Aquifers: Groundwater Is The

Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in soil pore spaces and in
the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when
it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in
rock become completely saturated with water is called the water table. Groundwater is
recharged from, and eventually flows to, the surface naturally; natural discharge often occurs
at springs and seeps, and can form oases or wetlands. Groundwater is also often withdrawn
for agricultural, municipal, and industrial use by constructing and operating extraction wells. The
study of the distribution and movement of groundwater is hydrogeology, also called
groundwater hydrology.
Typically, groundwater is thought of as water flowing through shallow aquifers, but, in the technical
sense, it can also contain soil moisture, permafrost (frozen soil), immobile water in very low
permeability bedrock, and deep geothermal or oil formation water. Groundwater is hypothesized to
provide lubrication that can possibly influence the movement of faults. It is likely that much of Earth's
subsurface contains some water, which may be mixed with other fluids in some instances.
Groundwater may not be confined only to Earth. The formation of some of the landforms observed
on Mars may have been influenced by groundwater. There is also evidence that liquid water may
also exist in the subsurface of Jupiter's moon Europa.[1]
Groundwater is often cheaper, more convenient and less vulnerable to pollution than surface water.
Therefore, it is commonly used for public water supplies. For example, groundwater provides the
largest source of usable water storage in the United States, and California annually withdraws the
largest amount of groundwater of all the states.[2] Underground reservoirs contain far more water
than the capacity of all surface reservoirs and lakes in the US, including the Great Lakes. Many
municipal water supplies are derived solely from groundwater.[3]
Polluted groundwater is less visible, but more difficult to clean up, than pollution in rivers and lakes.
Groundwater pollution most often results from improper disposal of wastes on land. Major sources
include industrial and household chemicals and garbage landfills, excessive fertilizers and pesticides
used in agriculture, industrial waste lagoons, tailings and process wastewater from mines, industrial
fracking, oil field brine pits, leaking underground oil storage tanks and pipelines, sewage
sludge and septic systems.
Contents
[hide]
1Aquifers
2Water cycle
3Issues
o 3.1Overview
o 3.2Overdraft
o 3.3Subsidence
o 3.4Seawater intrusion
o 3.5Pollution
4Regulations
o 4.1United States
5See also
6References
7External links
Aquifers[edit]
Groundwater withdrawal rates from the Ogallala Aquiferin the Central United States
Main article: Aquifer

An aquifer is a layer of porous substrate that contains and transmits groundwater. When water can
flow directly between the surface and the saturated zone of an aquifer, the aquifer is unconfined.
The deeper parts of unconfined aquifers are usually more saturated since gravity causes water to
flow downward.
The upper level of this saturated layer of an unconfined aquifer is called the water table or phreatic
surface. Below the water table, where in general all pore spaces are saturated with water, is
the phreatic zone.
Substrate with low porosity that permits limited transmission of groundwater is known as an aquitard.
An aquiclude is a substrate with porosity that is so low it is virtually impermeable to groundwater.
A confined aquifer is an aquifer that is overlain by a relatively impermeable layer of rock or substrate
such as an aquiclude or aquitard. If a confined aquifer follows a downward grade from its recharge
zone, groundwater can become pressurized as it flows. This can create artesian wells that flow
freely without the need of a pump and rise to a higher elevation than the static water table at the
above, unconfined, aquifer.
The characteristics of aquifers vary with the geology and structure of the substrate and topography
in which they occur. In general, the more productive aquifers occur in sedimentary geologic
formations. By comparison, weathered and fractured crystalline rocks yield smaller quantities of
groundwater in many environments. Unconsolidated to poorly cemented alluvial materials that have
accumulated as valley-filling sediments in major river valleys and geologically subsiding structural
basins are included among the most productive sources of groundwater.
The high specific heat capacity of water and the insulating effect of soil and rock can mitigate the
effects of climate and maintain groundwater at a relatively steady temperature. In some places
where groundwater temperatures are maintained by this effect at about 10 C (50 F), groundwater
can be used for controlling the temperature inside structures at the surface. For example, during hot
weather relatively cool groundwater can be pumped through radiators in a home and then returned
to the ground in another well. During cold seasons, because it is relatively warm, the water can be
used in the same way as a source of heat for heat pumps that is much more efficient than using air.
The volume of groundwater in an aquifer can be estimated by measuring water levels in local wells
and by examining geologic records from well-drilling to determine the extent, depth and thickness of
water-bearing sediments and rocks. Before an investment is made in production wells, test wells
may be drilled to measure the depths at which water is encountered and collect samples of soils,
rock and water for laboratory analyses. Pumping tests can be performed in test wells to determine
flow characteristics of the aquifer.[3]
Water cycle[edit]
Main article: Water cycle
Relative groundwater travel times
Dzherelo, a common source of drinking water in a Ukrainian village
Groundwater makes up about twenty percent of the world's fresh water supply, which is about 0.61%
of the entire world's water, including oceans and permanent ice. Global groundwater storage is
roughly equal to the total amount of freshwater stored in the snow and ice pack, including the north
and south poles. This makes it an important resource that can act as a natural storage that can
buffer against shortages of surface water, as in during times of drought.[4]
Groundwater is naturally replenished by surface water from precipitation, streams, and rivers when
this recharge reaches the water table.[5]
Groundwater can be a long-term 'reservoir' of the natural water cycle (with residence times from
days to millennia), as opposed to short-term water reservoirs like the atmosphere and fresh surface
water (which have residence times from minutes to years). The figure[6] shows how deep
groundwater (which is quite distant from the surface recharge) can take a very long time to complete
its natural cycle.
The Great Artesian Basin in central and eastern Australia is one of the largest confined aquifer
systems in the world, extending for almost 2 million km2. By analysing the trace elements in water
sourced from deep underground, hydrogeologists have been able to determine that water extracted
from these aquifers can be more than 1 million years old.
By comparing the age of groundwater obtained from different parts of the Great Artesian Basin,
hydrogeologists have found it increases in age across the basin. Where water r

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Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in soil pore spaces and in

Main article: Aquifer

Relative groundwater travel times

Dzherelo, a common source of drinking water in a Ukrainian village

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