Coastal & Marine Geology InfoBank

USGS CMG InfoBank: Seawater


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Comment: 16:42 - 17:19 (00:37)

Source: Annenberg/CPB Resources - Earth Revealed - 21. Groundwater

Keywords: groundwater, "fresh water", "sea water", salt, coast, well, irrigation

Our transcription: Beneath land, groundwater is fresh, but underneath the sea floor, it is salty.

Since fresh water is less dense than seawater, fresh groundwater just inland from the coast will tend to float on top of a saltwater base.

If fresh water is pumped out faster than it can be naturally replenished, seawater will flow in to replace it.

As a result, the well water becomes increasingly salty making it useless for drinking and poisonous for irrigation.

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U.S. Department of the Interior \| U.S. Geological Survey URL: http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/infobank/programs/html/school/moviepage/19.01.18.html Page Contact: InfoBank staff Page Last Modified: Tue Dec 16 06:32:07 PST 2008 (wcs)