Water levels in carbonate rock terranes

Groundwater
By:  and 

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Abstract

Many subtle aspects of water levels in carbonate rocks need to be put in perspective even though hydrologists have recognized the fundamental value of characteristics of ground-water levels. The depth to the water table in carbonate rocks is controlled by local factors such as permeability and topography and by the regional factor of climate; both permeability and topography are dynamically developed according to the degree of preferential circulation of subsurface water and of solution of the rock, and the water table responds by lying deep beneath hilly permeable karstlands and shallow beneath flat and poorly permeable carbonate rocks. The uneven distribution of permeability and of topographic conditions is responsible for the intriguing karst phenomena of disappearing and reappearing surface streams. Great infiltration capacities of some karst regions result in large local fluctuations of the water table and in some cases to local reversals in direction of ground-water flow between wet and dry seasons. Water-level behavior in space and time is a primary consideration for interpreting the hydrology of carbonate terranes.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Water levels in carbonate rock terranes
Series title Groundwater
DOI 10.1111/j.1745-6584.1971.tb03544.x
Volume 9
Issue 3
Year Published 1971
Language English
Publisher Wiley
Contributing office(s) Water Resources Division
Description 7 p.
First page 4
Last page 10
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