoux, entre 1 333 et 1 600 m d’altitude, une quinzaine de gisements ont livré les restes d’une faune plus récente qui est dominée par l’ours brun et les chauves-souris. Les sites sont des galeries aboutissant à des puits d’une profondeur variant entre 3 et 100 mètres. Elles ont été utilisées comme repaire par les carnivores (renard, blaireau, martre, fouine), ou comme lieu d’hibernation par l’ours brun de - 7.000 ans avant Jésus-Christ à + 900 après Jésus-Christ.Par la qualité des restes conservés et la présence d’espèces rares, l’ensemble des gisements du Territoire du Ventoux constituent des références internationales.

 

19h30 - 20h30, VELO-THEATRE, SPECTACLE, ENTERTAINMENT
PIECE DE THEATRE SUR CE QU’IL Y A A L’INTERIEUR DE LA TETE D’UN CHERCHEUR …/PLAY ON WHAT IS INSIDE SCIENTISTS’ BRAIN …
Les spectateurs sont invités à suivre les artistes au travers d’un itinéraire précis à l’intérieur du théâtre / Spectators are invited to follow artists through a specific route inside the theater

After 20H30, DINER, VELO-THEATRE

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Jeudi/Thursday, May 10th

Continuation of Reserves and resources : Fluids storage, transfer and dynamic

8H30 : Seismicity triggered by stress transfer from a fluid injection-induced fracture activation
Benoit Derode, Geoazur, France

Precise mechanisms relating fluid pressures and seismicity into fault zones, landslides or fractured reservoir remain nowadays unclear. Here, we studied by a numerical analysis of experimental data the effects of stress transfer on seismicity triggered in the near field of an active fluid pressure source controlled by a step-rate hydraulic injection (a few MPa) within a fractured medium. Results show that complex fracture’s permeability variations are associated to micro-seismic shearing ruptures in mechanical weak zones, and that the weakening of the medium strength

9H00 : Seismic anisotropy analysis at the Low-noise underground Laboratory (LSBB) of Rustrel (France)
Jan Beres, Université Paris sud, France

Seismic data acquired at the LSBB site have been analysed in terms of angular anisotropy. Preliminary results are presented. We found a strong anisotropy of nearly ±10%. The high velocity is oriented at N30°E, low velocity at N120°E (40° inclined with respect to the main gallery). The direction of the high velocity is approximately parallel to the local direction of the main fractures.

9h30 : Electrical Resistivity Tomography and Ground Penetrating Radar to study karst unsaturated zone ; first results, LSBB Rustrel, France
Simon Carriere, EMMAH, UAPV-INRA, Avignon, France

The Low-Noise Underground Laboratory of Rustrel (LSBB) is a unique place to apply surface-based geophysical surveys due to numerous and various geological and hydrogeological knowledge under the investigated zone.
Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) provide complementary information about structure of karst unsaturated zones. This information will enhance understanding of karst hydrosystems.

10H00 – COFFEE BREAK

10h15 : MRS APPLICABILITY FOR THE CHARACTERISATION OF THE UNSATURATED ZONE OF KARST HYDROSYSTEMS : FIRST RESULTS FROM THE LSBB SITE (RUSTREL, FRANCE)
Naomi Mazzilli, Hydrosciences, UMII, Montpellier, France

The Low-Noise Underground Laboratory (LSBB) of Rustrel is an ideal laboratory for the study of flow processes in the unsaturated zone of karst aquifers.
In this paper we discuss the applicability of the Magnetic Resonance Soundings (MRS) method for the characterisation of the unsaturated zone of karst systems, based on the results of fields campaigns conducted on the surface of the LSBB. The MRS method is the only geophysical method which is specifically sensitive to groundwater.

10H45 : EARTH SOUNDING AT LSBB
Michael Maxwell, Golder associates.

11H15 : 1GPR IMAGE ENHANCEMENT USING ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY FROM REFLECTION SEISMICS : NON-STATIONARY DECONVOLUTION AND PRESTACK DEPTH-MIGRATION.
M. J. Yedlin, UBC, Canada

11H45 : GRAVIMETRY AND GEOPHYSICAL OBSERVATIONS APPLIED TO KARST HYDROLOGY : CASE STUDIES WITH THE LSBB AND THE LARZAC RESEARCH STATION
Jean Cherry, Montpellier, France

The objectives of the present studies are to enhance the synergy between hydrology, gravity and geophysics for karst research trough two main sites. The first LSSB site is located in the limestone Vaucluse karst and allow both surface and in-situ measurements of absolute and relative gravity. Since two years, gravity measurements have done in a 6 months basis to monitor the seasonal cycle of ground water storage. First results show that 1/3 of the infiltration is stored between the surface and the LSBB laboratory, 1/3 flow away from the gravity station and 1/3 is stored below the gravity station.
The Jasse site (GEK Observatoty OSU OREME / OER H+) is located in the south of the dolomite Larzac karst area. The dataset includes continuous high accuracy gravity, various geophysics and water vapor flux measurements. First results show that about 100% of the rainfall during the winter is stored in the ground with few water fast transfer. From another point of view, in-situ (boreholes) epikarst petrophysical characterization in synergy with surface geophysics allow to study local water storage and transfer 

12h30 repas vélo-théatre 

Interactions with the medium : radiative environments
Pascal FEBVRE (IMEP-LAHC), Guy DUMONT (UBC)

13h30 : Real-Time Monitoring and data management for underground metrology : a LSBB key factor for interdisciplinaries studies
Julien Poupeney, LSBB, Rustrel, France

The LSBB is an exceptional site to make several experiments in different application field like geophysics, astrophysics, hydrogeology etc …The underground laboratory offers an opportunity to set up your measurement inside but what about the data ? How is it possible to manage your device from your office and to see what happen around it ?
In order to answer at these questions the LSBB has developed his network architecture to make the access from anywhere through a VPN (Virtual Private Network) using a personal account registered on the LSBB’s firewall. In other words it is impossible to have an access on the LSBB’s network without an authorization. Moreover although different teams are allowed to use the VPN, each team has got an access for their data only.

14h00 : Soft Error Effects Issues and Mitigation
Austin Lesea, XILINX, San Jose, USA

Sort errors from neutrons and protons at sea level affect all sub-micron (nanometer) electronic devices (integrated circuits). Discussed here is the history of testing, design, and methods for mitigation of these upsets in Xilinx FPGA devices.

14h30 : THE SIMPLE DARK MATTER SEARCH : PRESENT AND FUTURE
Miguel Felizardo, CFN, Lisbonne, Portugal

We review the recently-completed Phase II measurements of SIMPLE, and describe the Phase III currently in progress.

15h00 : NEUTRON BACKGROUND ESTIMATES IN LSBB facility
Ana Cristina Fernandes, CFN, Lisbonne Portugal

The SIMPLE project looks for nuclear recoil events generated by rare dark matter scattering interactions. Nuclear recoils are also produced by more prevalent cosmogenic neutron interactions. While the rock overburden shields against (μ,n) neutrons to below 10-8 cm-2s-1, it itself contributes via radio-impurities.
Additional shielding of these is similar, both suppressing and contributing neutrons.
We report on the MCNP estimation of the on-detector neutron backgrounds for the SIMPLE experiment located in the GESA facility of the LSBB [1], and its use in defining additional shielding for measurements which have led to a reduction in the extrinsic neutron background to levels of <5x10-3 evts/kgd).

15h30 : LOW NOISE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE NEUTRON MULTISPHERE SPECTROMETER HERMEIS AND FIRST ENVIRONMENTAL MEASUREMENTS AT MOUNTAIN ALTITUDES
Adrien Cheminet, ONERA/IRSN, France

A new neutron multisphere system extended to high energies was tested at the Low Noise Underground Laboratory (LSBB) facilities. First, the intrinsic noise of the 3He high pressure gas-filled detectors was determined at 500 m underground. Then, the spectrometer was used to measure the atmospheric neutron spectra respectively at +500 m and +1000 m above sea level. The experimental results were compared to analytical ones calculated with the EXPACS software.

16H00 - COFFEE BREAK

16h15 : Alpha contamination in electronic devices : how a predictive approach can help a low noise experimental approach
Karine Castellani, IM2NP, Université de Marseille, France

Alpha contamination has become a major concern in integrated circuits. To qualify packaging solutions for commercial, industrial, and aerospace/defense components, various methodologies can be used. In this paper, SER simulation is shown to be a tool to help the analysis of alpha-induced SER in electronic devices.

16H45 : TEMPORAL TOMOGRAPHY DENSITOMETRIC BY THE MEASURE OF MUONS
Pierre Salin, Geoazur, France

The purpose of this project is to develop a new field of study in the geosciences, using a very promising and innovative detector from particle physics, for the temporal tomography of sub-surface up to a few hundred meters of thickness. The field of applications concern rock stability and rheological properties survey, e.g. tunnel collapse, cliff, volcanic cone and landslide monitoring. We develop the methodology (instrumentation, measurement, measurement protocol, direct modeling and tomographic inversion) necessary to map the density of rock mass, with a kilometric lateral extension under a multi-hectometric overburden.

17h15 : Bure Underground Research Laboratory : role in the radwaste management and 2012-2015 programme
Patrick Lebon, ANDRA, Directeur adjoint R&D, France

Underground Research Laboratories (URL) around the world are used extensively to qualify geological sites and to improve R&D programmes for radwaste disposal. In France, Andra has been developing such a URL at Bure (Meuse) since 2004. To this date a 1000-m long drift network is available for experiments
According to the French national plan for the management of radioactive materials and wastes, the next project milestone is to prepare the scientific and technical bases for a license application, which is to be submitted by 2015.

18H15, GALLERIE D’ART DE LA MAIRIE D’APT – EXPO « LSBB PROJECT », COKTAIL AVEC OFFICIELS
ART GALLERY OF APT – LSBB PROJECT, COCKTAIL WITH TERRITORY DELEGATES

20H30, SOIREE SCIENCES HUMAINES – OUVERTE AU PUBLIC, HUMAN SCIENCES EVENT OPENED TO THE PUBLIC, co-designed and elaborated between the Vélo-Théâtre, the LSBB, scientists & students in history and patrimonia from the Norbert Elias Centre from the University of Avignon

VENDREDI/FRIDAY, MAY 11TH

Interactions with the medium : magnetic environments
Tom GIRARD (CFN), Matthew YEDLIN (UBC)

9h00 : Towards an international network of superconducting magnetometers for geomagnetic and Earth-Ionosphere studies
Pascal Febvre, Université de Savoie, France

The status of the current knowledge will be presented. We will also present the current work in progress to make synchronous measurements with SQUID sensors in development in South Africa, in order to develop very long baseline networking facilities with ultra-high magnetic sensitivity. In particular, details about the magnetically silent hut developed for the South African sensor, and low frequency aluminum magnetic shield, will be given.

9h30 : SIMULTANEOUS MEASUREMENTS WITH TWO SQUID MAGNETOMETERS AT THE LABORATOIRE SOUTERRAIN A BAS BRUIT
Samuel Henry, Oxford University, Oxford, England

In July 2011 we have carried out simultaneous 3-axis measurements using two magnetometers at different locations within the LSBB (Laboratoire Souterrain à Bas Bruit) complex. The [SQUID]2 system is installed permanently in the LSBB Capsule. To measure the field at other locations we used a portable version of the system developed by the Oxford group for the cryoEDM experiment .

10h00 : In search of the minimal global magnetic level in the millihertz range through underground measurements
Elisabeth Pozzo di Borgo, Université d’Avignon, France

Investigation of the Ultra Low Frequency (ULF) magnetic pulsations, detected by the underground magnetometric system [SQUID]², has defined an experimental baseline of ionosphere magnetic noise over very quiet seismic and ionospheric conditions. Hereafter, the investigation is extended to a set of data in order to obtain statistical verification of the signals. As a result, the mean magnetic spectrum in this frequency range, corresponding to the global magnetic Earth-ionosphere system in the absence of important external magnetic activity, is observed. This also provides a “low noise baseline” of the LSBB in the magnetic domain, analogous with the New Low Noise Model for seismic data. Several resonances emerging above the noise level are clearly identified from diverse known sources.

10H30 - COFFEE BREAK

10h45 : OPTICAL OBSERVATIONS AND ANALYSIS OF TRANSIENT LUMINOUS EVENTS IN SOUTHERN FRANCE
Serge Soula, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, France

Optical observations of TLEs are currently performed from several sites in southern France for several years. During 2011 four cameras low-light charge-coupled device (CCD) camera (Watec 902H) have been used. Numerous sprites and other TLEs have been observed above storms all along the year over land (France and Spain) or over sea (western Mediterranean Sea and close Atlantic Ocean). Some TLE events and their producing storms have been analyzed by associating various types of data.

11h15 : LOW FREQUENCY RADIO-INTERFEROMETRIC NETWORK FOR TLE AND REB INVESTIGATION
Andrey Mezentsev, University of Bath, England

A small scale interferometric network of wide band low frequency digital radio receivers was deployed in Southern France from July to September 2011. The network operated successfully during several nearby sprite producing thunderstorms. Network recordings can provide the 3D detection of different types of atmospheric discharges. Also the network can provide reliable mechanism for association of sprites detected by optical video observations and their corresponding parent lightning discharges, which sometimes are missed by commercial lightning detection systems. Several candidate waveforms of possible runaway electron beams are investigated in detail. The capabilities of the interferometric network of low frequency radio receivers to complement other measurements are discussed.

11H45 : QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF SURFACE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM MEASUREMENTS IN AN UNDERGROUND LOW-NOISE ENVIRONMENT
Guy Dumont, UBC, Canada

Novel results of a recent study on scalp electroence- phalogram (EEG) acquired in the LSBB capsule are presented. This pilot study confirms that clean EEG data can be obtained in this underground low-noise environment without the need for applying any notch filters. Also, the results show that the recording equipment does not introduce any noise on the recordings in the capsule. Furthermore, the preliminary assessments show that mental activities can be better detected in the capsule, comparing to a hospital environment. 

12H30 REPAS, VÉLO-THEÂTRE

 

From 14H, Colorado Provencal & LSBB discovery, Rustrel