How would you describe an aquifer?

An aquifer is a body of rock and/or sediment that holds groundwater. Groundwater is the word used to describe precipitation that has infiltrated the soil beyond the surface and collected in empty spaces underground. Most groundwater, including a significant amount of our drinking water, comes from aquifers.

What is the Floridan aquifer and how does it look?

The Floridan aquifer system, composed of the Upper and Lower Floridan aquifers, is a sequence of Paleogene carbonate rock which spans an area of about 100,000 square miles (260,000 km2) in the southeastern United States.

What is the main characteristics of the aquifers in Florida?

The aquifer consists of highly permeable limestone and less permeable sand and sandstone. The northern part of the aquifer has more sand and grades northward and westward into the sandy deposits that are part of the surficial aquifer system.

How is Floridan aquifer formed?

A thick sequence of carbonate rocks (limestone and dolomite) of Tertiary age comprise the Floridan aquifer system. The thickest and most productive formations of the system are the Avon Park Formation and the Ocala Limestone of Eocene age (fig. 49).

What is aquifer and examples?

An aquifer is a body of saturated rock through which water can easily move. Aquifers must be both permeable and porous and include such rock types as sandstone, conglomerate, fractured limestone and unconsolidated sand and gravel. Fractured volcanic rocks such as columnar basalts also make good aquifers.

What is called aquifer?

An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock, rock fractures or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology.

Where are aquifers found?

Aquifers Overview Unlike surface water, which is mostly found in the northern and eastern parts of the state, aquifers are widely distributed throughout California. Additionally, they are also often found in places where freshwater is most needed, for instance, in the Central Valley and Los Angeles.

What are the 3 main parts of the Floridan aquifer?

Florida is comprised of three main aquifers: the surficial aquifer, which is broken down into the sand and gravel aquifer and the Biscayne aquifer, the intermediate aquifer, and the huge, statewide Floridan aquifer. Confining layers vary throughout the state.

What is the biggest threat to the Floridan aquifer?

phosphate industry
Despite its positive role in Florida’s economy, the phosphate industry is a major threat for the Floridan Aquifer.

What makes a good aquifer?

An aquifer is defined as a body of rock or unconsolidated sediment that has sufficient permeability to allow water to flow through it. Unconsolidated materials like gravel, sand, and even silt make relatively good aquifers, as do rocks like sandstone. The yellow layer is very permeable and would make an ideal aquifer.

How is the Floridan aquifer system defined and defined?

The Floridan aquifer system has been defined on the basis of permeability. In general, the system is at least 10 times more permeable than its bounding upper and lower confining units. The aquifer system is thick and widespread, and the rocks within it generally vary in permeability.

How many people drink water from the Floridan aquifer?

The Floridan aquifer system is one of the world’s most productive aquifers and supplies drinking water for nearly 10 million people.

Are there limestone beds in the Floridan aquifer system?

Limestone beds in the lower part of the Hawthorn Formation of Miocene age are considered part of the Floridan by some, but are excluded from it in this Atlas because the permeability of these beds is thought to be minimal. The base of the aquifer system in much of Florida consists of nearly impermeable anhydrite beds in the Cedar Keys Formation.

How are sinkholes formed in the Floridan aquifer system?

Sinkholes are a natural, common geologic feature in places underlain by soluble rocks such as the limestone and dolomite that form the Floridan aquifer system. Under natural conditions, sinkholes form slowly and expand gradually.