SUBSURFACE WATER

Subsurface water, or ground water, is the water that lies beneath the ground surface, filling the pore space between grains in bodies of sediment and clastic sedimentary rock, and filling cracks and crevices in all types of rock. -It is also the water that is flowing within the aquifers below the water table.

Source of ground water is rain and snow that falls to the ground a portion of which percolates down into the ground to become ground water, where it eventually makes it way back to surface streams, lakes, or rivers.

Groundwater makes up about 1% of the water on the Earth (most water is in ocean).

But, groundwater makes up about 35 times the amount of water in lakes and rivers.

Distribution of Water

Groundwater occurs everywhere beneath the Earths surface but is usually restricted to depths less that about 750 meters.
The volume of groundwater is an equivalent to 55 meter thick layer spread out over the entire surface of the Earth.

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 Groundwater is also often withdrawn for agricultural, municipal and industrial use by constructing and operating extraction wells.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.
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Occurrence of Ground Water

Ground water occurs when water recharges the subsurface through cracks and pores in soil and rock Shallow water level is called the water table

Subsurface Zones
Zone of Aeration, or the Vadose Zone -a subsurface zone in which rock openings are generally unsaturated and filled partly with air and partly with water.

Zone of Saturation, or the Phreatic Zone - the subsurface zone in which all rock openings are filled with water.
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Water Table
-the surface separating the vadose zone from the saturated zone.

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 perched water table: the top of a body of ground water separated from the main water table beneath it by a zone that is not saturated

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o Water table follows the topography but more gently o Intersection of water table and ground surface produces lakes, streams, spring, wetlands o Ground water flows from higher elevation to lower, from areas of lower use to higher use, from wet areas to dry areas.

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Moisture in the Vadose Zone

Above the water table, moisture is raised by capillarity into the capillary fringe. If the water table is close to the ground surface, the capillary fringe and the soil moisture region may overlap, but where the water table is deep, an intermediate region exists where moisture levels remain constant at the field capacity of the soil and rock of the region.
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Capillary action, or capillarity, is the ability of a liquid to flow in a narrow space without the assistance of, and in opposition to external forces like gravity. The capillary fringe is the subsurface layer in which groundwater seeps up from a water table by capillary action to fill pores.

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Soil Water Relationship

Soil is a valuable resource that supports plant life, and water is an essential component of this system. By understanding some physical characteristics of the soil, you can better define the strengths and weaknesses of different soil types.

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Equilibrium Points
Visualizing several states of water in soil, early scientists tried to define limits of these states by equilibrium points. Field Capacity- is defined as the moisture content of the soil after gravity drainage is complete. Wilting Point- represents the soil-moisture level when plants cannot extract water from soil. It is the moisture held at a tension equivalent to the osmotic pressure in the plant roots.
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Measurement of Soil Moisture

The standard determination of soil moisture is the loss in weight when a soil sample is oven-dried.
Tensiometer -an instrument used to measure surface tension of liquids. -it can indicate soil-moisture tension from saturation to a tension about 100kPa

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Tensiometer consist of a porous ceramic cup which is inserted in the soil, filled with water, an connected to a manometer.

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Neutron Probe (NP) The technique is based on the measurement of fast moving neutrons (generated from an Americium 241/Beryllium source) that are slowed (thermalised) in the soil by an elastic collision with existing Hydrogen particles in the soil.

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Water is the only form of H+ that will change from measurement to measurement. Therefore any change in the counts recorded by the NP is due to a change in the moisture with an increase in counts relating to an increase in moisture content.

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Satellite remote sensing method

-used to estimate soil moisture based on the dielectric properties of wet and dry soil. The data from microwave remote sensing satellite are used to estimate surface soil moisture.

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Movement of Soil Moisture

Infiltration is the movement of water through the soil surface into the soil as distinguished from percolation, the movement of water through the soil. When water is first applied to the soil surface, gravity water moves down through the larger soil openings while the smaller surface pores take in water by capillarity pores.
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Moisture in the Phreatic Zone

Within the phreatic zone all pore spaces are filled with water, and the different states of moisture, moisture tension, etc are of little concern. Interest is centered on the amount of water present, the amount which can be removed and the movement of this water.
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Aquifers
-a geological unit which can store and supply significant quantities of water.
-a body of saturated rock or sediment through which water can move easily

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 unconfined aquifer: a partially filed aquifer exposed to the land surface and marked by a rising and falling water table -does not have confining layer between it and the surface.

confined aquifer (artesian aquifer): an aquifer completely filled with pressurized water and separated from the land surface by a relatively impermeable confining bed, such as shale

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An aquiclude is a solid, impermeable area underlying or overlying an aquifer. -it is a formation which contains water but cannot transmit it rapidly enough to furnish a significant supply to a well or spring.

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An aquitard is rock material that is low in porosity/permeability. Fluid flow is not good and the unit may often be termed a "cap rock", not allowing underlying water to flow upward.

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Porosity is a measure of the void spaces in a material, and is the ratio of the pore volume to the total volume of the formation.

Less porosity
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 Primary porosity (% pore space) is the initial void space present (intergranular) when the rock formed. Secondary porosity (% added by openings) develops later. It is the result of fracturing, faulting, or dissolution. Grain shape and cementation also affect porosity
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The specific yield of an acquifer is the ratio of the water which will drain freely from the material to the total volume of the formation and is always less than the porosity.

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The Movement of Ground Water

most ground water moves relatively slowly through rock underground because it moves in response to differences in water pressure and elevation, water within the upper part of the saturated zone tends to move downward following the slope of the water table
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 First, the groundwater moves downward due to the pull of gravity. But it can also move upward because it will flow from higher pressure areas to lower pressure areas.

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Factors affecting the flow of ground water:

the slope of the water table - the steeper the water table, the faster ground water moves

permeability - if rock pores are small and poorly connected, water moves slowly; when openings are large and well connected, the flow of water is more rapid
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 Porosity In sediments or sedimentary rocks the porosity depends on grain size, the shape of the grains, and the degree of sorting, and the degree of cementation. - in igneous rock and metamorphic rocks, porosity is usually low because the minerals tend to be inter grown, leaving little free space. Highly fractured igneous and metamorphic rocks, however, could have high porosity.

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PERMEABILITY is the capability of a rock to allow the passage of fluids. Permeability is dependent on the size of pore spaces and to what degree the pore spaces are connected. Grain shape, grain packing, and cementation affect permeability.

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Darcys Law
The velocity of groundwater is based on hydraulic conductivity (K), as well as the hydraulic head (I). The equation to describe the relations between subsurface materials and the movement of water through them is Q = KIA Where: Q = Discharge A = Area K=Hydraulic conductivity I= hydraulic head
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Determination of Permeability
A permeameter is an instrument that is capable of measuring the ability of a porous medium to permit flow of fluid.

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Sources of Groundwater
Ground water has gotten into the earth from one of the following sources: 1. Meteoric water. 2. Condensational water. 3. Connate water. 4. Juvenile water. 5. Mixed source water.
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Meteoric Water
It includes waters formed by infiltration of atmospheric precipitation like rain, sleet, snow, hail etc. as well as by the infiltration of water of rivers and lakes.

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Condensational Water
This water is mainly the source of replenishment of ground waters particularly in deserts and semi deserts, where precipitation is scanty and there is rapid evaporation. In such regions, there is ground water at certain depth below the surface.

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Connate Water
This is also known as fossil water and includes water entrapped in sediments at the time of their deposition on lake or sea bottom. They are classified in to two types as syngenetic and epigenetic connate water.

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The syngenetic connate water was trapped in the sediments containing it, whereas the epigenetic connate water are those which entered from the basins into the rocks that had formed earlier. Connate water often occurs in rock units with oil.

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Juvenile Water
It is also known as magmatic water as it is associated with the magmatic activities within the crust. With the cooling of magma, its gaseous contents and water vapour etc. separate out from it. The water vapour then gets condensed into superheated water and move upwards from a region of high temperatures and pressures to that of low temperature and pressure. This is also called virgin water.
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Mixed Source Water

It is quite natural to expect that along their complex-migration routes the aforesaid waters get mixed up and thus constitute ground water of a mixed type.

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Discharge of Groundwater
Without interference by human beings, a groundwater basin fills and discharges excess water by several routes until a quasiequilibrium is reached.
Effluent streams- are streams intersecting the water table and receiving groundwater flow.
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Phreatophytes- are plants deriving their water from underground.

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Equilibrium Hydraulics of Wells

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Wells
well: a deep hole, generally cylindrical, that is dug of drilled into the ground to penetrate an aquifer within the saturated zone recharge: the addition of new water to the saturated zon

Wet season: water table and rivers are high; springs and wells flow readily

Dry season: water table and rivers are low; some springs and wells dry up

Effects of Pumping Wells

Pumping wells
Accelerate flow Reverse flow Cause water table drawdown Form cones of depression
Gaining Stream

Water Table Drawdown Cone of Dry Spring Depression Gaining Stream Low well Low river

Low well

Pumping well

Effects of Pumping Wells

Dry well

Continued watertable drawdown

Losing Stream

Dry well

May dry up springs and wells May reverse flow of rivers (and may contaminate aquifer) May dry up rivers and wetlands

Dry well Dry river

 cone of depression: a depression of the water table formed around a well when water is pumped out; it is shaped like an inverted cone drawdown: the lowering of the water table near a pumped well

Non-equilibrium Hydraulics of Wells

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Boundary Effects
Boundary conditions and the aquifer domain size have significant influences on simulating flow and concentration fields and estimating maximum pumping rates.

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Aquifer Analysis
An aquifer test (or a pumping test) is conducted to evaluate an aquifer by "stimulating" the aquifer through constant pumping, and observing the aquifer's "response" (drawdown) in observation wells. Aquifer testing is a common tool that hydrogeologist use to characterize a system of aquifers, aquitards and flow system boundaries.
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Potential of Groundwater Reservoir Reservoirs

accumulate water from surface-water inflows and from precipitation on the reservoir surface; available storage is reduced by evaporation, releases to meet instream-flow requirements, and drinkingwater withdrawals

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 The amount of water that is available for withdrawal from a drinking-water supply reservoir depends on the water balance of the reservoir.

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to prevent reservoir failure, a withdrawal rate is chosen that maximizes the amount of water available for supply.

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Safe Yield
Safe yield is defined as the amount of water that a drainage basin/reservoir can provide during both wet and dry periods. Estimating both existing and future safe yield is a major concern with all State and/or municipal authorities charged with managing water supply systems. Two measurable and predictable variables affecting a system's safe yield are population growth and loss of reservoir capacity due to siltation.
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Seawater Intrusion
Saltwater intrusion is the movement of saline water into freshwater aquifers.
Most often, it is caused by ground-water pumping from coastal wells, or from construction of navigation channels or oil field canals. Salt water intrusion can also occur as the result of a natural process like a storm surge from a hurricane. Saltwater intrusion occurs in virtually all coastal aquifers, where they are in hydraulic continuity with seawater.
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Artificial Recharge
Groundwater recharge, a hydrologic process where water moves to groundwater

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Potential sources of ground water contamination are numerous. Injection wells, which carry and permanently place fluids underground, are a potential ground water contamination source if not properly sited, constructed and maintained.
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Artificial Recharge

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Artesian Aquifers
An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure.

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Example Layered Aquifer System

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Ground-Water Contamination
Leaking Gasoline
Floats on water table Dissolves in ground water Transported by ground water Contaminates shallow aquifers

Ground-Water Contamination
Dense solvents
E.g., dry cleaning fluid (TCE) Sinks past water table Flows down the slope of an impermeable layer Contaminates deeper portions of aquifers

Ground Water Action

Ground water chemically weathers bedrock
E.g., slightly acidic ground water dissolves limestone Caves are formed Permeability is increased Caves drain Speleothems form

Water moves along fractures and bedding planes in limestone, dissolving the limestone to form caves below the water table

Falling water table allows cave system, now greatly enlarged, to fill with air. Calcite precipitation forms stalactites, stalagmites, and columns above the water table

Effects of Ground-Water Action

caves (or caverns): naturally formed underground chamber most caves develop when slightly acidic ground water dissolves limestone along joints and bedding planes, opening up cavern systems as calcite is carried away in solution most caves probably are formed by ground water circulating below the water table
H2O + CO2 + CaCO3 Ca++ + 2HCO3water carbon dioxide calcite in limestone

development of caves (solution)

calcium ion

bicarbonate ion

development of flowstone and dripstone (precipitation)

Effects of Ground-Water Action

stalactites: icicle-like pendants of dripstone hanging from cave ceilings, generally slender and are commonly aligned along cracks in the ceiling, which act as conduits for ground water stalagmites: cone-shaped masses of drip-stone formed on cave floors, generally directly below stalactites

Effects of Ground-Water Action

sinkholes: closed depressions found on land surfaces underlain by limestone; they form either by the collapse of a cave roof or by solution as descending water enlarges a crack in limestone

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Effects of Ground-Water Action

karst topography: an area with many sinkholes and with cave systems beneath the land surface

Karst topography is marked by underground caves and numerous surface sinkholes. A major river may cross the region, but small surface streams generally disappear down sinkholes

Effects of Ground-Water Action

petrified wood: develops when porous buried wood is either filled in or replaced by inorganic silica carried in by ground water

Petrified log

concretion: a hard, round mass that develops when a considerable amount of cementing material precipitates locally in a rock, often around an organic nucleus
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geodes: partly hollow, globe-shaped bodies found in some limestones and locally in other rocks
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Hot Water Underground

hot springs: springs in which the water is warmer than human body temperature water can gain heat in two ways while underground:
1. ground water may circulate near a magma chamber or a body of cooling igneous rock 2. ground water may circulate unusually deep in the earth

 geyser: a type of hot spring that periodically erupts hot water and stream; the water is generally near boiling (100oC)

Hot Water Underground