Groundwater

Groundwater (underground water)

Zone of aeration - both air and water in pores
Zone of saturation - pores completely filled with water
Water table - upper limit of zone of saturation - surface that moves depending on
amount of precipitation - humid regions lies closer to the surface - arid regions lies at depth
Groundwater and streams
Effluent stream - groundwater discharging into the stream (groundwater system is supplying
water to the stream) - humid regions primarily
Influent stream - groundwater is gaining water from the stream (stream is supplying water to
the groundwater system) - arid regions primarily

Porosity - volume of voids (pores) divided by the volume of the material - indicator of amount
of water that the material (soils and rocks) can hold
Permeability - indicator of the ability of material to allow the passage of water through it related to the number and size of pores and the interconnections between the pores
Aquifer - material that can store and transmit significant volumes of water
Aquiclude - material that will restrict the passage of water and limit its storage
Perched water table - water that has infiltrated does not reach the saturated zone , it is
stopped by an aquiclude and accumulates to form a localized saturated zone - saturated zone
that is unsaturated above and below it
Springs - surface outflows ( discharges) of groundwater
Wells - man-made opening in the earths surface dug or drilled below the water table to pump
out groundwater (artificial discharge of groundwater)

Artesian wells - wells in which water rises to the surface and flow out under its own pressure
without pumping - well is placed in a confined aquifer that is under pressure
Karst or Limestone - land sculptured by underground water
Swallow holes - streams and rivers disappear down holes
Potholes - shallow holes that have been widened and deepened by solution of the
material
Sinkholes - circular depressions produced by chemical solution of limestone
Underground caves and caverns - underground features that have been developed
by chemical solution of the limestone
Collapse sinks - surface area caused by collapsing subsurface cave roofs
In caves where water drips from the ceiling and evaporates it leaves behind a deposit of calcium
carbonate - stalactites (grow downward from the ceiling) - stalagmites (build up from the floor)
- speleothems (stalactites and stalagmites meet to form a column)

Stream System
Runoff surface flow from precipitation
Tributaries of streams smaller streams that feed into the major one
Stream system major stream and its tributaries
Drainage Basin ( watershed, catchment basin) land surface drained by a stream system
Watershed Divide imaginary line between two stream systems

Types of stream flow regimes

Perennial streams that flow year-round
Intermittent seasonal flow after heavy rains or during the rainy season
Ephemeral stream unpredictable flows
Stream Discharge (Q) volume of water flowing past a cross section of the stream in a given
period of time
Q=AV
Q is volume of water per time (cubic feet per second)
A is cross sectional area of stream

V is velocity of water (how fast it is moving down the stream)

Erosion by Streams
Graded Stream stream has just the velocity necessary to remove the load eroded from the
drainage basin a perfect balance between sediment supply and stream capacity
Base Level level or elevation below which a stream cannot cut ultimate global base level
is sea-level
Stream Load (How weathered material is carried by running water)
Dissolved load material in solution produced by chemical weathering process of
solution
Suspended load small particles being carried in the water by the stream
Bed load larger particles that are rolled, dragged or bounced along the stream bed
Traction process that moves larger eroded fragments (particles) along the
bed of the stream
Saltation particles are lifted and transported short distances before they
return to the stream bed (particles appear to be jumping)
Stream Erosion, Transportation and Deposition
Degradation equals erosion
Aggredation equals deposition depends on a decrease in velocity

Major deposition features Alluvial fans (Fig 14.29) and Deltas (Fig 14.30)
Floods result of too much runoff for the stream channel to carry
Flood Plain area along the stream channel that gets covered by water during the flood and
acts like an extension of the stream channel
Antecedent stream stream where erosion ( down cutting) has been able to keep up with the
geologic uplift of the land AND maintain grade while the land rose around it
Grand Canyon of the Colorado River is a good example the elevation of the river is where it
has always been (one mile deep canyon represents the amount of uplift of the whole Colorado
Plateau during the past 6 or 7 million years)