Groundwater

Aquiclude , Aquitard, Aquifuge

Aquifer
Artesian Aquifer
Cone of Depression
Confined Aquifer
Darcy's Law
Discharge
Dripstone
Flowstone
Hydraulic Gradient
Karst Topography
Percolation
Permeability
Porosity
Recharge
Replacement
Saturated Zone
Sinkhole
Spring
Unconfined Aquifer
Water Table
Zone of Aeration
 km3

1,338,000,000 96.5
24,064,000 1.74
23,400,000 1.7
16,500 0.001
300,000 0.022
176,400 0.013
12,900 0.001
11,470 0.0008
2,120 0.0002
1,120 0.0001
 Water In The Ground
Groundwater is the water below the ground
surface occupying the pore spaces in rocks and
soils.
Groundwater is present everywhere beneath
land surface and ocean bottom.
Most ground water originates from precipitation
and surface water.
Groundwater is always in motion.
 Water Table
Water table: the undulating surface
where pore water pressure =
atmospheric pressure
In fine-grained sediment, a narrow
fringe immediately above the
water table is kept saturated by
capillary attraction.
In humid regions, the water table
is a subdued imitation of the
land surface above it.
Water table varies with
precipitation, infiltrtation rate,
evapotranspiration, and
groundwater flow rate.
 Porosity
Well-sorted
sediments
Porosity is the ratio of
pore volume to total
volume of a soil or rock .
open porosity or
effective porosity is the Poorly-sorted
sediments
ratio of accessible
pore volume to total
volume .
Porosity determines the
Reduction of
amount of water that a porosity by
given volume of soil or cementation
rock can contain.
 Rock Porosity

The porosity of a sedimentary rock is affected by

several factors:
Sizes and shapes of the mineral grains.
Compactness of their arrangement.
Weight of overlying rock or soil.
Extent to which the pores become filled with the
cement that holds the particles together.
The porosity of intrusive and metamorphic rocks
generally is low.
 Groundwater Recharge and Discharge

Recharge is the process by which groundwater is replenished.

Discharge is the process by which groundwater reaches and flows to the
surface.
An area of the landscape where precipitation seeps downward and reaches an
aquifer is called a recharge area.
The water moves slowly toward discharge areas where groundwater flows to
streams, lakes, ponds, swamps or ocean.
 How Fast Does Groundwater Flow?
In 1856, Henri Darcy concluded the velocity of
groundwater is related to:
The hydraulic gradient: the slope of the water
table.
The coefficient of permeability of the rock or
sediment through which the water is flowing.
* The coefficient of permeability, now called
hydraulic conductivity, is determined by
permeability, density, and viscosity of water.
 Darcy’s Law

K(h1-h2)
V = ---------------
L
K is the hydraulic conductivity;
h1-h2 is the difference in altitude;
L is the horizontal distance
between two points;
V is flow velocity;
 Spring
A spring is a flow of groundwater emerging
naturally at the ground surface.
Small springs are found in all kinds of rocks,
but almost all large springs flow from lava
flows, limestone, or gravel.
A change in permeability, a body of less
permeable rock adjacent to a permeable one,
is a common explanation for the location of
springs.
Contacts between a porous
limestone and an impermeable shale.

Contact between a sand unit

and an impermeable clay.

Contact between a jointed lava flow

and an impermeable mudstone.

Trace of a fault intersecting

the land surface.
• 1500

• 1957
1237 4000 km
• 1966 7 m3 2001
446 1.7
m3
 Aquifer
An aquifer is a body of highly permeable rock or regolith
that can store water and yield sufficient quantities to supply
wells.
Gravel and sand generally are good aquifers. Many
sandstones and limestones are also good aquifers.
Aquifers are of two types:
– Confined (bounded by confining beds).
– Unconfined (an aquifer without overlain).
 The High Plains aquifer
An unconfined aquifer which lies at shallow depths beneath
the High Plains of the United States.
About 30 percent of the groundwater used for
irrigation in the United States is obtained from the
High Plains aquifer.
In parts of Kansas, New Mexico, and Texas, the water
table has dropped so much over the past half century
that the thickness of the saturated zone has declined by
more than 50 percent.
 The Dakota Aquifer

The Dakota aquifer system

in South Dakota provides a
good example of a confined
aquifer.

Water that percolates into a

confined aquifer flows
downward under the pull of
gravity.
 Artesian Aquifer
An artesian aquifer is confined by rock layers that
restrict water flow, resulting in an aquifer that is
"pressurized." Water is virtually squeezed to the
pressure level above the ground surface.
Water in an artesian aquifer could rise to the same
height as the water table in the recharge area.
The well installed in an artesian aquifer is called an
artesian well.
A freely flowing spring supplied by an artesian
aquifer is an artesian spring.
 A Flowing (Artesian) Well
Maybe you've heard advertisements by water companies
wanting to sell you "artesian-well drinking water." Is this
water different from other bottled water taken from springs?

The water may not be different, but it comes to the earth's

surface a bit differently. A flowing well has water that
comes up to the surface because of internal pressure in the
underground aquifer containing the water. An artesian
aquifer is confined by rock layers that restrict water flow,
resulting in an aquifer that is "pressurized." Water is
virtually squeezed to the surface by underground pressure.
This picture shows how strong artesian pressure can be!
 The Floridian Aquifer
A complex regional aquifer system in which both
confined and unconfined units are present, and in
which water locally reaches the surface by an
artesian flow.
The aquifer system is restricted mainly to middle
and late Tertiary limestones.
The age of groundwater in the well farthest from the
recharge area has been determined by radiocarbon
dating : at least 19,000 years.
Changes in the water table as a Result of Pumping

• When water is pumped from a new well, the rate of withdrawal

initially exceeds the rate of local groundwater flow.
• This imbalance in flow rates creates a conical depression in the
water table immediately surrounding the well called a cone of
depression.
• The locally steepened slope of the water table increases the flow of
water to the well.
 Mechanism of Land Subsidence
The weight of overlying sediments is supported by the
pore water pressure and the effective stress in an aquifer.
When groundwater is withdrawn, the pore water
pressure is reduced, and meanwhile, the effective stress
between mineral grains is increased, causing the
compression of sediments. As a result, the land surface
subsides.
The amount of subsidence depends on:
How much the water pressure is reduced.
The thickness and compressibility of the aquifer.
 San Joaquin Valley

1.

2. 9

3.
 10 m
1925 1977 9m
40
Leaning Tower of Pisa
 Groundwater Contamination

Water circulating through sulfur-rich rocks may contain

dissolved hydrogen sulfide (H2S) that has the disagreeable odor
of rotten eggs.
If the contaminated water percolates through sand or permeable
sandstone, it become purified within short distances. Sand
promotes purification by:
Mechanically filtering out bacteria.
Oxidizing bacteria so they are rendered harmless.
Placing bacteria in contact with other organisms that
consume them.
Contamination of Groundwater by Toxic Wastes
Municipal and industrial wastes, Pesticides & herbicides,
Landfills and underground storage tanks
Geologic Activity of Groundwater

Cementation
Replacement
Dissolution
 Chemical Cementation

The conversion of sediment into sedimentary rock is

primarily resulted from cementation.
Particulates in groundwater are precipitated as cement
between mineral particles of sediments.
Calcite, quartz, and iron hydroxides (mainly limonite)
are the chief cementing substances.
 Replacement
The process by which
a fluid dissolves
matter already present
and at the same time
deposits from solution
an equal volume of a
different substance

Petrified wood is produced by the

replacement process.
 Dissolution
Of all the rocks, the carbonate rocks (limestone,
dolostone, and marble) are among the most
readily attacked by the dissolution and hydrolysis.
The weathering attack occurs mainly along joints
and other partings in the carbonate bedrock.
In temperate regions with a high rainfall, a high
water table, and a nearly continuous cover of
vegetation, carbonate landscapes are being
lowered at average rates of up to 0.01 cm/yr.
 Cave Formation
Caves are resulted from the dissolution of
carbonate rock by circulating groundwater.
Limestone caves are generally believed to
result from dissolution by carbonic acid.
Some caves, like Carlsbad, may have
resulted from dissolution by sulfuric acid.
The rate of cave formation is related to the rate
of dissolution.
A fully developed cave system may take
10,000 to 1 million years to produce.
 : pH

2-
CO3 + H+ HCO3-

Ca2+
2–
CaCO3 + CO3

, PH
, CO32 – HCO3- , CaCO3
, , ,
, PH , HCO3- CO32 – ,
CaCO3
 Sequence of Cave Development
1. Initial
dissolution along a system of
interconnected open joints or bedding planes by
percolating groundwater.
2. Enlargement of a cave passage along the most
favorable flow route.
3. Deposition of carbonate formations on the cave
walls while a stream occupies the cave floor.
4. Continued deposition of carbonate on the walls
and floor of the cave after the stream has stopped
flowing.
 Cave Deposits
Clay and silt, originally present as
impurities in limestone, gradually
concentrated as the rock was
dissolved.
Flowstone is precipitated from flowing
water.
Dripstone is precipitated from dripping
water.
Stalactites are icicle-like forms of
dripstone hanging from the the
ceilings of caves.
Stalagmites are blunt mounds
projecting upward from cave floor.
Columns are stalactites joined with
stalagmites.
 ,
,

, PH ,
HCO3- CO32 – ,
CaCO3
The cavern formed in the saturated zone when the water table lay
at the former higher level. Uplift of the region caused streams to
deepen their valleys. The water table then lowered in response to
valley deepening, leaving the cavern above the lower
Sinkholes: large dissolution cavities
Some sinkholes are formed when caves
have collapsed, others are formed from
dissolution.
Many sinkholes are located at the
intersection of joints.
New sinkholes are forming because of the
lowering of the water table due to
excessive pumping.
The floors of sinkholes lie below the water
table.
 Karst Topography
Karst topography is a landscape in which caves and
sinkholes are so numerous that they form a peculiar
topography characterized by:
Many small, closed basins.
Disrupted drainage pattern.
Streams disappearing into the ground.
Streams reappearing as large springs.
Karst topography was first described in the Karst region of
the former Yugoslavia, extending from Slovenia to
Montenegro.
Hard Water and Soft Water
Hard water: water containing calcium
and magnesium bicarbonates
dissolved from carbonate rock that
prevent the formation of lather with
soap. .
soft water: water contains little
dissolved matter and no appreciable
calcium.
Homework:

Hydraulic conductivity
Karst topography
Water table
Artesian aquifer
Zone of aeration

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