News tagged with groundwater
Groundwater depletion in semiarid regions of Texas and California threatens US food security
The nation's food supply may be vulnerable to rapid groundwater depletion from irrigated agriculture, according to a new study by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and elsewhere.
May 28, 2012 |
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Groundwater pumping leads to sea level rise, cancels out effect of dams: study
As people pump groundwater for irrigation, drinking water, and industrial uses, the water doesn't just seep back into the ground – it also evaporates into the atmosphere, or runs off into rivers and canals, eventually ...
May 08, 2012 |
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Plutonium's unusual interactions with clay may minimize leakage of nuclear waste
As a first line of defense, steel barrels buried deep underground are designed to keep dangerous plutonium waste from seeping into the soil and surrounding bedrock, and, eventually, contaminating the groundwater. But after ...
Nov 03, 2011 |
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Scientists pinpoint origin of dissolved arsenic in Bangladesh drinking water
Researchers in MIT's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering believe they have pinpointed a pathway by which arsenic may be contaminating the drinking water in Bangladesh, a phenomenon that has puzzled ...
Nov 15, 2009 |
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The hills are evolving: New model predicts speed of spreading valleys
From high above the Florida Panhandle, the Apalachicola Bluffs -- a winding system of steep ravines -- look like the branching veins of a leaf.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Feb 06, 2012 |
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New material shows promise for trapping pollutants
(PhysOrg.com) -- Water softening techniques are very effective for removing minerals such as calcium and magnesium, which occur as positively-charged ions in "hard" water. But many heavy metals and other inorganic ...
Sep 06, 2011 |
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Replace cattle? Edible insects produce smaller quantities of greenhouse gases
(PhysOrg.com) -- Insects produce much smaller quantities of greenhouse gases per kilogram of meat than cattle and pigs. This is the conclusion of Dutch team of scientists at Wageningen University, who have joined forces with ...
Jan 11, 2011 |
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Natural processes can limit spread of arsenic in water, study says
(PhysOrg.com) -- Many people in Bangladesh and other parts of Asia have been poisoned by drinking groundwater laced with arsenic—not introduced by humans, but leached naturally from sediments, and now ...
Oct 11, 2011 |
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Beer-barrel bacteria breathe toxic brew
University of New South Wales researchers have shown that they can safely destroy hazardous industrial toxins in groundwater arising from PVC plastic production by injecting naturally occurring bacteria into a contaminated ...
Aug 01, 2011 |
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Researchers unlock bacteria's beneficial side
Researchers now understand how bacteria can break down phosphonic acids, persistent and potentially hazardous environmental pollutants found in many common medicinal products, detergents and herbicides.
Nov 28, 2011 |
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From decade to decade: What's the status of our groundwater quality?
There was no change in concentrations of chloride, dissolved solids, or nitrate in groundwater for more than 50 percent of well networks sampled in a new analysis by the USGS that compared samples from 1988-2000 to samples ...
Apr 30, 2012 |
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Salinity in Outer Banks wells traced to fossil seawater
Rising salinity in the primary source for desalinated tap water in North Carolina's Outer Banks has been traced to fossil seawater, not – as some have feared – to recent seawater intrusion.
May 12, 2011 |
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Geologists find parts of Northwest Houston sinking rapidly
A large section of northwestern Harris County - particularly the Jersey Village area - is sinking rapidly, according to a University of Houston (UH) geologist who has analyzed GPS data measuring ground elevation ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 28, 2010 |
5 / 5 (9) |
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Groundwater depletion rate accelerating worldwide
In recent decades, the rate at which humans worldwide are pumping dry the vast underground stores of water that billions depend on has more than doubled, say scientists who have conducted an unusual, global ...
Sep 23, 2010 |
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'Hydraulic fracturing' mobilizes uranium in marcellus shale
Scientific and political disputes over drilling Marcellus shale for natural gas have focused primarily on the environmental effects of pumping millions of gallons of water and chemicals deep underground to ...
Oct 25, 2010 |
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Groundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock become completely saturated with water is called the water table. Groundwater is recharged from, and eventually flows to, the surface naturally; natural discharge often occurs at springs and seeps, and can form oases or wetlands. Groundwater is also often withdrawn for agricultural, municipal and industrial use by constructing and operating extraction wells. The study of the distribution and movement of groundwater is hydrogeology, also called groundwater hydrology.
Typically, groundwater is thought of as liquid water flowing through shallow aquifers, but technically it can also include soil moisture, permafrost (frozen soil), immobile water in very low permeability bedrock, and deep geothermal or oil formation water. Groundwater is hypothesized to provide lubrication that can possibly influence the movement of faults. It is likely that much of the Earth's subsurface contains some water, which may be mixed with other fluids in some instances. Groundwater may not be confined only to the Earth. The formation of some of the landforms observed on Mars may have been influenced by groundwater. There is also evidence that liquid water may also exist in the subsurface of Jupiter's moon Europa.
For more information about Groundwater, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
