High-resolution Seismic Characterization of the Shallow Subsurface Applied to Civil Engineering

The construction of the future Centralised Temporary Storage facility (CTC), a surface infrastructure built to manage and storage the nuclear waste for a lengthy time, needs the characterization of the near surface to assure the suitability of the construction and operating process. In this sense, a seismic characterization to regional and local level was carried out to understand the structure and the 3D geometry of the main stratigraphic units that can be related to a safe location of the CTC. Ten

kilometers of normal incidence seismic reflection data were acquired to understand the regional context, whereas a high-resolution 3D tomographic survey were carried out around the CTC location to obtain a detailed pictures of the shallow subsurface were the main buildings have to be built. Basically the main objective was to obtain the most detailed image of the geometry of the contact between the upper shallow lutites and the gypsum units that outcrop at the Eastern part and gently dip to the West. This information is very valuable from the engineering point of view during the design and construction of the main buildings of the CTC.