These kids probably think there is some kind of magic happening here ... they pull down a lever and out of the ground below their feet comes clear, cool freshwater. They (and maybe you) may not realize that there is an immense amount of water in aquifers below the earth's surface. In fact, there is a hundred times more water in the ground than is in all the world's rivers and lakes.
Some water underlies the Earth's surface almost everywhere, beneath hills, mountains, plains, and deserts. It is not always accessible, or fresh enough for use without treatment, and it's sometimes difficult to locate or to measure and describe. This water may occur close to the land surface, as in a marsh, or it may lie many hundreds of feet below the surface, as in some arid areas of the West. Water at very shallow depths might be just a few hours old; at moderate depth, it may be 100 years old; and at great depth or after having flowed long distances from places of entry, water may be several thousands of years old.
Ground water occurs only close to the Earth's surface. There must be space between the rock particles for ground water to occur, and the Earth's material becomes denser with more depth. Essentially, the weight of the rocks above condense the rocks below and squeeze out the open pore spaces deeper in the Earth. That is why ground water can only be found within a few miles of the Earth's surface.
Ground water is an important part of the water cycle. Ground water is the part of precipitation that seeps down through the soil until it reaches rock material that is saturated with water. Water in the ground is stored in the spaces between rock particles (no, there are no underground rivers or lakes). Ground water slowly moves underground, generally at a downward angle (because of gravity), and may eventually seep into streams, lakes, and oceans.
Here is a simplified diagram showing how the ground is saturated below the water table (the purple area). The ground above the water table (the pink area) may be wet to a certain degree, but it does not stay saturated. The dirt and rock in this unsaturated zone contain air and some water and support the vegetation on the Earth. The saturated zone below the water table has water that fills the tiny spaces (pores) between rock particles and the cracks (fractures) of the rocks.
Nothing surprising here - gravity pulls water toward the center of the Earth. That means that water on the surface will try to seep into the ground below it.
(2) The Rocks Below Our Feet
The rock below the Earth's surface is the bedrock
. If all bedrock consisted of a dense material like solid granite, then even gravity would have a hard time pulling water downward. But Earth's bedrock consists of many types of rock, such as sandstone, granite, and limestone. Bedrocks have varying amounts of void spaces in them where ground water accumulates. Bedrock can also become broken and fractured, creating spaces that can fill with water. And some bedrock, such as limestone, are dissolved by water -- which results in large cavities that fill with water.
In many places, if you looked at a vertical cross-section of the earth
you would see that rock is laid down in layers, especially in areas of
sedimentary rocks
.
Some layers have rocks that are more porous than others, and here water
moves more freely (in a horizontal manner) through the
earth. Sometimes when building a road, the layers are revealed
by road cuts, and water can be seen seeping out through the exposed layers.
Try as it might, gravity doesn't pull water all the way to the center of the Earth. Deep in the bedrock there are rock layers made of dense material, such as granite, or material that water has a hard time penetrating, such as clay. These layers may be underneath the porous rock layers and, thus, act as a confining layer to retard the vertical movement of water. Since it is more difficult for the water to go any deeper, it tends to pool in the porous layers and flow in a more horizontal direction across the aquifer toward an exposed surface-water body, like a river.
Visualize it this way: get two sponges and lay one on top of the other. Pour water (precipitation) on top and it will seep through the top sponge downward into the bottom sponge. If you stopped adding water, the top sponge would dry up and, as the water dripped out of the bottom sponge, it would dry up too. Now, put a piece of plastic wrap between the sponges, creating your "confining layer" (making the bottom sponge an impermeable rock layer that is too dense to allow water to flow through it). Now when you pour water on the top sponge, the water will seep downward until it hits the plastic wrap. The top sponge will become saturated, and when the water hits the plastic wrap it won't be able to seep into the second sponge. Instead, it will start flowing sideways and come out at the edges of the sponge (horizontal flow of ground water). This happens in the earth all the time -- and it is an important part of the water cycle.
Information on this page is from Waller, Roger M., Ground Water and the Rural Homeowner, Pamphlet, U.S. Geological Survey, 1982
Ground-water quality
What is an aquifer?
Wells
Artesian wells
How hydrologists find ground water
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthgw.html
Page Contact Information: Howard Perlman
Page Last Modified: Friday, 07-Nov-2008 15:42:54 EST
The water cycle: Ground-water