1. Lab 8 – Groundwater and Glaciers

2. 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

3. Aquifers
Types of Aquifers
Confined
Unconfined

4. Wells/Cones of Depression

5. Wells/Cones of Depression

6. 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

7. Karst
Karst – distinctive topography that indicates dissolution of underlying rock (usually LS)
Sinkholes
Solution valleys (linear sinkhole)
Springs
Disappearing streams

9. 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

10. Glacial Environments

11. Glacial Deposits Drift – deposits left behind after a glacier melts
Till – unstratified drift (no water transport)
Stratified drift (melt water transport)

12. Types of Glaciers
Cirque glaciers – small, semicircular to triangular glaciers that form on the sides of mountains.

13. 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.

14. Types of Glaciers
Ice sheets – vast ice mounds that cover large portions of a continent (i.e., Greenland or Antarctica).