Groundwater

Subsurface Zones
Water Table
Interstices
Porosity
Permeability

Source
Ocean
Glaciers and other ice
Ground Water
Lakes
fresh
saline
Soil Moisture
Atmosphere
Rivers

Volume Percent
97.2000
2.1500
0.6100
0.0090
0.0080
0.0050
0.0010
0.0001

Groundwater
Groundwater is the water below the ground surface
occupying the pore spaces in rocks and soils.
Groundwater is present everywhere beneath land
surface and ocean bottom.
Most ground water originates from precipitation and
surface water.
Groundwater is always in motion.

Subsurface Zones
Zone of Saturation or Saturated Zone
Subsurface zone in which all the void spaces within the rock or
sediment are filled with water.
Also known as the phreatic zone.
(Pheratic is derived from the Greek phrear, -atos meaning a well).

Zone of Aeration or Unsaturated Zone

Subsurface zone in which all void spaces in the rock or sediment are
not filled with water.
Also known as the vadose zone or zone of aeration.
(vadose is derived from the Latin vadosus meaning shallow ).

Capillary Fringe region above water table where water rises due to
capillary forces in the porous medium.

The top of an unconfined aquifer is the water table

or Pheratic Surface.

The amount of water in storage in an aquifer is

reflected in the elevation of its water table.

If the rate of recharge is less than the natural

discharge rate plus well production, the water table
will decline and the aquifer's storage will decrease.

A perched aquifer's water table is usually highly

sensitive to the amount of seasonal recharge so a
perched aquifer typically can go dry in summers or
during drought years.

Water Table

The portion of a rock or soil not occupied by solid

mineral matter may be occupied by groundwater.
These spaces are known as voids, interstices,
pores or pore spaces.
Interstices are characterized by their size, shape,
irregularity and distribution.
Types of Interstices w.r.to Size

Capillary: sufficiently small, water held by surface tension

forces

Subcapillary: very small, water held primarily by adhesive

forces

Supercapillary: larger than capillary forces

Types of Interstices w.r.to Connection

Communicatting
Isolated

Original Interstices
Created by geologic processes governing the
origin of geologic formation.
Found in sedimentary and igneous rocks.

Secondary Interstices
Developed after rock formation.
Examples: joints, fractures, solution openings,
opening formed by plants and animals.

Porosity

Ratio of pore volume to

total volume of a soil or
rock .

Well-sorted
sediments

Open porosity or
effective porosity

Ratio of accessible pore

volume to total volume .
Porosity determines the
amount of water that a
given volume of soil or
rock can contain.

Poorly-sorted
sediments

Reduction of
porosity by
cementation

Diogenesis The formation of rock; pores fill up with precipitations of

mineral and reduce porosity

The porosity of a sedimentary rock is affected by

several factors:
Sizes and shapes of the mineral grains.
Compactness of their arrangement.
Weight of overlying rock or soil.
Extent to which the pores become filled with
the cement that holds the particles together.

The porosity of intrusive and metamorphic rocks

generally is low.

Mathematically,
Porosity () is the ratio of openings (voids) to
the total volume of a soil.
= (Vt-Vs)/Vt = Vv/Vt
Vt= total volume of the soil or rock
Vs= volume of solids in the sample
Vv= volume of openings (voids)
Expressed as percentage.

Graphical Illustration of Porosity

Capacity of a rock or soil to transmit fluid

through pore space and fractures.
Rocks/Soil that allow water to flow easily
are referred to as permeable.
While those that do not allow water to flow
easily are referred to as impermeable.