GEOL 104 Lecture Notes - Hydraulic Head, Capillary Fringe, Electric Charge

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering
• Course: GEOL 104
• Professor: Michael T.Mc Bride

Document Summary

Groundwater exists in the pore spaces in sediment and rock, rarely as bodies of subsurface water. The effect of cement is to reduce the amount of pore space. Weathered layers are the most likely to gain porosity. A well sorted sand is most likely to be just as porous as a well sorted gravel. It is possible to have clays and mud that have 80% porosity because there tends to be an electrostatic charge that keeps them apart, also, clay tends to absorb water and expads, which increases pore space. Name the factors that influence porosity (use a pair of sketches) Note that the groundwater table is a surface/boundary separating the zone of aeration (unsaturated) from the zone of saturation. In the zone of aeration, there may be water, but there is also air in the pores. Where plant roots go down, and rain permeates into the ground is called the zone of soil.