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Types of Water

• Connate Water: trapped in the pores of a rock


• Water that originates from the Earth's deep during formation of the rock.
interior and that has never previously – The chemistry of connate water can change in
composition throughout the history of the rock.
reached the Earth's surface and atmosphere
– Connate water is also described as fossil water. Connate
is called Juvenile. water can be dense and saline compared with seawater.

• Meteoric water is or was at one time • Formation water or Interstitial water: in


contrast, is simply water found in the pore spaces
atmospheric precipitation, including: snow, of a rock, and might not have been present when
rain and hail. the rock was formed.

Hydrogeologic Properties of Media


Water Table
• Aquifer = lithologic unit(s) capable of yielding
water to wells or springs • A water table is defined as the surface on
– relative term; may cut across stratigraphic contacts which the fluid pressure in the pores of a
• Confining bed = low-conductivity unit that bounds porous medium is exactly atmospheric.
an aquifer • We commonly think that the water table is
• Aquitard = leaky confining bed (impermeable the boundary between the unsaturated
relative to the adjacent units) zone and the saturated zone.
• Less common terms: aquiclude and aquifuge—
• However, a saturated capillary fringe often
essentially impermeable confining beds existed above the water table
– example: evaporites in sedimentary basins

Aquifer Types
• unconfined: water table forms the upper boundary
• perched: unconfined aquifer in the vadose zone
– how does a perched aquifer form?
• confined: sandwiched between confining beds
• artesian: h is above top of aquifer
• flowing artesian aquifer: h is above land surface
– note: can have flowing artesian conditions in discharge
zone of unconfined aquifer

1
(Schwartz and Zhang, Fig. 4.1)

Potentiometric surface
• If the aquifer is unconfined, the contour
map is referred to as the map of the water
table.
• If the water levels in wells tapped in a
confined aquifer, it is the level of hydraulic
head (i.e. the level the water will rise, if
allowed to free flow) in the aquifer, is
referred to as a potentiometric surface.
(Fryar et al., 2001)

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