Aquifer
From WaterWiki
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Aquifer | |
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Where groundwater can move rapidly, such as through gravel and sandy deposits, an aquifer can form. In an aquifer, there is enough groundwater that it can be pumped to the surface and used for drinking water, irrigation, industry, or other uses. The amount of water an aquifer can hold depends on the volume of the underground rock materials and the size and number of pores and fractures that can fill with water. An aquifer may be a few feet to several thousand feet thick, and less than a square mile or hundreds of thousands of square miles in area. Aquifers get water from precipitation (rain and snow) that filters through the unsaturated zone. Aquifers can also receive water from surface waters like lakes and rivers. When the aquifer is full, and the water table meets the surface of the ground, water stored in the aquifer can appear at the land surface as a spring or seep. | |
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Image from http://www.suburbanwatersystems.com/aquifer.asp See also: "Aquifer types".
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