Groundwater
By: Bethany Ivan
What is groundwater?
Groundwater is water that is underground.
Water Cycle (part1): Surface Water and Groundwater
Porosity vs. Permeability
Porosity is the amount of space between soil particles and permeability is the materials ability to allow water to pass. These two affects the presence of groundwater by the space between the soil (porosity) and how it can travel through soil (permeability)
The Water Table
Zone of aeration: this is above the zone of saturation and this is the zone that has pore spaces that contains water
Zone of saturation: this is the zone contains an area where groundwater fills up all pores in the soil
water table: the boundary between both the aeration and saturation zones
aquiclude: impermeable rock that acts as a barrier to groundwater flow
aquifer: permeable rock that transmit groundwater
2 types of Aquifers
There are two types of aquifers:
Unconfined, which is when water can flow freely and confined, whereas water flow is restricted.
Effects of depleting groundwater
The effects of groundwater depletion are
-Earthquakes
-More energy from lower levels
- Stream depletion
-Saltwater
-Droughts
-Vegetation dying
Ground subsidence