EESC BC 1001x Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Water Cycle, Aquifer, Evaporation
13 Nov 2016
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Document Summary
Aquifer- underground formations, usually composed of sand, gravel, or permeable rock, capable of storing and yielding significant quantities of water. Discharges- defined by the clean water act as the addition of pollutants (including animal manure or contaminated waters) to navigable waters. Freshwater- water without significant amounts of dissolved sodium chloride (salt). Characteristic of rain, rivers, ponds, and most lakes. Groundwater- water contained in porous strata below the surface of the earth. Water table- surface where the water pressure head is equal to the atmospheric pressure (where gauge pressure = 0). It may be conveniently visualized as the surface of the subsurface materials that are saturated with groundwater in a given vicinity. Recharge- a hydrologic process where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. This process usually occurs in the vadose zone below plant roots, and is often expressed as a flux to the water table surface. Confined aquifer- water no longer rises to the surface naturally.
