Introduction to Hydrogeology

• Hydro- meaning water and Geology meaning the study of the Earth
• Hydrogeology is a branch of geology that deals with the study of occurrence, distribution and
movement of groundwater in the soil and rock formations of the Earth's crust.
• Hydrogeology is ‘the study of the occurrence, movement and chemistry of groundwater in its
geological environment’. This definition emphasises the role that the science of geology plays in the
study of groundwater. A sound knowledge of the geology of an area should form the basis for all
hydrogeological assessments
• Groundwater aquifers can be truly huge. The world’s largest aquifer is the Great Artesian Basin in
Australia. It covers 1.7 million square kilometres
• The Great Artesian Basin is also the deepest aquifer in the world. The groundwater is held in layers of
sandstone up to 3km deep in places.
• In other places the same rocks are at the surface, and the water flows out at springs.
• Hydrogeology is related to other sciences, There are first
relations with basic sciences like mathematics, phys-ics, and
chemistry. Knowledge of these subjects is indispensable for a
full understanding of hydrogeology.
• Other earth sciences that need to be mastered by the
hydrogeologist are geology, surface water hydrol-ogy and
meteorology.
• much of the research done in the field of hydrogeology has
been accomplished by joint efforts between hydrogeologists,
geologists, hydrologists, and meteorologists
 The Hydrological cycle
• The hydrologic cycle is defined as the set of storage and discharge
which hold and move (dynamics) water through the atmosphere, on
the surface, and in the subsurface of the Earth .
• Within the cycle, there are various reservoirs holding water and
various processes that move water within reservoirs and from one
reservoir to the next.
• Includes occurrence, distribution & dynamics of all types of water in
the Earth and atmosphere
• Occurrence-Rain, snow, hail that lead to the water storage
• Distribution-ocean, ponds, rivers, lagoons, lakes, groundwater, soil
moisture
• Dynamics-Evaporation, infiltration, human induced influences
• Sun & wind circulation (Coriolis force) help the dynamics
• Earth’s water cycle works like a closed system following the law of
conservation of mass.
• With the exception of minor amounts of extraterrestrial water
brought in by comets, and small amounts of water vapor that are lost
to outer space at the upper reaches of the atmosphere, there is a
constant volume of water in the entire water cycle-closed
system/cycle
 Components of hydrological cycle
• Evaporation
• Evapotranspiration
• Condensation
• Precipitation
• Infiltration
• Runoffs
• Groundwater
• Base flows
 Law of mass conservation
• “the mass can neither be created nor destroyed but is transformed from one form to another”
• It applies to the hydrological cycle on account of the fact that except negligible amount of water, the volume of
water on earth remains constant at any defined point of time.

Out flow=Evap=424+61=485
Inflow=Rains=385+100=485
 Evaporation
• Evaporation is the process whereby liquid water is converted to water vapour
(vaporization) and removed from the evaporating surface. Water evaporates
from a variety of surfaces, such as lakes, rivers, pavements, soils and wet
vegetation.
• Energy is required to change the state of the molecules of water from liquid
to vapour. Direct solar radiation and, to a lesser extent, the ambient
temperature of the air provide this energy.
• The driving force to remove water vapour from the evaporating surface is the
difference between the water vapour pressure at the evaporating surface
and that of the surrounding atmosphere.
• As evaporation proceeds, the surrounding air becomes gradually saturated
and the process will slow down and might stop if the wet air is not
transferred to the atmosphere. The replacement of the saturated air with
drier air depends greatly on wind speed.
• Solar radiation, air temperature, air humidity and wind speed are
climatological parameters to consider when assessing the evaporation
process.
• Evaporation is measured through Pan Evaporimeter
• Units mm/d, or m/year
 Evapotranspiration
• Evapotranspiration is the sum of evaporation from the land surface plus
transpiration from plants.
• The transpiration is essentially evaporation of water from plant leaves.
• Studies have revealed that transpiration accounts for about 10 percent of
the moisture in the atmosphere, with oceans, seas, and other bodies of
water (lakes, rivers streams) providing nearly 90 percent, and a tiny
amount coming from sublimation (ice changing into water vapor without
first becoming liquid).
• So, sources of atmospheric moisture are…….?
• Factors that affect evapotranspiration include the plant's growth stage or
level of maturity, percentage of soil cover, solar
radiation, humidity, temperature, and wind.
• A lysimeter is a measuring device which can be used to measure the
amount of actual evapotranspiration which is released by plants
(usually crops or trees).
 Evapo-transpiration
• Lysimeter is an apparatus for measuring change due to
moisture loss, percolation, etc. undergone by a body of soil
under controlled conditions.
• There are numerous types and the correct lysimeter depends
on the application.
• Soil moisture probe lysimeter involves installing one or more
volumetric water content sensors in a soil profile. The number
of probes depends on soil depth and the depth to which
moisture infiltration needs to be monitored.
• This type of lysimeter is commonly used in applications such
as phytocaps on disused landfills or mine sites where the
efficiency of the bottom impervious layer (cap) needs to be
monitored.
 Actual & Potential Evapotranspiration
• The key difference between actual
evapotranspiration and potential evapotranspiration
is that actual evapotranspiration is the amount of
water that is actually removed from a surface
by evaporation and transpiration while potential
evapotranspiration is a measure of the ability of
the atmosphere to remove water from the surface
through evaporation and transpiration.
• Scientists consider both potential evapotranspiration
and actual evapotranspiration for effective crop
management. Actual evapotranspiration indicates
the actual amount of water evaporated through the
surface while potential evapotranspiration is the
ability of the atmosphere to remove water from the
surface by evaporation and transpiration.
• Potential evapotranspiration takes a higher value
than the actual evapotranspiration. Hence, crop
water need can be calculated by subtracting the
actual evapotranspiration from the potential
evapotranspiration.
 Condensation
• Condensation is the process where water vapor becomes
liquid. It is the reverse of evaporation, where
liquid water becomes a vapor.
 Condensation happens one of two ways: Either the air is
cooled to its dew point or it becomes so saturated
with water vapor that it cannot hold any more water.
 The dew point is the temperature to which air is cooled to
become saturated with water vapor. When cooled further,
the airborne water vapor will condense to form liquid
water (dew)
 As water vapor rises into the atmosphere, they mix up
with very tiny particles of dust and salt, which are
all particulate matter in the atmosphere. These particles
are called aerosols. As the surrounding temperatures fall,
the water vapor turns into very tiny particles of water and
Pressure and Temperature drops with altitude
ice crystals.
in Troposphere
Earth’s Atmosphere

Air circulation, Temperature and

pressure dynamics in troposphere
play a vital role in hydrological cycle
 Precipitation
• Precipitation is water released from clouds in the form of rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or hail. It is the
primary connection in the water cycle that provides for the delivery of atmospheric water to the Earth.
• Air circulations, temp-pressure gradient and moisture contents define the intensity and magnitude of
rain.
• Rainfall : Light rain = 1 to 2.5, Moderate rain = 2.5-7.5, Heavy Rain >7.5 (mm/hr)

• Rainfall intensity is determined as the average

rainfall rate in mm/h or mm/min for specific
rainfall duration and a selected frequency.
• In many regions, data on rainfall intensity are
available with a sufficient spatial and temporal
resolution.
• Often these data are given as rainfall height for a
defined duration.
• Rainfall intensity Ir=hr/tc
with Ir = intensity of rainfall (mm/min); hr = height of
rainfall (mm); tc = duration of rainfall (min).
 Infiltration
• Infiltration is the process by which water on the ground
surface enters the soil. It is commonly used in both hydrology
and soil sciences.
• Infiltration is defined as the flow of water from above ground
into the subsurface. The topic of infiltration has received a
great deal of attention because of its importance to topics as
widely ranging as irrigation, contaminant
transport, groundwater recharge, and ecosystem viability.
• The infiltration capacity is defined as the maximum rate of
infiltration.
• The rate and pattern of infiltration vary with the distribution
and rate with which water is supplied at the ground surface,
the depth of the water table, the hydraulic properties of the
subsurface materials, and the antecedent moisture content
distribution.
 Infiltration
• If water infiltrates into a dry soil, a wet front, can be
observed. This is the boundary between the wetted
upper part of the soil and the dry lower part of the soil.
If water is infiltrating into soil contained in a clear
plastic column, one can observe the progress of the wet
front and mark wet fronts as they change with time
• one can measure the amount of water infiltrated and
the depth and shape of the wet front, and come to
important conclusions about the entry of water into the
soil.
• Infiltration is extremely important, because it
determines not only the amount of water that will enter
a soil, but also the entrainment of the various chemicals
(nutrients and pollutants) dissolved in it.
• Infiltration is measured with the help of Double ring
infiltrometer
• Unit of infiltration rate mm/time
 Runoff
• Surface-Overland flows: When rain falls onto
the earth, it starts moving according to the laws
of gravity. Most of it flows downhill as runoff.
• Runoff is extremely important in that not only
does it keep rivers and lakes full of water, but it
also changes the landscape by the action of
erosion.
• Final destinations of runoff water-Dams,
reservoirs, river system, Gw recharge, sea,
Ocean
• Water resources are estimated and managed
through Rainfall-Runoff modeling or catchment
modeling
• Unit of runoff will be Volume/time (m3/sec)
 Groundwater
• Groundwater is the water found underground in the cracks and spaces in soil, sand and
rock.
• Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in different types of soils and
rocks. Water occupies pore spaces, cavities, fractures of geological formations.
• It is stored in and moves slowly passing through geologic formations i.e. soil, sand and
different rocks types.
• Distribution, Storage & Movement are the important aspect of groundwater hydrology
that are studied in great details
• Not all geological formation accommodate groundwater in same way which is primarily
because of their mode of formation (genesis)
• Basic hydraulic character of rock is defined by
porosity and permeability
 Origin of Groundwater
• Origin of Gw relates with the recharge from rainfall, surface water bodies like rivers and
ponds, return water from irrigation percolate down to the ground forming groundwater
resources
There are some classification of groundwater based on its association and genesis
• Meteoric water is the water derived from precipitation (snow and rain). This includes water
from lakes, rivers, and icemelts, which all originate from precipitation indirectly.
• Juvenile water: Juvenile water is found in cracks or crevices or porous rocks due to
condensation of steam coming out of hot molten masses or magma existing below the earth
surface. It is released to the atmosphere during volcanic eruption and gets added to water
cycle for first time.
• Magmatic: Juvenile water also known as Magmatic water is “new” water that originates
from the interior of the Earth and has not previously existed as water in any state.
• Metamorphic water is formed during progressive metamorphism and resulting expelled
water normally escape upward and mix with connate and meteoric water. Even though large
quantities must exist, no example of metamorphic water has been positively identified.
• Connate water is of deep origin, highly mineralized and relate to a geological environment
of entrapment with no or little connectivity with hydrological cycle, also referred as fossil
water