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Understanding Groundwater: Key Concepts and Environmental Implications

Explore the significance of groundwater in the hydrosphere, its storage in porous rocks, aquifers, and formation of features like springs and caves. Learn about the threats such as overuse and pollution affecting our water supply.

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Understanding Groundwater: Key Concepts and Environmental Implications

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  1. Groundwater Chapter 10 Notes

  2. Hydrosphere • Oceans (97%) • Polar ice caps/glaciers (2.15%) • Groundwater (0.31%) • Lakes (0.009%) • Atmosphere (0.001%) • Rivers and streams (0.0001%)

  3. Groundwater • All water on land comes from the ocean, through evaporation and precipitation. • Infiltration: precipitation that trickles into the ground to become groundwater

  4. Porosity • Water is stored in pore spaces in the ground • The percentage of pore spaces in a rock or sediment is the porosity • Can vary from 2% to 50%

  5. Zone of Saturation

  6. Zones of Aeration and Saturation

  7. Permeability • The ability of water to move through sediment and rock is called permeability • Aquifers are permeable rock layers that allow groundwater to flow through them • A layer that is impermeable to ground water is an aquiclude

  8. Aquifer

  9. Springs Emergence of springs Hot springs/geysers • Groundwater emerges wherever the water table intersects Earth’s surface • Springs tend to form where an aquifer and an aquiclude are in contact • Most often occur on a slope or hillside

  10. Cave Formation • A cave is a natural underground opening with a connection to the surface • Most caves form in limestone bedrock when limestone is dissolved by groundwater: CO2 + H2O  H2CO3 • Carbonic acid reacts with limestone to produce soluble ions

  11. Karst

  12. Groundwater Deposits • Calcite in ground water precipitates to form new mineral deposits (stalactites, stalagmites, etc.)

  13. Wells • Wells are used to draw water out of an aquifer • Overpumping lowers the water table and creates a cone of depression

  14. Artesian Wells • Artesian wells produce water under pressure due to recharge at a higher elevation

  15. Threats to our Water Supply • Overuse: groundwater supplies can be depleted if pumped faster than the recharge rate (Ogallala Aquifer) • Subsidence: sinking of ground elevation when water table drops • Pollution (next slide)

  16. Pollution • Chemicals, sewage, salt, radon

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