{"id":573,"date":"2021-09-16T19:29:53","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T19:29:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accphysicalgeography\/chapter\/chapter-14-groundwater-physical-geology-2nd-edition\/"},"modified":"2022-02-07T21:33:34","modified_gmt":"2022-02-07T21:33:34","slug":"chapter-14-groundwater-physical-geology-2nd-edition","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accphysicalgeology\/chapter\/chapter-14-groundwater-physical-geology-2nd-edition\/","title":{"raw":"Chapter 14 Groundwater \u2014 Physical Geology \u2013 2nd Edition","rendered":"Chapter 14 Groundwater \u2014 Physical Geology \u2013 2nd Edition"},"content":{"raw":"
\r\n
\r\n

Chapter 14 Groundwater<\/h1>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n\r\nAfter reading this chapter, completing the exercises within it, and answering the questions at the end, you should be able to:\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • Explain the concepts of porosity and permeability and the importance of these to groundwater storage and movement.<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Describe the relative porosities and permeabilities of some common geological materials.<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Define aquifers, aquitards, confining layers, and the differences between confined and unconfined aquifers.<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Explain the concepts of hydraulic head, the water table, potentiometric surface, and hydraulic gradient, and apply the Darcy equation to estimation of groundwater flow rates.<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Describe the flow of groundwater from recharge areas to discharge areas.<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Describe the nature of groundwater flow in karst systems.<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Explain how wells are used to extract groundwater and the implications of over-pumping a well.<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Describe how observation wells are used to monitor groundwater levels and the importance of protecting groundwater resources.<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Distinguish between natural and anthropogenic contamination of groundwater.<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Describe some of the ways that groundwater can become contaminated, and how contamination can be minimized.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
    \r\n
    Figure 14.0.1 An artesian well emitting groundwater to the surface at the Baca National Wildlife Refuge, near Alamosa, CO.<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nAs we saw in Chapter 13, fresh water makes up only 3% of the water on Earth. Approximately two-thirds of that is glacial ice and most of the rest is groundwater. We can\u2019t live without water, and it\u2019s easy to see that groundwater represents a critically important component of our water supply. Groundwater is not as easily accessed as surface water, but it is also not as easily contaminated as surface water. If more than 7 billion of us want to continue living comfortably here on Earth, we have to take great care of our groundwater and learn how to use it sustainably.\r\n

    Media Attributions<\/h3>\r\n
      \r\n \t
    • Figure 14.0.1: Wikimedia Commons<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"
      \n
      \n

      Chapter 14 Groundwater<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
      \n
      \n
      \n

      After reading this chapter, completing the exercises within it, and answering the questions at the end, you should be able to:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • Explain the concepts of porosity and permeability and the importance of these to groundwater storage and movement.<\/li>\n
      • Describe the relative porosities and permeabilities of some common geological materials.<\/li>\n
      • Define aquifers, aquitards, confining layers, and the differences between confined and unconfined aquifers.<\/li>\n
      • Explain the concepts of hydraulic head, the water table, potentiometric surface, and hydraulic gradient, and apply the Darcy equation to estimation of groundwater flow rates.<\/li>\n
      • Describe the flow of groundwater from recharge areas to discharge areas.<\/li>\n
      • Describe the nature of groundwater flow in karst systems.<\/li>\n
      • Explain how wells are used to extract groundwater and the implications of over-pumping a well.<\/li>\n
      • Describe how observation wells are used to monitor groundwater levels and the importance of protecting groundwater resources.<\/li>\n
      • Distinguish between natural and anthropogenic contamination of groundwater.<\/li>\n
      • Describe some of the ways that groundwater can become contaminated, and how contamination can be minimized.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
        \"image\"<\/p>\n
        Figure 14.0.1 An artesian well emitting groundwater to the surface at the Baca National Wildlife Refuge, near Alamosa, CO.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

        As we saw in Chapter 13, fresh water makes up only 3% of the water on Earth. Approximately two-thirds of that is glacial ice and most of the rest is groundwater. We can\u2019t live without water, and it\u2019s easy to see that groundwater represents a critically important component of our water supply. Groundwater is not as easily accessed as surface water, but it is also not as easily contaminated as surface water. If more than 7 billion of us want to continue living comfortably here on Earth, we have to take great care of our groundwater and learn how to use it sustainably.<\/p>\n

        Media Attributions<\/h3>\n
          \n
        • Figure 14.0.1: Wikimedia Commons<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"menu_order":102,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-573","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":17,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accphysicalgeology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accphysicalgeology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accphysicalgeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accphysicalgeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accphysicalgeology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1237,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accphysicalgeology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/573\/revisions\/1237"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accphysicalgeology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/17"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accphysicalgeology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/573\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accphysicalgeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accphysicalgeology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=573"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accphysicalgeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=573"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accphysicalgeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}