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Lab 8 – Groundwater and Glaciers
Groundwater Definitions• Water Table• Zone of aeration
(Undersaturated zone/vadose zone)
• Zone of saturation (Saturated zone/phreatic zone)
• Flow lines• Aquifers• Water table contour
lines – indicate depth to water table, like a topo map
Aquifers
• Types of Aquifers– Confined– Unconfined
Wells/Cones of Depression
Wells/Cones of Depression
Groundwater Contamination
• Maybe be from large area or a point source
• Hard to trace path (unknown karst features, lithologies, etc.)– May end up in unexpected location
• May have extremely long residence time
Karst
• Karst – distinctive topography that indicates dissolution of underlying rock (usually LS)– Sinkholes– Solution valleys (linear sinkhole)– Springs– Disappearing streams
Glacial Environments
• Glaciers – ice masses formed from the accumulation of snow– Move down slope due
to weight– Transport sediment – May advance or
retreat depending on climatic conditions
Glacial Environments
Glacial Deposits
• Drift – deposits left behind after a glacier melts– Till – unstratified drift
(no water transport)– Stratified drift (melt
water transport)
Types of Glaciers• Cirque glaciers – small, semicircular to
triangular glaciers that form on the sides of mountains.
Types of Glaciers
• Valley glaciers – long glaciers that flow down stream valleys in the mountains.
• Piedmont glaciers – mergers of two or more valley glaciers at the foot of a mountain range.
Types of Glaciers• Ice sheets – vast
ice mounds that cover large portions of a continent (i.e., Greenland or Antarctica).