Groundwater is defined as water that is found beneath the water table under Earth’s surface.

Groundwater Freshwater storehouse 98 percent of all the usable fresh water on the planet 60 times as plentiful as fresh water found in lakes and streams valuable resource

travels through pores in soil and rock, in fractures, and through weathered areas of bedrock.  Movement

Vocabulary Porosity: amount of pore space present in rock and soil Permeability: ability of fluids to travel through the rock or soil . A “high” permeability and porosity value means that the water can travel very quickly

Aquifer  Body of water-saturated sediment or rock in which water can move readily  unconfined aquifer is exposed to the surface of the land   confined aquifer is an aquifer that has a confining layer that separates it from the land surface.

If the water is pressurized at a high enough value, when a well is drilled into the confining aquifer, water rises above the land surface. This is known as a flowing artesian water well.

Sinkhole https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jMOSMVaIfs

Recharge and Drawdown Porosity and permeability affects the recharge rate of the groundwater.  Drawdown: lowering of the aquifer near a pumping well. creates voids in the bedrock Sinkholes (cannot hold the weight of the material above and collapses)  

Sources http://education.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/aquifer/ http://www.ngwa.org/Fundamentals/teachers/Pages/Ground-Water-Introduction-and-Demonstration.aspx Birchall, Gary and John McCutcheon. Planet Earth: A Physical Geography. Ontario: John Wiley and Sons 1993. Print