Groundwater - Flow patterns

12 important questions on Groundwater - Flow patterns

What does a small distance between equipotential lines indicate?

The difference between hydraulic head is big and therefor the flow velocity. It also indicates infiltration.

What are seepage areas?

Areas where water is exiting the ground

Why is there no horizontal flow in the water divide?

Here the groundwater table is horizontal, so the hydraulic head is the same in the horizontal direction.
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Where is the slope of the groundwater table the steepest?

You are far away from the water devide, so a lot of water has infiltrated and so the discharge is large. This causes the hydraulic to decrease more quickly and so water flows faster and a larger volume is transported per unit of time.

What is a drainpipe?

A horizontal porous tube which rapidly transports soil water to the surface water system.

Why does the slope of the water table gradually decrease from the start of the seepage area till the end?

In the seepage area water is leaving the ground, so less water needs to be transported through the soil when moving from the middle to the end.

Why is the difference between spatial scales important?

Because it results in differences in temporal scales. Longer flow routes take more time. It also determines the variability in stream flow. Regional flow doesn't change that much.

How does groundwater react to weirs and dams?

It tends to bypass them.

What does an aquitard do to the hydraulic head?

It smoothes the differences in hydraulic heads.

Why is it important to distinguish between infiltration and seepage water?

Because they have different chemical compositions.

In which 4 area's can the Netherlands roughly be divided?

1) the hilly area's in Limburg and the elevated sandy soils in the south and east infiltration
2) the river area and the low-lying sandy soils seepage
3) brachish low-lying peat and clay areas, polder seepage
4) dunes infiltration

Where does a smaller area of interest lead to?

A larger importance of short-term variations in precipitation and evapotranspiration for stream patterns.

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