What is the top zone of saturation?

What is the top zone of saturation?

water table
The upper surface of this zone of saturation is called the water table. The saturated zone beneath the water table is called an aquifer.

What is the top of the saturated zone called quizlet?

This zone is called the saturated zone or phreatic zone . The surface below which all openings in the rock are filled with water (the top of the saturated zone) is called the water table. The water table occurs everywhere beneath the Earth’s surface.

What layer is the saturated zone?

“Saturated Zone” is defined in OAC 3745-300-10(A)(5) as a part or layer of the earth’s crust, excluding the capillary zone, in which all voids are filled with water.

Where is the vadose zone?

The vadose zone, also termed the unsaturated zone, extends from the top of the ground surface to the water table. The word Vadose means “shallow” in Latin.

Where is the saturated zone located?

The phreatic zone, or zone of saturation, is the part of an aquifer, below the water table, in which relatively all pores and fractures are saturated with water. Above the water table is the vadose zone. The phreatic zone size, color, and depth may fluctuate with changes of season, and during wet and dry periods.

What are the two reservoirs that contain almost all of Earth’s fresh water?

Most of Earth’s water is fresh water. Most of Earth’s fresh water is contained in glaciers and ground water. Most of Earth’s water is contained in glaciers.

Where is the top of the saturation level in groundwater quizlet?

The top level of subsurface ground water, at the top of the zone of saturation and below the zone of aeration. A subsurface zone above the water table where the rock or soil may be moist but not saturated, with air occupying some or all of the pore space; also called the unsaturated zone.

What are examples of saturated zones?

The saturated zone encompasses the area below ground in which all interconnected openings within the geologic medium are completely filled with water . Many hydrogeologists separate this zone into two subzones: the phreatic zone and the capillary fringe.

Why vadose zone is important?

It is of great importance in providing water and nutrients that are vital to the biosphere, however, and it is intensively used for the cultivation of plants, construction of buildings, and disposal of waste. The vadose zone is often the main factor controlling water movement from the land surface to the aquifer.

Where is the saturated zone?

The saturated zone, a zone in which all the pores and rock fractures are filled with water, underlies the unsaturated zone. The top of the saturated zone is called the water table (Diagram 1). The water table may be just below or hundreds of feet below the land surface.

Where are the saturated and unsaturated zones located?

Groundwater is found in two zones. The unsaturated zone, immediately below the land surface, contains water and air in the open spaces, or pores. The saturated zone, a zone in which all the pores and rock fractures are filled with water, underlies the unsaturated zone. The top of the saturated zone is called the water table (Diagram 1).

Is the zone of saturation above or below the water table?

The zone of saturation is the ground immediately below the water table. The pores and fractures in soil and rocks are saturated with water. The zone of saturation is less corrosive than the unsaturated zone above the water table. The moisture content in the region is at one extreme while the other extreme is in the dry soil.

What causes water to pool in the saturated zone?

Saturated zone. Localized saturated zones can occur within the unsaturated zone when heterogeneities within the geologic medium cause differential downward percolation of water. Specifically, layers or lenses of low permeability , such as clay or shale, can retard the movement of water in the unsaturated zone and cause it to pool above the layer.

How does groundwater move through the saturated zone?

runoff streams. When the soil is completely saturated, additional water moves slowly down through the unsaturated zone to the saturated zone, replenishing or recharging the groundwater. Water then moves through the saturated zone to groundwater discharge areas.