Groundwater Definition. It is also called subsurface water to distinguish it from surface water, which is found in large bodies like the oceans or lakes or which flows overland in streams. Because groundwater reserves are important, many governments allow government agencies to take over the management of groundwater basins, when they are identified, in the interests of keeping groundwater supplies.
What is Groundwater? Definition & Explanation Video from study.com
Some part of the precipitation that lands on the ground surface infiltrates into the subsurface. Groundwater is the water present beneath earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations.a unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. Groundwater originates from rain and from melting snow and ice.
Groundwater Is Water That Exists Underground In Saturated Zones Beneath The Land Surface.
Groundwater contamination commonly results from human activities where pollutants, susceptible to percolation are stored and spread on or beneath the land surface. Some part of the precipitation that lands on the ground surface infiltrates into the subsurface. Accounting for 20% of all the freshwater on earth, groundwater can be contaminated by pollutants that are.
Groundwater Is The Water Found Underground In The Cracks And Spaces In Soil, Sand And Rock.
The upper surface of the saturated zone is called the water table. Groundwater is fresh water (from rain or melting ice and snow) that soaks into the soil and is stored in the tiny spaces (pores) between rocks and particles of soil. Groundwater is fed by precipitation and can resurface to replenish streams, rivers, and lakes.
The Depth At Which Soil Pore Spaces Or Fractures And Voids In Rock Become Completely Saturated With Water Is Called The Water Table.
It can stay underground for hundreds of thousands of years, or it can Despite its importance, groundwater is poorly understood and often undervalued. This is defined as the permeability of the rock.
Like Surface Water, Groundwater Can Become Polluted Or Contaminated.
Aquifers, springs, and wells are supplied by the flow of groundwater. Groundwater is a finite resource, and aquifers can become depleted when extraction rates exceed replenishment, or ‘recharge’, rates. In more temperate areas where rainfall rates are higher, groundwater may be replenished on a regular basis and extraction can be managed on a renewable basis.
Groundwater Accounts For Nearly 95 Percent Of The Nation’s Fresh Water Resources.
Groundwater is (naturally) recharged by rain water and snowmelt or from water that leaks through the bottom of some lakes and rivers. This means groundwater can be a finite, or slowly replenished resource. Because groundwater reserves are important, many governments allow government agencies to take over the management of groundwater basins, when they are identified, in the interests of keeping groundwater supplies.
