Hydrology & Hydrogeology

Groundwater
Ground water is a type of Geofluid

ENV-2A3Y, ENVF2A3Y and M-507

Lecture 2

Other Geofluids are:

Hydrocarbons
Gas
Oil
Brine (very saline waters)

Aquifers; Physical properties; Porosity; Permeability

Groundwater is stored in aquifers, consisting of a porous
medium.
When hydrocarbons are concerned, the term reservoirs is
commonly used instead of aquifer.

Groundwater

Groundwater

Aquifer Types Unconfined

Aquifer Types Confined

Confined aquifers are bounded
below and above by an aquiclude
(impermeable).

Also called water table aquifer or

phreatic aquifer

Water pressure in a confining aquifer

is usually higher than that of the
atmosphere so that if a well is drilled
through the confining unit water will
rise above the top of the aquifer.

is not restricted by any confining

unit above it
Its upper boundary is the water
table which is free to rise and fall

Unconfined

Water in a well in the aquifer is at

atmospheric pressure and does
rise above or below the water
table.

When water pressure is so high that

water rises till above the surface we
speak of an artesian well.

Confined

Aquifer Types Leaky (semi-confined)

Unconfined
Aquifer

Semi- confined
Aquifer

Semi-confined

A semi-confined aquifer is bounded by

a aquitard that does transmit water
when hydraulic heads above and
below the leaky boundary are in disequilibrium.

Most underground
water resides in
small openings
(pores) or in
fractures

Storage and flow of water underground

Porosity determines how much water a certain rock/soil can hold,
i.e. the ratio of open space to the total volume of rock. Porosity is
usuallay designated n and is dimensionless. Porosity in a rock can
be:
Primary, developed at the time the rock was formed
Secondary, as a result of processes active after the rock
formed

Primary porosity
Void space between grains in either
siliclastic or carboniferous sedimentary
rocks (unconsolidated or lithified)
Crystalline rock such as igneous and
metamorphic rocks have hardly any
primary porosity (but nevertheless can hold considerable

(Intrinsic) Permeability is a measure of how

well a porous medium is able to transmit a fluid
moving through the pores. Hence, the
connectivity of the pores is important, as well as
the tortuosity of the pore network. Intrinsic
permeability is independent of fluid properties
such as density and viscosity and has units of
[Length2].

amounts of water in mineral assemblages, e.g. biotite)

Volcanic rocks can have considerable

primary porosity as a result of the
formation of tunnels (large-scale) and/or
vesicles (small-scale)

Tortuous flow

Sands and gravels

Clays and shales

Primary porosity of voids
between sediment grains
(e.g. 0.25-0.40)

Clay minerals have a plate-like

shape. Wetted clay stores
water in between these plates.
The bond between water and
clay minerals and water
molecules is strong due to the
di-pole nature of water
molecules.

The role of grain

sorting:

Poorly sorted
Source: Tulane University

Clay can hold a relative large

amount of water in this way
and therefore are considered to
have a high porosity (0.6-0.8).

Sedimentary rocks

Igneous rocks

crystalline

Photo: USGS

Metamorphic rocks

Primary porosity in
volcanic rocks
lava tubes
vesicles

Also crystalline

Secondary porosity 1 - Intercrystalline

porosity

Secondary porosity
Forms after rock formed.
4 main types of secondary porosity
Intercrystalline porosity
Selective leaching of rock components to
form moldic porosity
Tectonic and other fractures
Leaching along planes of weakness to
form widened fractures, vugs and caverns

Secondary porosity 2 - moldic porosity

dissolved grains

Development of
porous regolith
from crystalline
rock (granite
pourri).

Secondary porosity 3 Fracture porosity

Moldic porosity is a
type of secondary
porosity that develops
after preferential
dissolution of a rock
constituent such as a
fossil shell.

Photo: Schlumberger

Fracture porosity in Chalk

Microscale Fracture porosity

Fracture porosity in
Carboniferous
Limestone

Contraction
fractures
Cooling basalt
outflows

Fracture allows >95% of water

into largest quarry in Europe
(Whatley Quarry. E. Mendips)

Giant
Giants Causeway

Secondary porosity 4
Leached cavernous
porosity

Secondary Porosity 4
Solution-enlarged
fracture porosity

Secondary Porosity
- Caverns

Porosity can be reduced by

cementation and/or compaction

Porosity reduction
Two main processes, result in the reduction of
porosity after the initial formation of the rock, these
are:

Cementation of pore space through

mineralization
Compaction during burial and increased
effective stress (mainly relevant for
sedimentary rocks)
1) Quartz cementation in sandstones

Primary voids partly reduced by cement

Limestone calcite cement

Porosity reduction 2) compaction

Unconsolidated sand clay cement

Sediment compressibility
During burial of sediments to greater
depths, in sedimentary basins, e.g. the
North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the
packing of the sediment is likely to
become more tight (effective) reducing
pore-space.
How much pore space is reduced of a
sediment under a given increase of the
overburden pressure is governed by
the sediment compressibility, , with
units [Pa-1] (fluids in the pore space are
assumed uncompressible).
Clay-rich sediments have a larger
compressibility than sands.
Source: US Geological Survey

Porosity as function of Vclay and depth

0 is the porosity at the

surface.

Compressibility () and 0
scale with clay-content Vclay
Effective stress (e) is the
confining pressure exerted
by the overburden minus
fluid pressure.

from Bense and Person (2006)

From Sanford et al; Groundwater in Geological processes