GEOL 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Karst, Phreatic, Fossil Water
16 Dec 2018
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Document Summary
A water table is a surface of an unconfined body of groundwater at which the pressure of water in rocks (pushing up) is equal to the atmospheric pressure above (pushing down). Water percolates to depth of about 5 km. Porosity is the total volume of rock that consists of open pore space. Permeability is the ability of a rock/sediment to transmit fluid; it is essentially the ease of fluid flow. Aquifers are bodies of water saturated rock with enough porosity and permeability to produce economically usable amounts of water. Recharge is the gain of water, discharge is the decrease of water. Aquitards are impermeable layers that don"t allow water to seep through (ex. Perched water tables are impermeable layers that separated perched water tables from the main water table below them. Confined aquifers are the same as artesian aquifers, which are boundaries that are impermeable to rock.
