Ground Water Flashcards
What are the two types of groundwater?
Deep ground water (inaccessible)
Regular groundwater
What is groundwater?
Water below the root zone
Largest freshwater available in the hydrologic cycle
How much precipitation becomes groundwater?
75%
What is an area of recharge for groundwater?
Areas where water infiltrates into the ground.
What is an area of discharge?
An area where groundwater seeps out often to feed other bodies of water, lakes/rivers
What impacts infiltration of water?
Hardscapes, compaction, finely textured soils
What is percolation?
The ability for water to move through soil
Depends on available pore space
Porosity = volume of voids/total volume x 100%
What is permeability for ground water?
Permeability is the degree water can move through through the soil.
Ie clay has high porosity but low permeability, can fill with water but does not transmit it
What are the three types of soil water? Ie ways of classifying.
Hygroscopic water: water with a strong attachment to soil particles. Wilting point
Capillary water; not effected by gravity, available to plants
Gravitational water; enough saturation water is effected by gravity.
What is the zone of aeration?
Vados zone
Area when rock and soil are less than saturated
What is the capillary fringe?
Just above the water table. Sponge like area due water drawn upward from the aquifor
What is the water table?
Dynamic, changes seasonally
Top of the zone of saturation.
What is the zone of saturation?
Areas where the pores completely fill with water
Usually sand, gravel, Sandstone, limestone
What is the acquiclude.
Rock which is impermeable to water.
Clay, slate, Shale, and granite.
What is an artesian well?
Water under enough pressure to rise up without pumping?
