GROUNDWATER

-Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of lithologic formations.

-A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock become completely saturated with water is called the water table.

-Groundwater is recharged from, and eventually flows to, the surface naturally; natural discharge often occurs at springs and seeps, and can form oases or wetlands.

-Groundwater is also often withdrawn for agricultural, municipal and industrial use by constructing and operating extraction wells.

-The study of the distribution and movement of groundwater is hydrogeology, also called groundwater hydrology.