View source for Earth:Aquifer

{{Short description|Underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock}}
[[File:Groundwater flow.svg|thumb|upright=1.8|Schematic of an aquifer showing confined zones, [[Earth:Groundwater|groundwater]] travel times, a spring and a well]]

An '''aquifer''' is an underground layer of [[Chemistry:Water|water]]-bearing material, consisting of [[Earth:Permeability (Earth sciences)|permeable]] or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials ([[Earth:Gravel|gravel]], sand, or [[Earth:Silt|silt]]). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called [[Earth:Hydrogeology|hydrogeology]]. Related terms include '''aquitard''', which is a bed of low permeability along an aquifer, and '''aquiclude''' (or ''aquifuge''), which is a solid, impermeable area underlying or overlying an aquifer, the pressure of which could lead to the formation of a confined aquifer. The classification of aquifers is as follows: Saturated versus unsaturated; aquifers versus aquitards; confined versus unconfined; isotropic versus anisotropic; porous, karst, or fractured; transboundary aquifer.

[[Earth:Groundwater|Groundwater]] from aquifers can be sustainably harvested by humans through the use of qanats leading to a well.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Walker |first1=Kira |title=Ancient systems keep water flowing |url=https://www.natureasia.com/en/nmiddleeast/article/10.1038/nmiddleeast.2022.72 |journal=Nature Middle East |date=2022 |publisher=Nature |doi=10.1038/nmiddleeast.2022.72 |s2cid=253486495 |access-date=10 July 2023}}</ref> This groundwater is a major source of fresh water for many regions, however can present a number of challenges such as [[Earth:Overdrafting|overdrafting]] (extracting groundwater beyond the [[Physics:Dynamic equilibrium|equilibrium]] yield of the aquifer), groundwater-related subsidence of land, and the [[Earth:Freshwater salinization|salinization]] or [[Earth:Groundwater pollution|pollution]] of the groundwater.

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== Properties ==

=== Depth ===
[[File:Aquifer en.svg|thumb|right|An aquifer cross-section. This diagram shows two aquifers with one aquitard (a confining or impermeable layer) between them, surrounded by the bedrock ''aquiclude'', which is in contact with a gaining [[Earth:Stream|stream]] (typical in humid regions). The water table and unsaturated zone are also illustrated.|upright=1.6]]
Aquifers occur from near-surface to deeper than {{convert|9000|m|ft}}.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/aquifers-and-groundwater | title = Aquifers and Groundwater | work = USGS | quote = ...more than 30,000 feet. On average, however, the porosity and permeability of rocks decrease as their depth below land surface increases; the pores and cracks in rocks at great depths are closed or greatly reduced in size because of the weight of overlying rocks.}}</ref> Those closer to the surface are not only more likely to be used for water supply and irrigation, but are also more likely to be replenished by local rainfall. Although aquifers are sometimes characterized as "underground rivers or lakes," they are actually porous rock saturated with water.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-07-30|title=Aquifers|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/aquifers/|access-date=2021-09-17|website=National Geographic Society|language=en}}</ref>

Many desert areas have limestone hills or mountains within them or close to them that can be exploited as groundwater resources. Part of the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, the [[Place:Mount Lebanon|Lebanon]] and Anti-Lebanon ranges between Syria and Lebanon, the Jebel Akhdar in Oman, parts of the Sierra Nevada and neighboring ranges in the United States' Southwest, have shallow aquifers that are exploited for their water. [[Earth:Overexploitation|Overexploitation]] can lead to the exceeding of the practical sustained yield; i.e., more water is taken out than can be replenished.

Along the coastlines of certain countries, such as [[Place:Libya|Libya]] and Israel, increased water usage associated with population growth has caused a lowering of the [[Earth:Water table|water table]] and the subsequent [[Earth:Saltwater intrusion|contamination of the groundwater with saltwater]] from the sea.

In 2013 large freshwater aquifers were discovered under continental shelves off Australia, China, North America and South Africa. They contain an estimated half a million cubic kilometers of "low salinity" water that could be economically processed into potable water. The reserves formed when ocean levels were lower and rainwater made its way into the ground in land areas that were not submerged until the [[Earth:Ice age|ice age]] ended 20,000 years ago. The volume is estimated to be 100 times the amount of water extracted from other aquifers since 1900.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gizmag.com/freshwater-reserves-under-sea/30072/ |title=Huge reserves of freshwater lie beneath the ocean floor |publisher=Gizmag.com |date=11 December 2013 |access-date=15 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Post |first1=V. E. A. |last2=Groen |first2=J. |last3=Kooi |first3=H. |last4=Person |first4=M. |last5=Ge |first5=S. |last6=Edmunds |first6=W. M. |doi=10.1038/nature12858 |title=Offshore fresh groundwater reserves as a global phenomenon |journal=Nature |volume=504 |issue=7478 |pages=71–78 |year=2013 |pmid=24305150 |bibcode=2013Natur.504...71P |s2cid=4468578 }}</ref>

===Groundwater recharge===
{{excerpt|Groundwater recharge|paragraphs=1|file=no}}

== Classification ==
An ''aquitard'' is a zone within the Earth that restricts the flow of groundwater from one aquifer to another. An aquitard can sometimes, if completely impermeable, be called an ''aquiclude'' or ''aquifuge''. Aquitards are composed of layers of either [[Earth:Clay|clay]] or non-porous rock with low [[Earth:Hydraulic conductivity|hydraulic conductivity]].

=== Saturated versus unsaturated ===
Groundwater can be found at nearly every point in the Earth's shallow subsurface to some degree, although aquifers do not necessarily contain [[Earth:Fresh water|fresh water]]. The Earth's crust can be divided into two regions: the ''[[Chemistry:Water content|saturated]] zone'' or ''[[Earth:Phreatic|phreatic]] zone'' (e.g., aquifers, aquitards, etc.), where all available spaces are filled with water, and the ''unsaturated zone'' (also called the [[Earth:Vadose zone|vadose zone]]), where there are still pockets of air that contain some water, but can be filled with more water.

''Saturated'' means the pressure head of the water is greater than [[Physics:Atmospheric pressure|atmospheric pressure]] (it has a gauge pressure &gt; 0). The definition of the water table is the surface where the [[Physics:Hydraulic head|pressure head]] is equal to atmospheric pressure (where gauge pressure = 0).

''Unsaturated'' conditions occur above the water table where the pressure head is negative (absolute pressure can never be negative, but gauge pressure can) and the water that incompletely fills the pores of the aquifer material is under [[Physics:Suction|suction]]. The [[Earth:Hydrogeology#Water content|water content]] in the unsaturated zone is held in place by surface [[Chemistry:Adhesion|adhesive forces]] and it rises above the water table (the zero-[[Earth:Hydrogeology#Hydraulic head|gauge-pressure]] [[Contour line#Barometric pressure|isobar]]) by [[Physics:Capillary action|capillary action]] to saturate a small zone above the phreatic surface (the [[Earth:Capillary fringe|capillary fringe]]) at less than atmospheric pressure. This is termed tension saturation and is not the same as saturation on a water-content basis. Water content in a capillary fringe decreases with increasing distance from the phreatic surface. The capillary head depends on soil pore size. In sandy soils with larger pores, the head will be less than in clay soils with very small pores. The normal capillary rise in a clayey soil is less than {{convert|1.8|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} but can range between {{convert|0.3|and|10|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/plymouth/programs/vepras.html |title=Morphological Features of Soil Wetness |publisher=Ces.ncsu.edu |access-date=6 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100809084433/http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/plymouth/programs/vepras.html |archive-date=9 August 2010 }}</ref>

The capillary rise of water in a small-[[Diameter|diameter]] tube involves the same physical process. The water table is the level to which water will rise in a large-diameter pipe (e.g., a well) that goes down into the aquifer and is open to the atmosphere.

=== Aquifers versus aquitards ===
Aquifers are typically saturated regions of the subsurface that produce an economically feasible quantity of water to a well or spring (e.g., sand and [[Earth:Gravel|gravel]] or fractured [[Earth:Bedrock|bedrock]] often make good aquifer materials).

An aquitard is a zone within the Earth that restricts the flow of groundwater from one aquifer to another.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Understanding Aquitards and Aquicludes {{!}} UNSW Connected Waters Initiative |url=https://www.connectedwaters.unsw.edu.au/schools-resources/fact-sheets/understanding-aquitards-and-aquicludes |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=www.connectedwaters.unsw.edu.au}}</ref> A completely impermeable aquitard is called an ''aquiclude'' or ''aquifuge''. Aquitards contain layers of either clay or non-porous rock with low [[Earth:Hydraulic conductivity|hydraulic conductivity]].

In mountainous areas (or near rivers in mountainous areas), the main aquifers are typically unconsolidated [[Earth:Alluvium|alluvium]], composed of mostly horizontal layers of materials deposited by water processes (rivers and streams), which in cross-section (looking at a two-dimensional slice of the aquifer) appear to be layers of alternating coarse and fine materials. Coarse materials, because of the high energy needed to move them, tend to be found nearer the source (mountain fronts or rivers), whereas the fine-grained material will make it farther from the source (to the flatter parts of the basin or overbank areas—sometimes called the pressure area). Since there are less fine-grained deposits near the source, this is a place where aquifers are often unconfined (sometimes called the forebay area), or in hydraulic communication with the land surface.


=== Confined versus unconfined ===
There are two end members in the spectrum of types of aquifers; ''confined'' and ''unconfined'' (with semi-confined being in between). ''Unconfined'' aquifers are sometimes also called ''water table'' or ''phreatic'' aquifers, because their upper boundary is the [[Earth:Water table|water table]] or phreatic surface (see [[Earth:Biscayne Aquifer|Biscayne Aquifer]]). Typically (but not always) the shallowest aquifer at a given location is unconfined, meaning it does not have a confining layer (an aquitard or aquiclude) between it and the surface. The term "perched" refers to ground water accumulating above a low-permeability unit or strata, such as a clay layer. This term is generally used to refer to a small local area of ground water that occurs at an elevation higher than a regionally extensive aquifer. The difference between perched and unconfined aquifers is their size (perched is smaller). Confined aquifers are aquifers that are overlain by a confining layer, often made up of clay. The confining layer might offer some protection from surface contamination.

If the distinction between confined and unconfined is not clear geologically (i.e., if it is not known if a clear confining layer exists, or if the geology is more complex, e.g., a fractured bedrock aquifer), the value of storativity returned from an [[Earth:Aquifer test|aquifer test]] can be used to determine it (although aquifer tests in unconfined aquifers should be interpreted differently than confined ones). Confined aquifers have very low [[Earth:Specific storage|storativity]] values (much less than 0.01, and as little as {{10^|-5}}), which means that the aquifer is storing water using the mechanisms of aquifer matrix expansion and the compressibility of water, which typically are both quite small quantities. Unconfined aquifers have storativities (typically called [[Earth:Specific storage|specific yield]]) greater than 0.01 (1% of bulk volume); they release water from storage by the mechanism of actually draining the pores of the aquifer, releasing relatively large amounts of water (up to the drainable [[Earth:Hydrogeology#Porosity|porosity]] of the aquifer material, or the minimum volumetric [[Chemistry:Water content|water content]]).

=== Isotropic versus anisotropic ===
In [[Isotropy|isotropic]] aquifers or aquifer layers the hydraulic conductivity (K) is equal for flow in all directions, while in [[Anisotropy|anisotropic]] conditions it differs, notably in horizontal (Kh) and vertical (Kv) sense.

Semi-confined aquifers with one or more aquitards work as an anisotropic system, even when the separate layers are isotropic, because the compound Kh and Kv values are different (see hydraulic transmissivity and [[Earth:Hydraulic conductivity#Resistance|hydraulic resistance]]).

When calculating [[Earth:Drainage equation|flow to drains]]<ref>''The energy balance of groundwater flow applied to subsurface drainage in anisotropic soils by pipes or ditches with entrance resistance''. International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement (ILRI), Wageningen, The Netherlands. On line : [http://www.waterlog.info/pdf/enerart.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219221547/http://waterlog.info/pdf/enerart.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060522173736/http://www.waterlog.info/pdf/enerart.pdf|archive-date=2006-05-22|url-status=live|date=2009-02-19}} . Paper based on: R.J. Oosterbaan, J. Boonstra and K.V.G.K. Rao, 1996, "The energy balance of groundwater flow". Published in V.P.Singh and B.Kumar (eds.), Subsurface-Water Hydrology, pp. 153–60, Vol. 2 of Proceedings of the International Conference on Hydrology and Water Resources, New Delhi, India, 1993. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. {{ISBN|978-0-7923-3651-8}} . On line : [http://www.waterlog.info/pdf/enerbal.pdf] . The corresponding "EnDrain" software can be downloaded from : [http://www.waterlog.info/software.htm], or from : [http://www.waterlog.info/endrain.htm]</ref> or flow to wells<ref>ILRI (2000), ''Subsurface drainage by (tube)wells: Well spacing equations for fully and partially penetrating wells in uniform or layered aquifers with or without anisotropy and entrance resistance'', 9 pp. Principles used in the "WellDrain" model. International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement (ILRI), Wageningen, The Netherlands. On line : [http://www.waterlog.info/pdf/wellspac.pdf] . Download "WellDrain" software from : [http://www.waterlog.info/software.htm], or from : [http://www.waterlog.info/weldrain.htm]</ref> in an aquifer, the anisotropy is to be taken into account lest the resulting design of the drainage system may be faulty.

===Porous, karst, or fractured===

To properly manage an aquifer its properties must be understood. Many properties must be known to predict how an aquifer will respond to rainfall, drought, pumping, and contamination. Where and how much water enters the groundwater from rainfall and snowmelt? How fast and what direction does the groundwater travel? How much water leaves the ground as springs? How much water can be sustainably pumped out? How quickly will a contamination incident reach a well or spring? [[Earth:Groundwater model|Computer models]] can be used to test how accurately the understanding of the aquifer properties matches the actual aquifer performance.<ref name="FieldMethodsGeoHydrogeo">{{cite book|last1= Assaad |first1= Fakhry |last2=LaMoreaux |first2=Philip |last3=Hughes |first3=Travis |date=2004 |title=Field methods for geologists and hydrogeologists |location=Berlin, Germany |publisher= Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg |isbn= 978-3-540-40882-6 |doi=10.1007/978-3-662-05438-3}}</ref>{{rp|192–193, 233–237}} Environmental regulations require sites with potential sources of contamination to demonstrate that the [[Earth:Hydrology#Groundwater|hydrology]] has been characterized.<ref name="FieldMethodsGeoHydrogeo" />{{rp|3}}

====Porous====
[[File:Water seep from sandstone in Hanging Garden SE Utah.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Water slowly seeping from tan porous sandstone at contact with impermeable gray shale creates a refreshing growth of green vegetation in the desert. |Water in porous aquifers slowly seeps through pore spaces between sand grains]]

Porous aquifers typically occur in sand and [[Earth:Sandstone|sandstone]]. Porous aquifer properties depend on the [[Earth:Depositional environment|depositional sedimentary environment]] and later natural cementation of the sand grains. The environment where a sand body was deposited controls the orientation of the sand grains, the horizontal and vertical variations, and the distribution of shale layers. Even thin shale layers are important barriers to groundwater flow. All these factors affect the [[Earth:Porosity|porosity]] and [[Earth:Permeability (earth sciences)|permeability]] of sandy aquifers.<ref name="SandSandstone">{{cite book|last1= Pettijohn |first1= Francis |last2=Potter |first2=Paul |last3=Siever |first3=Raymond |date=1987 |title=Sand and Sandstone |location=New York |publisher= Springer Science+Business Media |isbn= 978-0-387-96350-1 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4612-1066-5 }}</ref>{{rp|413}}

Sandy deposits formed in [[Earth:Shallow water marine environment|shallow marine environments]] and in [[Earth:Aeolian processes|windblown sand dune environments]] have moderate to high permeability while sandy deposits formed in [[Earth:Fluvial processes|river environments]] have low to moderate permeability.<ref name="SandSandstone" />{{rp|418}} Rainfall and snowmelt enter the groundwater where the aquifer is near the surface. Groundwater flow directions can be determined from [[Physics:Potentiometric surface|potentiometric surface]] maps of water levels in wells and springs. [[Earth:Aquifer test|Aquifer test]]s and [[Earth:Well test|well test]]s can be used with [[Physics:Darcy's law|Darcy's law]] flow equations to determine the ability of a porous aquifer to convey water.<ref name="FieldMethodsGeoHydrogeo" />{{rp|177–184}}

Analyzing this type of information over an area gives an indication how much water can be pumped without [[Earth:Overdrafting|overdrafting]] and how contamination will travel.<ref name="FieldMethodsGeoHydrogeo" />{{rp|233}} In porous aquifers groundwater flows as slow seepage in pores between sand grains. A groundwater flow rate of 1 foot per day (0.3 m/d) is considered to be a high rate for porous aquifers,<ref>{{cite book |title=Sustainability of ground-water resources. |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |location=Denver, Colorado |series=Circular 1186 |url=https://archive.org/details/sustainabilityof00alle/page/8 |last1=Alley |first1=William |last2=Reilly |first2=Thomas |last3=Franke |first3=O. |page=[https://archive.org/details/sustainabilityof00alle/page/8 8] |date=1999 |isbn=978-0-607-93040-5 |doi=10.3133/cir1186 |url-access=registration }}</ref> as illustrated by the water slowly seeping from sandstone in the accompanying image to the left.

Porosity is important, but, ''alone'', it does not determine a rock's ability to act as an aquifer. Areas of the [[Earth:Deccan Traps|Deccan Traps]] (a [[Earth:Basalt|basalt]]ic lava) in west central India are good examples of rock formations with high porosity but low permeability, which makes them poor aquifers. Similarly, the micro-porous (Upper [[Earth:Cretaceous|Cretaceous]]) [[Earth:Chalk Group|Chalk Group]] of south east England, although having a reasonably high porosity, has a low grain-to-grain permeability, with its good water-yielding characteristics mostly due to micro-fracturing and fissuring.

====Karst====
[[File:MammothCaveNPS.jpg|thumb|left |alt=Several people in a jon boat on a river inside a cave. |Water in karst aquifers flows through open conduits where water flows as underground streams]]
[[Earth:Karst|Karst]] aquifers typically develop in [[Earth:Limestone|limestone]]. Surface water containing natural [[Chemistry:Carbonic acid|carbonic acid]] moves down into small fissures in limestone. This carbonic acid gradually dissolves limestone thereby enlarging the fissures. The enlarged fissures allow a larger quantity of water to enter which leads to a progressive enlargement of openings. Abundant small openings store a large quantity of water. The larger openings form a conduit system that drains the aquifer to springs.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dreybrodt |first=Wolfgang |date=1988 |title=Processes in karst systems: physics, chemistry, and geology |volume=4 |location=Berlin |publisher=Springer |pages=2–3 |isbn=978-3-642-83354-0 |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-83352-6 |series=Springer Series in Physical Environment }}</ref>

Characterization of karst aquifers requires field exploration to locate [[Earth:Sinkhole|sinkholes, swallets]], [[Earth:Losing stream|sinking streams]], and [[Earth:Spring (hydrology)|springs]] in addition to studying geologic maps.<ref name="DelineationGrdwtrBasinsTaylor">{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Charles |date=1997 |title=Delineation of ground-water basins and recharge areas for municipal water-supply springs in a karst aquifer system in the Elizabethtown area, Northern Kentucky |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/1996/4254/report.pdf |location=Denver, Colorado |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |series=Water-Resources Investigations Report 96-4254 |doi=10.3133/wri964254 }}</ref>{{rp|4}} Conventional hydrogeologic methods such as aquifer tests and potentiometric mapping are insufficient to characterize the complexity of karst aquifers. These conventional investigation methods need to be supplemented with [[Dye tracing|dye traces]], measurement of spring discharges, and analysis of water chemistry.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Charles |last2=Greene |first2=Earl |date=2008 |title=Field Techniques for Estimating Water Fluxes Between Surface Water and Ground Water |chapter=Hydrogeologic characterization and methods used in the investigation of karst hydrology. |chapter-url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/tm/04d02/pdf/TM4-D2-chap3.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081102202902/http://pubs.usgs.gov/tm/04d02/pdf/TM4-D2-chap3.pdf |archive-date=2008-11-02 |url-status=live |series=Techniques and Methods 4–D2 |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |page=107 }}</ref> U.S. Geological Survey dye tracing has determined that conventional groundwater models that assume a uniform distribution of porosity are not applicable for karst aquifers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Renken |first1=R. |last2=Cunningham |first2=K. |last3=Zygnerski |first3=M. |last4=Wacker |first4=M. |last5=Shapiro |first5=A. |last6=Harvey |first6=R. |last7=Metge |first7=D. |last8=Osborn |first8=C. |last9=Ryan |first9=J. |date=November 2005 |title=Assessing the Vulnerability of a Municipal Well Field to Contamination in a Karst Aquifer |journal= Environmental and Engineering Geoscience |publisher=GeoScienceWorld|volume=11 |number=4 |page=320 |doi=10.2113/11.4.319 |bibcode=2005EEGeo..11..319R |citeseerx=10.1.1.372.1559 }}</ref>

Linear alignment of surface features such as straight stream segments and sinkholes develop along [[Earth:Fracture (geology)|fracture traces]]. Locating a well in a fracture trace or intersection of fracture traces increases the likelihood to encounter good water production.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fetter |first=Charles |date=1988 |title=Applied Hydrology |location=Columbus, Ohio |publisher=Merrill |pages=294–295 |isbn=978-0-675-20887-1 }}</ref> Voids in karst aquifers can be large enough to cause destructive collapse or [[Subsidence|subsidence]] of the ground surface that can initiate a catastrophic release of contaminants.<ref name="FieldMethodsGeoHydrogeo" />{{rp|3–4}} Groundwater flow rate in karst aquifers is much more rapid than in porous aquifers as shown in the accompanying image to the left. For example, in the Barton Springs Edwards aquifer, dye traces measured the karst groundwater flow rates from 0.5 to 7 miles per day (0.8 to 11.3&nbsp;km/d).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scanlon |first1=Bridget|last2=Mace |first2=Robert |last3=Barrett |first3=Michael |last4=Smith |first4=Brian |date=2003  |title= Can we simulate regional groundwater flow in a karst system using equivalent porous media models? Case study, Barton Springs Edwards aquifer, USA |journal= Journal of Hydrology |publisher=Elsevier Science |volume=276 |issue= 1–4|page=142 |doi= 10.1016/S0022-1694(03)00064-7 |bibcode=2003JHyd..276..137S|s2cid=16046040 }}</ref> The rapid groundwater flow rates make [[Earth:Karst#Hydrology|karst aquifers much more sensitive]] to groundwater contamination than porous aquifers.<ref name="DelineationGrdwtrBasinsTaylor" />{{rp|1}}

In the extreme case, groundwater may exist in ''underground rivers'' (e.g., [[Earth:Cave|cave]]s underlying karst topography.

====Fractured====
If a rock unit of low [[Earth:Porosity|porosity]] is highly fractured, it can also make a good aquifer (via [[Earth:Fracture (geology)|fissure]] flow), provided the rock has a hydraulic conductivity sufficient to facilitate movement of water.

===Transboundary aquifer===
[[File:Major US Aquifers by Rock Type.jpg|thumb|right|Map of major US aquifers by rock type]]
When an aquifer transcends international boundaries, the term ''transboundary aquifer'' applies.<ref>{{cite web |title=International Waters |website=United Nations Development Programme |url=http://www.undp.org/gef/05/portfolio/iw.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090127055412/http://www.undp.org/gef/05/portfolio/iw.html }}</ref>

Transboundariness is a concept, a measure and an approach first introduced in 2017.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sanchez |first1=Rosario |last2=Eckstein |first2=Gabriel |date=2017 |title=Aquifers Shared Between Mexico and the United States: Management Perspectives and Their Transboundary Nature |journal=Groundwater |volume=55 |number=4 |pages=495–505 |doi=10.1111/gwat.12533 |pmid=28493280 |bibcode=2017GrWat..55..495S |s2cid=29936628 |url=https://transboundary.tamu.edu/media/1368/sanchez_et_al-2017-groundwater.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705000155/https://transboundary.tamu.edu/media/1368/sanchez_et_al-2017-groundwater.pdf |archive-date=2019-07-05 |url-status=live }}</ref> The relevance of this approach is that the physical features of the aquifers become just additional variables among the broad spectrum of considerations of the transboundary nature of an aquifer:

* social (population);
* economic (groundwater productivity);
* political (as transboundary);
* available research or data;
* water quality and quantity;
* other issues governing the agenda (security, trade, immigration and so on).

The discussion changes from the traditional question of "is the aquifer transboundary?" to "how transboundary is the aquifer?".

The socio-economic and political contexts effectively overwhelm the aquifer's physical features adding its corresponding geostrategic value (its transboundariness)<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sanchez |first=Rosario |date=May 2018 |title=Transboundary Groundwater |url=https://transboundary.tamu.edu/media/1385/2018_awras_impact.pdf |journal=Water Resources Impact |volume=20 |number=3}}</ref>

The criteria proposed by this approach attempt to encapsulate and measure all potential variables that play a role in defining the transboundary nature of an aquifer and its multidimensional boundaries.

== Human use of groundwater ==
{{Excerpt|Groundwater#Uses by humans|files=no}}

Challenges for using groundwater include: [[Earth:Overdrafting|overdrafting]] (extracting groundwater beyond the [[Physics:Dynamic equilibrium|equilibrium]] yield of the aquifer), groundwater-related subsidence of land, groundwater becoming saline, [[Earth:Groundwater pollution|groundwater pollution]].

== By country or continent ==
[[File:Texas_blind_salamander.jpg|thumb|[[Biology:Texas blind salamander|Texas blind salamander]] found in Edwards Aquifer]]

=== Africa ===
Aquifer depletion is a problem in some areas, especially in northern [[Earth:Africa|Africa]], where one example is the Great Manmade River project of [[Place:Libya|Libya]]. However, new methods of groundwater management such as artificial recharge and injection of surface waters during seasonal wet periods has extended the life of many freshwater aquifers, especially in the United States.

=== Australia ===
The Great Artesian Basin situated in {{wipe|Australia}} is arguably the largest groundwater aquifer in the world<ref name="qldgovt">{{cite web |url=http://www.nrw.qld.gov.au/factsheets/pdf/water/w68.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061113031749/http://www.nrw.qld.gov.au/factsheets/pdf/water/w68.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 November 2006 |title=The Great Artesian Basin |access-date=3 January 2007 |work=Facts: Water Series |publisher=Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water}}</ref> (over {{convert|1.7|e6km2|e6sqmi|abbr=unit|disp=or}}). It plays a large part in water supplies for Queensland, and some remote parts of South Australia.

=== Canada ===
Discontinuous sand bodies at the base of the [[Earth:McMurray Formation|McMurray Formation]] in the Athabasca Oil Sands region of northeastern Alberta, Canada, are commonly referred to as the [[Earth:McMurray Formation#Hydrogeology|Basal Water Sand (BWS) aquifers]].<ref name="Total2005">{{cite report|url=http://www.total-ep-canada.com/upstream/documents/application/CR_4_Groundwater_Report.pdf|title=Joslyn North Mine Project: Environmental Impact Assessment Hydrologeology|date=December 2005|publisher=Deer Creek Energy|location=Edmonton, Alberta|page=4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202222021/http://www.total-ep-canada.com/upstream/documents/application/CR_4_Groundwater_Report.pdf|archive-date=2 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Saturated with water, they are confined beneath impermeable [[Chemistry:Bitumen|bitumen]]-saturated sands that are exploited to recover bitumen for [[Chemistry:Synthetic crude|synthetic crude]] oil production. Where they are deep-lying and recharge occurs from underlying [[Earth:Devonian|Devonian]] formations they are saline, and where they are shallow and recharged by surface water they are non-saline. The BWS typically pose problems for the recovery of bitumen, whether by open-pit mining or by ''in situ'' methods such as [[Earth:Steam-assisted gravity drainage|steam-assisted gravity drainage]] (SAGD), and in some areas they are targets for waste-water injection.<ref name="Barson">Barson, D., Bachu, S. and Esslinger, P. 2001. Flow systems in the Mannville Group in the east-central Athabasca area and implications for steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) operations for in situ bitumen production. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 376–92.</ref><ref name="Pembina">{{cite report|url=https://www.ualberta.ca/~ersc/water/links/pembina.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215203350/http://www.ualberta.ca/~ersc/water/links/pembina.pdf |archive-date=2013-12-15 |url-status=live|title=Oil and Troubled Waters: Reducing the impact of the oil and gas industry on Alberta's water resources|last1=Griffiths|first1=Mary|last2=Woynillowicz|first2=Dan|date=April 2003|publisher=Pembina Institute|location=Edmonton, Alberta}}</ref><ref name="FMFNtoCEAAJun2012">{{cite report|url=http://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/documents/p65505/81570E.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130620145209/http://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/documents/p65505/81570E.pdf |archive-date=2013-06-20 |url-status=live|title=Fort McKay's Review of Teck Resources Ltd. {{ndash}} Frontier Oil Sands Mine Project Integrated Application|author=FMFN|date=June 2012|publisher=Fort McKay First Nation}}</ref>

=== South America ===
The Guarani Aquifer, located beneath the surface of {{wipe|Argentina}}, {{wipe|Brazil}}, Paraguay, and Uruguay, is one of the world's largest aquifer systems and is an important source of [[Earth:Fresh water|fresh water]].<ref name="Science and Diplomacy.">{{cite journal|last=Brittain|first=John|date=22 June 2015|title=The International Atomic Energy Agency: Linking Nuclear Science and Diplomacy|url=http://www.sciencediplomacy.org/perspective/2015/international-atomic-energy-agency|journal=Science and Diplomacy}}</ref> Named after the Guarani people, it covers {{convert|1200000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, with a volume of about {{convert|40000|km3|cumi|abbr=on}}, a thickness of between {{convert|50|and|800|m|abbr=on}} and a maximum depth of about {{convert|1800|m|abbr=on}}.

=== United States ===
The Ogallala Aquifer of the central United States is one of the world's great aquifers, but in places it is being rapidly [[Earth:Overdrafting|depleted]] by growing municipal use, and continuing agricultural use. This huge aquifer, which underlies portions of eight states, contains primarily [[Earth:Fossil water|fossil water]] from the time of the last [[Earth:Quaternary glaciation|glaciation]]. Annual recharge, in the more arid parts of the aquifer, is estimated to total only about 10 percent of annual withdrawals. According to a 2013 report by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the depletion between 2001 and 2008, inclusive, is about 32 percent of the cumulative depletion during the entire 20th century.<ref name="KonikowUSGSjan2013">{{cite report|url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2013/5079/SIR2013-5079.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615203529/http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2013/5079/SIR2013-5079.pdf |archive-date=2013-06-15 |url-status=live|title=Groundwater Depletion in the United States (1900–2008)|last=Konikow|first=Leonard F.|publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey|location=Reston, VA|pages=63|series=Scientific Investigations Report|number=2013–5079}}</ref>

In the United States, the biggest users of water from aquifers include agricultural irrigation and oil and coal extraction.<ref name=depletion>{{cite news |title=Drop in U.S. underground water levels has accelerated: USGS |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-water-idUSBRE94J0Y920130520 |location=Washington, DC |first=Deborah |last=Zabarenko |date=20 May 2013 |work=Reuters}}</ref> "Cumulative total groundwater depletion in the United States accelerated in the late 1940s and continued at an almost steady linear rate through the end of the century. In addition to widely recognized environmental consequences, groundwater depletion also adversely impacts the long-term sustainability of groundwater supplies to help meet the Nation’s water needs."<ref name=KonikowUSGSjan2013 />

An example of a significant and sustainable carbonate aquifer is the Edwards Aquifer<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.edwardsaquifer.org/ |title=Edwards Aquifer Authority |publisher=Edwardsaquifer.org |access-date=15 December 2013}}</ref> in central {{wipe|Texas}}. This carbonate aquifer has historically been providing high quality water for nearly 2 million people, and even today, is full because of tremendous recharge from a number of area streams, rivers and [[Earth:Lake|lake]]s. The primary risk to this resource is human development over the recharge areas.

== See also ==
* {{annotated link|Earth:Aquifer storage and recovery}}
* {{annotated link|Earth:Artesian aquifer}}
* {{annotated link|Earth:Catchment hydrology}}
* {{annotated link|Earth:Hydraulic tomography}}
* {{annotated link|Earth:Overexploitation}}
* {{annotated link|Physics:Seasonal thermal energy storage}}
* {{annotated link|Earth:Spring (hydrology)}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.un-igrac.org/ IGRAC International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre]
*[https://gw-project.org/ The Groundwater Project] - Online platform for groundwater knowledge

{{Aquiferproperties}}
{{Natural resources}}

[[Category:Hydraulic engineering]]
[[Category:Hydrology]]
[[Category:Hydrogeology]]
[[Category:Water and the environment]]
[[Category:Bodies of water]]

{{Sourceattribution|Aquifer}}