Skip to main content
Geosciences LibreTexts

5.7: Groundwater

  • Page ID
    5509
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    Overview

    It is best not to envision groundwater as underground lakes and streams (which only occasionally exist in caves). Instead, think of groundwater slowly seeping from one minuscule pore in the rock to another. Have you ever been to the beach and dug a hole, only to have it filled with water from the base? If so, you had reached the water table, the boundary between the unsaturated and saturated zones. Rocks and soil just beneath the land’s surface are part of the unsaturated zone, and pore spaces in them are filled with air. Once the water table is reached, then rocks and soil pore spaces are filled with water, in the saturated zone.

     

    The water table is said to mimic topography, in that it generally lies near the surface of the ground (often tens of feet below the surface, though this can vary greatly with location). The water table rises with hills and sinks with valleys, often discharging into streams. The water table receives additional inputs as rainfall infiltrates into the ground, called recharge. Its position is dynamic – during droughts the water table will lower and during wet times, it rises.

    clipboard_e3b9763af5fb242b8d5b1b9496f76eaa6.png

    Two important properties of groundwater that influence its availability and movement are porosity and permeability. Porosity refers to the open or void space within the rock. It is expressed as a percentage of the volume of open space compared to the total rock volume. Porosity will vary with rock type. Many rocks with tight interlocking crystals (such as igneous and metamorphic rocks) will have low porosity since they lack open space. Sedimentary rocks composed of well-sorted sediment tend to have high porosity because of the abundant spaces between the grains that make them up. To imagine this, envision a room filled from floor to ceiling with basketballs (similar to a rock composed completely of sand grains). Now add water to the room. The room will be able to hold a good deal of water since the basketballs don’t pack tightly due to their shape. That would be an example of high porosity.

     

    Permeability refers to the ability of a geologic material to transport fluids. It depends upon the porosity within the rock, but also on the size of the open space and how interconnected those open spaces are. Even though the material is porous, water won’t flow through it if the open spaces aren’t connected. Rocks that are permeable make good aquifers, geologic units that are able to yield significant water. Sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone are good aquifers. Rocks that are impermeable make confining layers and prevent the flow of water. Examples of confining layers would be sedimentary rocks like shale (made from tiny clay and silt grains) or un-fractured igneous or metamorphic rock. In an unconfined aquifer, the top of the aquifer is the water table.

     

    Groundwater generally flows from areas of higher elevation to lower elevation in the shallow subsurface. Note the flow paths in Figure 5.11. Approximately 20% of the water used in the United States is groundwater, and this water has the potential to become contaminated, mostly from sewage, landfills, industry, and agriculture. The movement of groundwater helps spread the pollutants, making containment a challenge.


    This page titled 5.7: Groundwater is shared under a CC BY-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Deline, Harris & Tefend (GALILEO Open Learning Materials) .

    • Was this article helpful?