9 © EDP Sciences, 2026 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/978-2-7598-3934-6.c901 QUAL I TÉ GÉOPHYSIQUEAPPLIQUÉE Prefaces In 1995, the DATAR (French Delegation for Regional Planning and Development) commissioned researchers from the University of Poitiers to design scientific activities related to the planned underground laboratory for radioactive waste storage, located in the southern part of the Vienne department. Drawing on the expertise I had acquired during my doctoral research at the Béthune study site—developed under the supervision of Professor Norbert Crampon—and on the data already collected in southern Vienne, I naturally proposed the creation of an ambitious hydrogeological study area. However, due to the high degree of fracturing in the granitic bedrock, the National Evaluation Commission issued an unfavorable opinion regarding the siting of the underground laboratory. It was within this context that the Hydrogeological Experimental Site (HES) project was born. Submitted as part of the 2000–2006 State–Region planning contract to the Ministry of Research, the project was accepted and received funding of 13 million French francs. The first borehole was drilled in July 2002. By 2025, the HES comprised 45 boreholes spread over 32 hectares, traversing fractured and karstified limestone aquifers of the Lower and Middle Jurassic, with a thickness of 160 meters. Today, the HES stands as a unique experimental platform in France, open to the entire scientific community. It supports research projects, both initial and ongoing education programs, and serves as a testing ground for various disciplines, including pedology, geology, geophysics, hydrogeology, hydrogeochemistry, and numerical modeling. For over twenty years, this infrastructure has enabled significant advances in the understanding of the structure, behavior, and dynamics of carbonate reservoirs. I am particularly pleased by the fruitful collaboration between Thierry—a passionate geologist and Jurassic specialist—and Jean-Luc, a geophysicist involved with the HES from its inception. Together, they have produced a major work that skillfully combines their respective expertise to improve our understanding of the structural organization of the limestone reservoir. The detailed characterization of Middle
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