Geophysical techniques for monitoring carbonate karstic rocks

Carbonate aquifer in karst systems are very important water reservoir and are recognized as the most difficult to characterize. Then, the purpose of this article is to present a PhD project aimed to understand the circulation of fluids in carbonate reservoirs through innovative hydrogeophysical methodologies both in the laboratory and in the field. In order to achieve the research objective, two phases will be analyzed. One of these phases will be characterized by laboratory experiments where different carbonate samples and analogic karstic model (from cm(3) to m(3)) will be observed by geophysical measurements. The other phase consists to transfer the laboratory experiences in a natural carbonate complex where it will be evaluated the effectiveness of a hydrogeophysical approach for monitoring carbonate karstic aquifer. The last phase will be applied in the carbonate karst area of Castel di Lepre (Marsico Nuovo, Basilicata, Italy).