14.1: Introduction
- Page ID
- 1747
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Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, completing the exercises within it, and answering the questions at the end, you should be able to:
- Explain the concepts of porosity and permeability and the importance of these to groundwater storage and movement
- Describe the relative porosities and permeabilities of some common geological materials
- Define aquifers, aquitards, confining layers, and the differences between confined and unconfined aquifers
- Explain the concepts of hydraulic head, the water table, potentiometric surface, and hydraulic gradient, and apply the Darcy equation for estimating groundwater flow
- Describe the flow of groundwater from recharge areas to discharge areas
- Describe the nature of groundwater flow in karst systems
- Explain how wells are used to extract groundwater and the implications of over-pumping a well
- Describe how observation wells are used to monitor groundwater levels and the importance of protecting groundwater resources
- Distinguish between natural and anthropogenic contamination of groundwater
- Describe some of the ways that groundwater can become contaminated, and how contamination can be minimized
Contributors
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Physical Geology by Steven Earle used under a CC-BY 4.0 international license. Download this book for free at http://open.bccampus.ca.