What causes groundwater discharge?
Discharge of groundwater occurs when water emerges from the ground. In Pennsylvania, most streams gain flow from groundwater. A few streams may recharge aquifers during periods of high streamflow (such as spring run off), but receive discharge from aquifers during periods of low streamflow (such as late fall).
How does groundwater get to the surface of the earth?
Water that infiltrates the soil flows downward until it encounters impermeable rock (shown in gray), and then travels laterally. The locations where water moves laterally are called "aquifers". Groundwater returns to the surface through these aquifers (arrows), which empty into lakes, rivers, and the oceans.
How is groundwater discharge to the surface naturally?
This type of discharge is generally continuous along the length of the channel bed as long as it is at the water table. How does groundwater discharge? Groundwater also discharges through springs, whereby groundwater moves laterally through permeable sandstone and emerges at an outcrop (Figure 2a).
Where does groundwater discharge?
Under natural conditions, ground water moves along flow paths from areas of recharge to areas of discharge at springs or along streams, lakes, and wetlands. Discharge also occurs as seepage to bays or the ocean in coastal areas, and as transpiration by plants whose roots extend to near the water table.
What is groundwater discharge quizlet?
Groundwater discharge. Replaces water lost from an aquifer through discharge. Most of that water has infiltrated and percolated downward from the land surface above the aquifer. Water moves into aquifers. Unconfined aquifer.
How does groundwater flow?
Groundwater flows underground Some of the precipitation that falls onto the land infiltrates into the ground to become groundwater. If the water meets the water table (below which the soil is saturated), it can move both vertically and horizontally.
How does groundwater flow underground?
Once the water has joined the aquifer, it doesn't stop there. The groundwater slowly moves through the spaces and cracks between the soil particles on its journey to lower elevations. This movement of water underground is called groundwater flow.
What is it called when groundwater becomes surface water?
Recharge. Runoff. When precipitation reaches the earth's surface, some of it will flow along the surface of the land and enter surface water like lakes, streams, and rivers, as runoff. The rest of it soaks or percolates into the soil, called recharge.
What force causes groundwater flow?
Gravity Gravity generates the flow of springs, rivers, and wells. If the pores in rocks and sediments are connected, gravity allows the water to move slowly through them.
How does water get below the surface to become groundwater quizlet?
How does water get below the surface to become groundwater? C. Water from precipitation soaks into cracks in soil and rock.
How does groundwater flow quizlet?
Groundwater flows from where the water table is high to where it is low. The greater the slope of the water table the faster the water flows. It can flow away from streams or lakes depending on the direction and slope of the water table.
How does the groundwater move underground?
Water moves underground downward and sideways, in great quantities, due to gravity and pressure. Eventually it emerges back to the land surface, into rivers, and into the oceans to keep the water cycle going.
How does groundwater travel?
Groundwater flows underground Some of the precipitation that falls onto the land infiltrates into the ground to become groundwater. If the water meets the water table (below which the soil is saturated), it can move both vertically and horizontally.
How does groundwater become groundwater?
Some of the water evaporates off the land to become water vapor once again. The remaining precipitation seeps, or percolates into the earth to become “groundwater.” These actions make up the Hydrologic Cycle. Water is in a constant cycle of change, from one form to another.
What two factors explain groundwater movement?
Topography and geology are the dominant factors controlling groundwater flow.
How does groundwater get into a reservoir?
Water in aquifers may be brought to the surface naturally through a spring, or can be discharged into lakes and streams. However, most groundwater is brought to the surface by pumping it through a well (which draws the water like soda through a straw) that is drilled into the aquifer.
How does groundwater return to the surface quizlet?
First water evaporates and makes clouds, then precipitation falls either on land or water, if it hits the ground it infiltrates and becomes groundwater. Eventually water makes it way back to the surface through streams, wetlands, transpiration, springs and flows back into the ocean to evaporate.
What factors increase the flow rate discharge of groundwater?
Topography and geology are the dominant factors controlling groundwater flow. Storativity describes the property of an aquifer to store water. Hydraulic conductivity is measured by performing a pumping test, i.e. by pumping one well and observing the changes in hydraulic head in neighboring wells.
What is the movement of water down through the earth’s surface?
The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle, describes the continuous movement of water as it makes a circuit from the oceans to the atmosphere to the Earth and on again. Most of Earth's water is in the oceans. The sun, which drives the water cycle, heats water in the oceans.
How are groundwater and surface water connected?
Surface water seeps into the ground and recharges the underlying aquifer—groundwater discharges to the surface and supplies the stream with baseflow. USGS Integrated Watershed Studies assess these exchanges and their effect on surface-water and groundwater quality and quantity.
How does water get beneath Earth’s surface after it rains?
When it rains, some of the water that falls onto the land flows into lakes and streams. But much of the water percolates through the soil and down into the rocks beneath. Water stored beneath the Earth's surface in sediment and rock formations is called groundwater.
How does water get from the atmosphere into the groundwater system?
How does water get from the atmosphere into the groundwater system? Precipitation falls on the ground and infiltrates into the ground surface to fill pores and fractures. Which one of the following statements is correct? Sea level drops when water is stored in expanding ice sheets and continental glaciers.
What influences groundwater flow?
Topography and geology are the dominant factors controlling groundwater flow. Storativity describes the property of an aquifer to store water. Hydraulic conductivity is measured by performing a pumping test, i.e. by pumping one well and observing the changes in hydraulic head in neighboring wells.
What causes the movement of water?
Ocean currents can be caused by wind, density differences in water masses caused by temperature and salinity variations, gravity, and events such as earthquakes or storms. Currents are cohesive streams of seawater that circulate through the ocean.
What is surface water groundwater?
Surface water includes any freshwater that's sent into wetlands, stream systems, and lakes. On the other hand, groundwater exists in subterranean aquifers that are situated underground. Most groundwater is obtained from snowmelt and rainfall that gets into the bedrock via the surrounding soil.
Why is it so important to understand the relationship between groundwater and surface water?
The development or contamination of surface water or groundwater resources typically has an effect on each (Winter et al., 1998). Therefore a basic understanding of the interactions between surface water and groundwater is crucial for better management and sound policy making related to water-resource problems.
Can surface water flow groundwater?
The exchange between surface water and groundwater continues when rivers emerge from mountains and flow across the state's large valleys. Winter flooding, along with rainfall in the valleys, recharges groundwater during the winter.
What is the movement of water down through the Earth’s surface?
The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle, describes the continuous movement of water as it makes a circuit from the oceans to the atmosphere to the Earth and on again. Most of Earth's water is in the oceans. The sun, which drives the water cycle, heats water in the oceans.
What force moves the water to the surface?
Capillary action is important for moving water (and all of the things that are dissolved in it) around. It is defined as the movement of water within the spaces of a porous material due to the forces of adhesion, cohesion, and surface tension.
How is groundwater formed?
Most groundwater comes from precipitation. Precipitation infiltrates below the ground surface into the soil zone. When the soil zone becomes saturated, water percolates downward. A zone of saturation occurs where all the interstices are filled with water.