This thesis is a study into the structure and functioning of hydrothermal systems. We focused on two areas, Waimangu, New Zealand, and the Phlegrean Fields - Solfatara, Italy, that we observed with several geophysical methods. The first system was chosen owing to its strong dynamics, and because it seems to be purely hydrothermal, without any magmatic influence; the second one allowed the observation and the geophysical characterization of a shallow hydrothermal plume. Our study first aimed to recognize the large scale structure of the Waimangu hydrothermal system, and to characterize its main surface expressions, namely hot lakes, geysers, and fumaroles. For this purpose, we related the self-potential and the electrical resistivity methods to measurements of temperature and CO2 flux. We then concentrated on three small-scale laboratories : Iodine vent, Inferno Crater Lake, and the Old Geyser Site. these areas are different from each other in size and also in their water chemistry, which is a key parameter in the sensitivity of electrical methods. This range enabled us to implement acoustic and electrical imaging techniques on singular systems that have their own dynamics. At Iodine Pool, the implementation of recent imaging techniques from underwater acoustics allowed us to locate hydrothermal noise sources with high accuracy. The self-potential monitoring of an intermittent vent showed cyclic fluctuations that could be explained by a change in the hydraulic head. The joint application of acoustic and electrical imaging at the Old Geyser Site showed how these two techniques complement each other in defining the location of a hydrothermal structure that matches both acoustic and electrical sources. A third step consisted in the study of the geo-electrical signature of fluid movements that relate to the Inferno cyclic activity. Electrical resistivity monitoring highlighted that the observed lake fluctuations are characterized by notable electrical resistivity changes; these variations could be due to phase changes occurring at depth, and are in good agreement with analog modellings. The experiments that have been made at the Solfatara allowed us to image the hydrothermal plume with electrical methods (3-D resistivity tomography), acoustic and thermal measurements. We present the results from both electrical resistivity tomography and temperature data that allowed us to establish the boundaries of the hydrothermal plume.
