Using large subsoil data repositories to model 3D hydrofacies distribution: a case study from Porto Marghera and the Lagoon of Venice (NE, Italy)

This study focuses on 3D modeling of hydrofacies in a Late Pleistocene-Holocene alluvial aquifer by means of different geostatistical techniques and the uncertainty associated to output models. The case study is located in the inland of Venice (NE Italy) and consists of a 5 X 10 km area over which a considerable dataset (5290 boreholes) of Province of Venice is available in the shallow (35m) subsoil. Hydrofacies distribution was simulated by means of pixel-based and object-based methods routinely used in modeling of water and oil reservoirs. Variance and sensitivity analyses conducted on the modeled data allowed defining the main components of subsoil heterogeneities as well as critically evaluate the performance of different simulation methods with reference to application of results to numerical flow and transport models.