ENGR 1166 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Vadose Zone, Water Cycle, Environmental Engineering
19 Apr 2017
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Document Summary
Introduction to environmental engineering - ground water flow. Groundwater is a reservoir in the hydrologic cycle. Precipitation infiltration, percolation groundwater, spring evaporation. Aquifer - permeable subsurface geologic unit (soil or rock) through which groundwater flows. Vadose zone/unsaturated zone - region of subsurface in which pore spaces are filled mostly with air and only a small coating of water on the solid grains. Saturated zone - region of the subsurface in which pore spaces are filled completely with water. Aquitard - impermeable unit that impedes flow. Confining layers between the unconfined aquifer and confined aquifer. Water table - free water surface below ground surface, boundary between unsaturated zone and saturated zone. Potentiometric surface - an imaginary surface that reflects the hydraulic head of a confined aquifer. This surface can be delineated by the water levels in a series of monitoring wells in the confined aquifer. Shows water level if the ground was through all those parts.
