Ground Water

Physical Geology
 Ground Water
• Ground Water lies beneath the ground surface, filling
pores in sediments and sedimentary rocks and fractures
in other rock types
• Represents 0.6% of the hydrosphere (35x the water in
all lakes and rivers combined)
– Resupplied by slow infiltration
of precipitation
– Generally cleaner than surface water
– Accessed by wells
 Porosity and Permeability
• Porosity - the percentage of rock or sediment that
consists of voids or openings
– Measurement of a rock’s ability to hold water
– Loose sand has ~30-50% porosity
– Compacted sandstone may have only 10-20% porosity
• Permeability - the capacity of a rock to transmit fluid
through pores and fractures
– Interconnectedness of pore spaces
– Most sandstones and conglomerates are porous
and permeable
– Granites, schists, unfractured limestones are impermeable
 Porosity in sediments
A. 30% porosity in well-sorted
sediment

B. 15% porosity in poorly

sorted sediment

C. low porosity in well-sorted,

cemented sediment
 Porosity – percentage of empty

Permeability – rate at which

groundwater flows through cru
Shale – many small clay/silt par
high porosity, low perme
Sandstone – sand grains
medium to high porosity
high permeability if not
cemented
Clinker zone Basalt – Pahoehoe (low porosi
low permeability
Aa (high porosity and hi
permeability in “clinker”
not core zone)
Core zone Intrusive Dikes (low poro
and low permeability)
Individual Aa flo
have porous
“clinker” zones
that offer the be
aquifer
characteristics
 The Water Table
• Subsurface zone in which all rock
openings are filled with water is the
phreatic, or saturated zone
• Top of the saturated zone is the water
table
– Water level at surface of most lakes and
rivers corresponds to local water table
• Above the water table is an unsaturated
region called the vadose zone
• A perched water table is above and
separated from main water table by an
unsaturated zone
– Commonly produced by thin lenses of
impermeable rock (e.g., shales or clays)
within permeable ones
 Ground Water Movement
• Movement of ground water
through pores and fractures is
relatively slow (cms to
meters/day) compared to flow
of water in surface streams
– Flow velocities in cavernous
limestones can be much higher
(kms/day)

• Flow velocity depends upon:

– Slope of the water table
– Permeability of the rock or
sediment
Aquifer – Aquiclude – Artesian Well
 Aquifers and Aquitards
• Aquifer - body of saturated rock or sediment through
which water can move easily
– Sandstone
– Conglomerate
– Well-jointed limestone
– Sand and gravel
– Highly fractured
volcanic rock
• Aquitard - rock/sediment that retards ground water
flow due to low porosity and/or permeability
– Shale, clay, unfractured crystalline rocks
 Aquifers- Sierra Nevada Mtns
and foothills
• Aquifer
- Forms in fractured
igneous rock (granitic)
- Porosity and
permeability are low
- Wells are difficult to
locate, yield is low
- Often limits development
Unconfined vs. Confined Aquifers
• Unconfined Aquifer
– Has a water table, and is only
partly filled with water
– Rapidly recharged by
precipitation infiltrating down to the
saturated zone
• Confined Aquifer
– Completely filled with water under
pressure (hydrostatic head)
– Separated from surface by
impermeable confining
layer/aquitard
– Very slowly recharged
 Wells
• Well - a deep hole dug or drilled
into the ground to obtain water
from an aquifer
– For wells in unconfined aquifers,
water level before pumping is the
water table
– Water table can be lowered by
pumping, a process known as
drawdown
– Water may rise to a level above
the top of a confined aquifer,
producing an artesian well
Springs

• Spring - a place where

water flows naturally
from rock or sediment
onto the ground surface
 Ground Water Contamination
Infiltrating water may bring
contaminants down to the water table,
including (but not limited to):
– Pharmaceuticals
– Pesticides/herbicides
– Fertilizers
– Feed lots
– Mercury and gold mining
– Landfill pollutants
– Heavy metals
– Bacteria, viruses and parasites from sewage
– Industrial chemicals (PCBs, TCE)
– Acid mine drainage
– Radioactive waste
– Oil and gasoline
 Ground Water Contamination

• Contaminated ground water

can be extremely difficult and
expensive to clean up
 Balancing Withdrawal
and Recharge
• If ground water is withdrawn more
rapidly than it is recharged, the
water table will drop
– Dropping water table can lead to
ground subsidence
• surface of the ground drops as
buoyancy from ground water is
removed, allowing rock or sediment to
compact and sink
– Subsidence can crack foundations,
roads and pipelines
– Areas of extremely high ground water
pumping (such as for crop irrigation in
dry regions) have subsided 7-9 meters
 Caves, Sinkholes, and Karst

• Caves - naturally-formed underground

chambers
– Acidic ground water dissolves limestone
along joints and bedding planes
• Caves near the surface may collapse
and produce sinkholes
• Rolling hills, disappearing streams,
and sinkholes are common in areas
with karst topography
 Hot Water Underground

• Hot springs - springs in which the water

is warmer than human body temperature
– Ground water heated by nearby magma
bodies or circulation to unusually deep (and
warm) levels within the crust
– Hot water is less dense than cool water and
thus rises back to the surface on its own
• Geysers - hot springs that periodically
erupt hot water and steam
– Minerals often precipitate around geysers as
hot water cools rapidly in the air
 Geothermal Energy

• Geothermal energy is produced using

natural steam or superheated water
– No CO2 or acid rain are produced (clean
energy source)
– Some toxic gases given off (e.g., sulfur
compounds)
– Can be used directly to heat buildings
– Superheated water can be very corrosive to
pipes and equipment
 Streams and
Groundwater
• Gaining streams - receive water
from the saturated zone
– Gaining stream surface is local water table

• Losing streams - lose water to the

saturated zone
– Stream beds lie above the water table
– Maximum infiltration occurs through
streambed, producing permanent “mound”
in the water table beneath dry channel
DARCY’S LAW

Background
In 1856, Darcy was the 1stto do experiments with water flow
through a tube to see how rapidly it flowed & what the
controlling factors were.
Question of interest: What determines the rate of
discharge?

Henry Darcy (1803-1858)

 Darcy’ s Findings
A. rate of discharge (Q) was:
1.proportional to change in height Δh and change in length Δl.
therefore, Q is proportional to the gradient Δh/ Δl
2.a function of the cross-sectional area (A).
3.a function of the constant hydraulic conductivity (K) which
varied with the medium.
 Darcy Darcy’s Law
s B. Formula:
Q (flux) = -KiA(dh/dl) = K*A*(l1-l0)/x for a pipe

1.Q is negative because we’re going from a

higher to lower potential (dh is negative ∴Q is
negative).

Figure 3.13 Original data from Darcy’s 1856

experiments that show a linear relationship
between specific discharge and hydraulic
gradient for two different sands.
2. K typically equals the hydraulic
conductivity of the medium(cm/sec), as
given in Fetter for sand, silt, & clay􀃆 There
is a huge range in how rapidly a certain
medium will conduct water –by ≈5 orders of
magnitude!
 Flow in Aquifer Systems

B.Water table: determined line below

which you could put a well and receive
water.
C.Saturated zone: Water percolates down
through the unsaturated zone and is
composed of sand particles, air space and
water. The saturated zone is where all the
pore spaces are full of water.

Basic Terminology: Drever, The

Geochemistry of Natural Waters, Figure
1-8 Subsurface features in permeable
rock
 Flow in Aquifer Systems
Basic Terminology

D. Capillary fringe( the boundary between the water

table and the unsaturated zone): has all the pore spaces
full of water, but you could not draw water from a well at
that depth .
Reason: the surface tension associated with the
grain boundary holds the water by the grain, at
less than atmospheric pressure
–This zone can be about 5 cm in sand and about 1 meter in
silt (higher surface tension effects)
 Groundwater conditions near the ground surface

Profile of moisture content vs. depth Saturated and

unsaturated zones