GROUNDWATER

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-Groundwater is also often withdrawn for agricultural, municipal and industrial use by constructing and operating extraction wells.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

The uses of groundwater

- Groundwater is hypothesized to provide lubrication that can possibly influence the movement of faults. It is likely that much of the Earth's subsurface contains some water, which may be mixed with other fluids in some instances

- Groundwater makes up about twenty percent of the world's fresh water supply, which is about 0.61% of the entire world's water, including oceans and permanent ice. Global groundwater storage is roughly equal to the total amount of freshwater stored in the snow and ice pack, including the north and south poles.