Water Underground Coulter How water moves underground Water

Water Underground Coulter

How water moves underground… Water underground trickles down between particles of soil and through cracks and spaces in layers of rock. Different types of rock and soil have different-sized spaces (pores) between their particles. The size of pores determines how easily water moves through rock and soil. Permeable: characteristic of a material that is full of tiny, connected air spaces that water can seep through.

How water moves underground… As water soaks down through permeable rock and soil, it eventually reaches layers of material that it cannot pass through. Clay and granite are impermeable, meaning that water cannot pass through easily.

Water zones Once water reaches an impermeable layer, it is trapped. The water begins to fill up the spaces above the impermeable material. The area of permeable rock or soil that is totally filled, or saturated, with water is called the saturated zone. The top of the saturated zone is the water table. The layer of rock and soil above the water table is called the unsaturated zone.

Bringing up Groundwater Springs can form as groundwater bubbles or flows out of cracks in the rock. Aquifer: any underground layer of rock or sediment that holds water. Aquifers can range in size from small underground patch of permeable material to an area the size of several states.

Wells The depth of a water table can vary greatly over a small area. Generally, the level of a water table follows the shape of underground rock layers. People can obtain groundwater from an aquifer by drilling a well below the water table.

Subsidence Subsidence–ground surface settlement due to the consolidation or collapse of the underlying geologic material