Geological map of Martinique.
© BRGM
In the centre of the Lesser Antilles (French West-Indies), Martinique is exposed to major natural hazards (earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions), while others (hurricanes, coastal erosion, landslides, sargassum beachings) are exacerbated by climate change.
These challenges require appropriate spatial planning to reduce the region’s vulnerability. It is also crucial to secure drinking water supplies, adapt resource management to climate change, and protect soil from pollution.
The development of geothermal energy, a low-carbon renewable energy, is also essential to the island's energy autonomy. Finally, promoting knowledge of Martinique's subsurface and geological heritage, as well as disseminating information on the geological properties of the subsurface, are an important part of our role as the French geological survey.
The regional division, which has been based in Fort-de-France for more than fifty years, has a range of sophisticated equipment for its missions: piezometric probes, multi-parameter probes, infiltrometers, submersible pumps, borehole-logging cameras, micro-current meters, generators, Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPS), drones, real-time cameras, bathymetric sounders, seismic and magnetotelluric stations.
Partners
- Government departments: Prefecture, DEAL, DAAF, ARS.
- Public bodies and institutions: Office de l'eau de la Martinique (Martinique Water Agency), ADEME, Agence des 50 pas géométriques (coastal-fringe agency), OFB (French Biodiversity Office), Conservatoire du Littoral (shoreline conservancy, Antilles University, IFREMER, CIRAD, IRD (Development Research Institute), OVSM (Vulcanological and Seismological Observatory of Martinique), ONF (National Forestry Office), PNRM (Martinique nature reserve).
- Local authorities: CACEM (Central Martinique Conurbation), CAP NORD, Espace SUD, municipalities, CTM (Martinique Regional Municipality).
Practical information
To find out more
What's new in Martinique?
Water drilling at Fond Lahaye (Shoelcher, Martinique)
© BRGM
Groundwater and its preservation: improving knowledge and ensuring access to water
Groundwater resources are essential for drinking water but also for satisfying the needs of the agricultural sector. They are under increasing pressure due to climate change and greater societal demand for different uses.
In Martinique, water resources are abundant overall, but their distribution remains uneven. They vary greatly between the dry and rainy seasons, with much lower rainfall in the south of the island. In addition, 90% of the drinking water supply is abstracted from rivers in five catchment areas. Climate change is having an increasingly strong impact on water resources, and solutions must be found to ensure that everyone has access to drinking water.
Our main tasks in this area are:
- improving knowledge of strategic aquifers;
- monitoring aquifer levels and quality;
- assessing the impacts of climate change on the water cycle.
Montagne Pelée hot spring (Saint-Pierre, Martinique)
© BRGM
Subsurface energy and decarbonisation: levering the subsurface for the energy transition
BRGM's ambition is to help develop and consolidate solutions that could be implemented at both site-specific and regional levels. The aim is to ensure that subsurface potential is used sustainably with regard to environmental, economic and social impacts. This means treating the subsurface, with its energy resources and storage capacities, as a key asset in the energy transition and decarbonisation.
In Martinique, our main tasks in this respect are:
- searching for and determining the main geothermal zones;
- geothermal modelling;
- promoting geothermal energy and decarbonisation.
A landslide at Morne Calebasse (Fort-de-France municipality).
© BRGM - J.C. Audru
Ground and subsurface related risks: deploying a global approach, from anticipation to ensuring the resilience of regions
Hazards caused by the climate, geology or related to human activity threaten a large part of the region. Vulnerability can only be reduced by covering the full range of risks. This requires research and expert assessment in order to understand and model processes, develop integrated observation approaches, support crisis management, and implement strategies and solutions to reduce risk and build resilience.
With regard to the anthropogenic risks, the challenge is twofold: to develop a more rational use of ground and subsurface in order to reduce the footprint of future activities, and to develop methodologies for remediating chlordecone-polluted soils and managing polluted sediments. Our main tasks in this area are:
Natural hazards
- improving knowledge and mapping of hazards and risks;
- developing new tools for crisis management;
- monitoring coastal sediment dynamics (observatoire-olimar.fr);
- forecasting coastal erosion risks;
- quantifying sargassum beachings.
Anthropogenic pollution
- mapping chlordecone pollution of soils;
- developing soil decontamination methods;
- participating in the observatory of agricultural pollution in the French West Indies (OPALE);
- assessing the risks associated with sargassum storage sites.
Macabou limestone cliff (Le Vauclin, Martinique)
© BRGM
Subsurface geology and modelling: improving and sharing knowledge of the subsurface
France’s sovereignty depends on geological information, particularly for the management of natural resources, but also for sharing knowledge of the subsurface, which is a legal obligation under the Mining Code as well as for water boreholes under the Environment Code. Civil society and the general public are also increasingly in need of information on the nature of the subsurface, for sustainable regional management, or for education and information on France’s natural heritage.
In Martinique, our main tasks in this area are:
- enhancing and promoting our geological heritage;
- updating geological and regolith maps;
- 3D subsurface modelling.
