The Buntsandstein, located in the Upper Rhine Graben, appears to be an easy target forgeothermal exploitation, linking sandstone and clay with the regional thermal anomaly. This study aims at characterizing petrophysical characteristics of these sandstones as well as the fracturation affecting them, with the intention of providing a conceptual model of the formation which will act as guide for future exploitation. The sedimentary facies are composed by five petrographical facies (clean sandstones, sandstones with clayed coating, clay matrix sandstones, silicified sandstones and carbonated matrix sandstones) which split with variable proportions and control a part of petrophysical properties measured at matrix scale. The comparison between petrophysical data, macroscopic data from temperature gradient analysis, modelling data and fracturing, allows the building of a Buntsandstein Sandstones fluids circulation conceptual model. This analysis points the role of the damage zone of fault zones for fluids transfer at large scale, but also that of two sedimentary facies: marginal erg and Playa Lake. The analysis of different outcrops shows that the fracturation evolves according to the situation in the sedimentary pile and according to the situation in comparison with major tectonic accidents.
