The stratigraphical architecture of the Quaternary deposits as support for hydrogeological modelling of the central zone of hanoi (vietnam)

The Quaternary deposits of the Hanoi area have been investigated in order to provide information required for the design of a groundwater-flow model. Limited sedimentological data exist from 32 destructive drillings carried out previously in the study area. The data base contains hydrographical and hydrogeological observations, but few sedimentological details. This is in contrast with the more seaward regions of the area where the Holocene deposits of the Red River plain has previously been studied. However, a comparison of the results obtained in this study with the previous studies indicates that the Hanoi sediment succession developed in an incised valley under conditions of rapid relative sea-level rise until ca. 7-6 a cal BR The succession consists initially of alluvial floodplain deposits conformably overlain by mud deposited at the head of an estuary which filled with continuing rapid sea-level rise. Once the relative sea-level rise stabilized, fluvial deposition prograded over the adjacent estuarine mud. The development of a groundwater-flow model requires knowledge of the three-dimensional distribution of the various deposits. Despite the paucity of information with respect to sediment description, a model of the entire Quaternary sequence is presented in several lithostratigraphic cross-sections and a panel diagram. The latter forms the basis for the construction of a contour map of the base of the Pleistocene and Holocene deposits, and for a sequence map of the Quaternary deposits in the study area.