AG 314: Hydrogeology

Unit 1: Introduction to Hydrogeology

 What is Hydrogeology?
• Is the study that deals with Interrelationship of
geologic materials and processes with
water/groundwater
• In other literatures hydrogeology is reffered to
as ”geohydrology”.
• Hydrogeology is both a descriptive and an
analytic science
• It deals with both development and
management of the groundwater resources
 What is Hydrology?

• Hydrology is the science that deals with the

waters of the Earth.
– their occurrence, circulation and distribution,
– their chemical and physical properties and
– their reaction with the environment.
• It embraces the full life history of water on
the earth.
 Hydrology and Hydrogeology
• Hydrology is the study of water which addresses
the occurrence, distribution, movement and
chemistry of all water on the earth
• Hydrogeology addresses the interrelationships of
geologic materials/formations and processes
with water in the subsurface
Distribution of Water on the Earth
 History of Hydrogeology
• In the latter part of the 17th century Pierre Perrault was the
first person to use a water balance approach to
hydrogeology.
• In 1856, Henri Darcy, a French hydraulic engineer,
– concluded that the rate of flow of a fluid through a
porous media is directly proportional to the energy loss
and
– inversely proportional to the length of the path of flow.
• In 1940, M. King Hubbert
– developed the theory describing flow in large
groundwater basins (trans-boundary groundwater flow).
• 1970’s and 80’s: Environmental and contamination issues
became important; also research on potential use of
geothermal energy.
• 1990’s: drastic advances in computer technology has made
groundwater modeling widespread and available to
everyone
 The Hydrologic Cycle
• The hydrologic cycle is the process, powered by the sun's
energy, which moves water between the oceans, the sky,
and the land and can be defined as the set of reservoirs and
fluxes which hold and move water through the atmosphere,
on the surface, and in the subsurface of the Earth.

• The constant
movement of
water above,
on, and below
the earth’s
surface is
defined as the
hydrologic
cycle
The Role of Groundwater in the Hydrologic
Cycle

baseflow.”
 Groundwater in the Hydrologic Cycle
• Water that enters the subsurface as recharge
similarly flows back to rivers through small to
large scale flow systems and discharges through
their bases to form “baseflow.”
• Or it may flow directly back to, and discharge
into, the ocean via deep groundwater flow
systems.
 Elements of the Hydrologic Cycle
i. Evaporation-> water loss due to heat exchange
ii. Transpiration -> water loss to the atmosphere through
growing plants
iii. Evapotranspiration-> combining evaporation and transpiration
iv. Condensation- > change of state from vapour to liquid
v. Infiltration-> movement of water from surface into the
subsurface
– Groundwater recharge
vi. Runoff
– Streams, rivers, lakes and oceans
 Groundwater
• Groundwater can be defined as any water that is
found beneath the Earth’s surface.
• Some forms of groundwater are such as:
– The moisture that is found in the pores between soil
grains
– The fresh to slightly saline water, found in saturated
geologic units near the surface, which is used for
drinking and irrigation
– The extremely salty brines associated with petroleum
deposits and deep sedimentary units
– The water found in the lower lithosphere and in the
mantle.
 Distribution of groundwater in the Subsurface
• Groundwater in the subsurface is divided into three major zones; i.e.
Unsaturated zone/Vadose zone, capillary zone and saturated zone.
 Zone of Saturation

The layer of ground where all the pores are filled

with water.
 Zone of Aeration
• upper region, where water is both in the soil
and seeping down to the water table.
 Water Table
• This is the upper surface of the zone of
saturation
 Capillary Fringe
• This is the middle
layer, between the
water table and the
zone of aeration.
• Capillary Action
– ability of water to rise
UP the soil.
• Smaller particle size =
greater capillarity
 Groundwater Recharge and Discharge
• Groundwater is a part of the dynamic hydrologic cycle, and
water must somehow enter as well as leave the subsurface.

• The terminology that refers to the water entering the subsurface

is called recharge. Recharge to the subsurface is generally
through infiltration (percolation) of surface water (from rain,
perennial streams, melting snow, etc.) downward into the soil.

• Just as water enters the saturated zone, it must eventually leave

it. Movement of water out of the saturated zone is called
discharge.
 Groundwater Flow

• Groundwater is always flowing, and the direction of flow is

determined by:
– the location of higher groundwater elevation (level to water table).
• Groundwater does not flow downhill; rather,
– it flows from higher hydraulic heads (or higher water elevation) to lower
hydraulic heads.
– The distribution of hydraulic heads in the saturated zone determines the
direction in which the water will flow.
• The speed with which groundwater flows, also called the velocity
or flux,
– is determined by the difference in hydraulic head and
– the permeability of the geologic material (sediment or rock) through
which it flows.
 The Hydrologic Budget Equation
• The hydrologic equation provides a quantitative
means of evaluating the hydrologic cycle.
• The hydrologic equation is the simple statement
of the “law of mass conservation”

inflow  outflow  changes in storage

Components of Hydrologic budget equation

• Inflows
– Inflows add water to the different parts of the
hydrologic system
– For groundwater, inflows may include:
• Precipitation infiltration into the storage
• Baseflow from rivers, lakes into the groundwater aquifers
• Percolation of water into the ground from human activities
such as irrigation
– For surface water, inflows may include:
• Baseflow from groundwater storage to surface streams
• Springs
• Surface runoff from precipitation
 Components of Hydrologic budget equation

• Outflow
– Outflows removes water from different parts of the hydrologic system
– For groundwater, outflows include:
• Baseflow from groundwater system into the surface
streams
• Springs
• Groundwater abstraction through wells and boreholes
• Evapotranspiration
– For surface water, outflows may include:
• Evaporation and evapotranspiration
• Percolation of surface streams into the groundwater
reservoir
• Irrigation activities – inflow to groundwater
 Components of Hydrologic budget
equation
• Change in storage
– Storage is the retention of water by parts of the system.
– Because water movement is cyclical, an inflow for one
part of the system is an outflow for another.
– The change in storage may be positive or negative
depending of the balance between inflows and outflows
• A balanced hydrologic system will always provide a positive
change in storage
– If the change in storage is equal to zero, then the sum of
the inflows is equal to the sum of the outflows
 Groundwater Residence Time
• The residence time is effectively the average length of time that an
entity, in this case a water molecule, will remain in a reservoir.
• It is really only meaningful for a reservoir that is at or near a steady
state condition.
– The residence time is the amount of material in the reservoir,
divided by either the inflow or the outflow
• If there are multiple inflows or outflows, then we use the sum of the
outflows or inflows to determine the residence time.
 Introduction to Aquifers
• An aquifer is a geologic material that can store
and transmit (allow to flow) a sufficient amount
of water to supply a well.
• The factors that determine if a geologic
formation is an aquifer include the following:
– The permeability must be high enough that flow can be maintained.
– The aquifer dimensions must be great enough (i.e., there must be a
significant saturated thickness) to supply water to a well
– The quality of the water must be good enough for the intended use.
 Aquifer Properties
i. Porosity – ratio of the volume of void spaces in a rock or
sediment to total volume
ii. Specific yield – volume of water yield under gravity to total
volume
iii. Specific retention – volume of water retained under gravity to
total volume
iv. Hydraulic conductivity – rate at which water can move in a
material
v. Permeability – ability to allow flow
vi. Water table – static groundwater level
 Classification of saturated formations
• It is not always the case that all saturated
formations allows movement of water
– Some of theses formations can only store but do not
allow the flow of groundwater
• On this basis, groundwater saturated geological
formations are classified into four categories:
i. Aquifers
ii. Aquitard
iii. Aquiclude and
iv. Aquifuge
 Aquifer
• An aquifer is a saturated formation of earth
material which not only stores water but
yields it in sufficient quantity.
– Aquifers usually have high permeability
– Unconsolidated sand and gravel formations forms
good aquifers
– Highly weathered materials when saturated with
water are good aquifers
 Aquitard
• This is a geological formation which allows
storage of groundwater but yields small amount
of water
– This type of formation is usually partly permeable
– Sandy clay formations are examples of aquitards
– If an aquitard overlays the aquifer, it forms semi-
confined aquifer system
 Aquiclude
• An aquiclude is a geological formation which is
basically impermeable to the flow of water
– It only allows storage of water but does not allow
the movement/flow
– Aquiclude usually have high porosity so it can
store a large amount of water
• but the problem it does not allow flow of the same
– Thick clay formations are examples of aquicludes
 Aquifuge
• An aquifuge is a geological formation/material
which is neither porous nor permeable
– The pore spaces of an aquifuge are not
interconnected
• No flow of the water
– Massive compact rock such as fresh granitic rocks
without fractures are an example