Midterm Study Guide

Nathan
Dyck
 Terms e
Gary
Hydrogen bonds –

Bettei
Net charge of molecule is zero, but it has a positive and a
negative side. This is called a “polar molecule”

Surface Tension
• Result of cohesive forces
• A thin membrane
• “Floating” of heavier material
• Dimensions: F/L
• Units: N m-1 or mN m-1
Adhesion
-Based on stronger bonds
at particle surface

Viscosity (ú)
• The internal friction of a fluid
• Function of temperature
-Viscosity for liquids decreases as T
increases

Units: Poise or Stoke

– 1 Poise = 0.1 kg/m sec (dynamic
viscosity)
– 1 Stoke = 0.0001 m2/sec (kinematic
viscosity)

Capillarity
• Result of cohesion and adhesion
• Capillary rise of water in a tube
• Capillary rise of water in soils
>

* Causes a cone
of depression
 Important Terms part I

Precipitation
- water released back to earth from saturated region of
atmosphere

Evaporation
-increases in air and water temperatures, wind and solar
radiation all increase evaporation

Transpiration
- water used by plants in photosynthesis and released to the
atmosphere by plants

Evapotranspiration
- includes both water that evaporates from soil and plant
surfaces and the water that moves out of the soil profile by plant
transpiration

Depression storage
- temporarily storage of water on land (puddles)

Runoff
-overland flow
 Important Terms part II

Infiltration
-water seeps into the ground

Vadose zone
-Soil filled with water and air, excess of water is drained
downward

Interflow
-laterally flow of water in vadose zone

Capillary fringe
-pores filled by almost 100% with water; water held by capillary
forces

Saturated or saturation zone

-soils completely filled with water

Water table
-top of the saturation zone

Groundwater
-water in the saturated zone

Principal components for surface :

Water (Mass) Balance Equation – Precipitation
– Evaporation
• In – Out = Change in Storage – Transpiration
– Totally general – Runoff
– Usually for a particular time interval • Principal components ground:
– Many ways to break up components – Recharge
– Inflow
– Different reservoirs can be considered – Transpiration
– Outflow
Drainage basin:
An area surrounded by a continuous topographic divide
where all runoff joins a single stream and extends
downstream to the point that the stream crosses the divide.

= no Qin from a stream or groundwater reservoir of another

drainage basin

EUD:
= Effective Uniform Depth of Precipitation
= Average depth of precipitation over a drainage basin
 Lecture
-

Infiltration
-water seeps into the ground

High infiltration rate means:

-coarse soils
-well vegetated land
-low soil moisture
-porous top soil (land use, insects, roots)
The higher the infiltration rate, the lower the probability of
depression storage or overland flow
Interflow
Horizontal subsurface flow through vadose zone

After storm events: Interflow is prime contributor to streamflow

Baseflow
Vertical Infiltration to groundwater: recharge of groundwater

Groundwater discharge to a stream: baseflow

Remember:
baseflow and interflow both discharge into a stream under the
surface;

Stem flow
Storage capacity of the leafs is exhausted:
water flows down via tree trunks or drips downward

Throughflow = soil water (unsaturated flow) that moves laterally

downslope and emerges as seepage before entering a stream.
(difference to Interflow)
grams

This means overland flow is

-- faster than baseflow

- This means baseflow is

slower than overland flow
-
iegram
Duration Curve

Connect the stream

with the Basin character:

1.Thin soil, crystalline

rock
2. Thick sand deposits
3. Glacial till with silt and
clay
=> Thick Sand Deposit ( reme
-Glacial fill discharge)
- Thin Soil (extreme discharge)

-Distribution of runoff is caused by geology of

drainage basin

- Steeper curves have thinner soils, lower hydraulic

- near ne

conductivity, less overall baseflow

see n e a re
#
. ure 3
Closest Packing:
Highest porosity for equal sized grains is: 12N; n=0.26 or 26%
12 neighbours densely packed.

Porosity = n
n is independent of the particle size and it is normalized to
volume total.

Does not matter if large (b-ball) or small (tennis small) the ratio
remains the same.

Uniformity coefficient (CU) (Measure of sorting)

The higher the CU the lower the
mine
-

,
porosity
On a grain-size vs % finer plot The lower , higher porosity
d60 is diameter that corresponds to 60% finer by weight

d10 is diameter that corresponds to 10% finer by weight

 Primary porosity
– pores or voids during the formation of a rock

Secondary porosity
– fractures, faults, or karsts after a rock is formed

Note: Porosity is given in percent

e.g.
Grains way sand: 35% porosity Grains clay: 10% porosity
smaller 9% specific retention &re-5% specific retention
1% specific yield larger 30% specific yield
↓Exailible for GW flow
* ↳
Available for groundwater flow in the field: Pumping of water
from wells
S ↳ is more water out of sand than day!
Sara
Ratio for
Specific yield can be
sand to day
r

measured:
is !: 3 5
.
In the lab: Column
experiments
In the field: Pumping
of water from wells

e
-
decrease
Increase in adhesion forces
ureL
Darcy’s Law
Use to understand the movement of fluids in the earth crust.
Q = -K A [(ha-hb)/L]

Q= discharge E Hydraulic gradient

K= hydraulic conductivity
ha-hb= change in head
L= length

What observations can be done for sedimentary deposits with

grain sizes larger than 0.06 mm?
(lowest value for sand)

1. Increase of median size ↑ = increase in permeability.↑

2. Permeability will decrease↓ for a given diameter with

increase in standard deviation of particle size.A

3. Coarser samples show a greater decrease in permeability ↓

with an increase in standard deviation.⑰
Constant-head permeameter
– Good for more permeable media (non-cohesive sediments)

Falling-head permeameter
– Good for less permeable media
(cohesive sediments, i.e. fine mineral grains that attract each
other through charges on their surface)

Different atmospheric-fluid pressure Zones

A. Unsaturated zone:
Atmospheric P > Fluid P

B. Capillary fringe :
Capillary forces > Gravity forces, Atmospheric P > Fluid P

C.Water table: Atmospheric P = Fluid P

D.Saturated zone: Atmospheric P < Fluid P

Confined Aquifer - An aquifer that is immediately overlain by a
low-permeability unit (confining layer). A confined aquifer does
not have a water table. Prevents contamination from
pollutants like farmer fertilizer.

Confining Layer: Low-permeability unit

Unconfined Aquifer
Continuous layers of high intrinsic permeability extending
from the land surface to the base of the aquifer

Potentiometric surface of a confined aquifer:

A level at the surface which water will rise
in a well cased to the aquifer

Perched aquifer
Layer of low-permeability material (e.g. clay) occurs as lenses
above the water table
Aquifer Characteristics
-Transmissivity

-Storativity

-Specific storage

-Compressibility and effective stress

-Homogeneity and Isotropy

*
Transmissivity (T) /Most important for describing the aquifer)
A measure of the amount of water that can be transmitted
horizontally through a unit width by the full saturated
thickness of the aquifer TT k =

Y
= =
-> -

-k = -3 E
-

by draulic conductivity
thickness of "layer
confining
Storativity (S)
Change in head (h2-h1) in a saturated aquifer or confined unit.
⑪ leads to a
Increase or decrease in Q.
& leads to a
Increase or decrease in fluid pressure
& leads to a
Water will be either stored or expelled.

The volume of water that a unit area of aquifer releases or absorbs under a
unit decline or increase in hydraulic head per unit area of the aquifer.
Intrinsic Permeability:
A function of the size of the openings through which the fluid
moves and is essentially the “openess” of the flow path (in e.g.
cm2).