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Origin of Springs PDF

Springs are formed when groundwater flows out from underground aquifers onto the land or ocean surface. They occur where the water table intersects with the ground. Springs can range in size from small seeps to huge flows of hundreds of millions of gallons daily. They are formed through processes like rainfall dissolving limestone and dolomite bedrock over thousands of years, creating underground caverns and channels. The amount of water flowing from springs depends on factors like rainfall, aquifer size, and human groundwater usage. While spring water is usually clear, some can be colored based on contacting minerals underground. The quality of spring water varies depending on the aquifer water quality and rock contact time underground.

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Sandeepan Chowdhury
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92 views4 pages

Origin of Springs PDF

Springs are formed when groundwater flows out from underground aquifers onto the land or ocean surface. They occur where the water table intersects with the ground. Springs can range in size from small seeps to huge flows of hundreds of millions of gallons daily. They are formed through processes like rainfall dissolving limestone and dolomite bedrock over thousands of years, creating underground caverns and channels. The amount of water flowing from springs depends on factors like rainfall, aquifer size, and human groundwater usage. While spring water is usually clear, some can be colored based on contacting minerals underground. The quality of spring water varies depending on the aquifer water quality and rock contact time underground.

Uploaded by

Sandeepan Chowdhury
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TheWaterCycleUSGSWaterScienceSchool

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SpringsTheWaterCycle
Whatisaspring?

New!

Aspring
Watercyclefor
isa
kidsposter.
water
resource
formedwhenthesideofahill,avalley
bottomorotherexcavationintersectsa
flowingbodyofgroundwateratorbelow
thelocalwatertable,belowwhichthe
subsurfacematerialissaturatedwith
water.Aspringistheresultofanaquifer
beingfilledtothepointthatthewater
overflowsontothelandsurface.They
rangeinsizefromintermittentseeps,
whichflowonlyaftermuchrain,tohuge
poolsflowinghundredsofmillionsof
gallonsdaily.
SpringsarenotlimitedtotheEarth's
surface,though.Recently,scientistshavediscoveredhotspringsatdepthsofupto2.5
kilometersintheoceans,generallyalongmidoceanrifts(spreadingridges).Thehotwater
(over300degreesCelsius)comingfromthesespringsisalsorichinmineralsandsulfur,
whichresultsinauniqueecosystemwhereunusualandexoticsealifeseemstothrive.

Howarespringsformed?
Springsmaybe
formedinanysort
ofrock.Small
onesarefoundin
manyplaces.In
Missouri,the
largestspringsare
formedin
limestoneand
dolomiteinthe
karsttopography
oftheOzarks.
Bothdolomiteand
limestonefracture
relativelyeasily.
Whenweak
carbonicacid
(formedby
rainwaterpercolatingthroughorganicmatterinthesoil)entersthesefracturesitdissolves
bedrock.Whenitreachesahorizontalcrackoralayerofnondissolvingrocksuchas
sandstoneorshale,itbeginstocutsideways.Astheprocesscontinues,thewaterhollows

outmorerock,eventuallyadmittinganairspace,atwhichpointthespringstreamcanbe
consideredacave.Thisprocessissupposedtotaketenstohundredsofthousandsofyears
tocomplete.

Waterflowfromsprings
Theamountofwaterthatflowsfromsprings
dependsonmanyfactors,includingthesizeof
thecavernswithintherocks,thewater
pressureintheaquifer,thesizeofthespring
basin,andtheamountofrainfall.Human
activitiesalsocaninfluencethevolumeof
waterthatdischargesfromaspring
groundwaterwithdrawalsinanareacancause
waterlevelsintheaquifersystemtodropand
ultimatelydecreasingtheflowfromthespring.
Mostpeopleprobablythinkofaspringasbeing
likeapoolofwaterandnormallythatisthe
case.But,asthispictureofthewallofthe
GrandCanyoninArizona,USAshows,springs
canoccurwhengeologic,hydrologic,orhuman
forcescutintotheundergroundlayersofsoil
androckwherewaterisinmovement.

Springwaterisnotalwaysclear
Waterfromspringsusuallyisremarkably
clear.Waterfromsomesprings,however,
maybe"teacolored."Thispictureshowsa
naturalspringinsouthwesternColorado.Its
redironcoloringandmetalsenrichmentare
causedbygroundwatercomingincontact
withnaturallyoccurringmineralspresentas
aresultofancientvolcanicactivityinthe
area.InFlorida,manysurfacewaters
containnaturaltannicacidsfromorganic
materialinsubsurfacerocks,andthecolor
fromthesestreamscanappearinsprings.If
surfacewaterenterstheaquiferneara
spring,thewatercanmovequicklythrough
theaquiferanddischargeatthespringvent.

Thiswateriscoldandclearisitfittodrink?
Thequalityofthewaterinthelocalgroundwatersystemwillgenerallydeterminethe
qualityofspringwater.Thequalityofwaterdischargedbyspringscanvarygreatlybecause
offactorssuchasthequalityofthewaterthatrechargestheaquiferandthetypeofrocks
withwhichthegroundwaterisincontact.Therateofflowandthelengthoftheflowpath
throughtheaquiferaffectstheamountoftimethewaterisincontactwiththerock,and
thus,theamountofmineralsthatthewatercandissolve.Thequalityofthewateralsocan
beaffectedbythemixingoffreshwaterwithpocketsofancientseawaterintheaquiferor
withmodernseawateralonganoceancoast.

So,shouldyoufeelconfidentaboutwhippingout
yourcanteenandfillingitwithcoolandrefreshing
springwater?No,youshouldbecautious.The
temperatureofanOzarkspringcomesfromits
passingthroughrockatameanannualtemperature
of56degreesFarenheit.Thewateriscrudely
filteredintherock,andthetimespentunderground
allowsdebrisandmudtofalloutofsuspension.If
undergroundlongenough,lackofsunlightcauses
mostalgaeandwaterplantstodie.However,
microbes,viruses,andbacteriadonotdiejustfrom
beingunderground,norareanyagriculturalor
industrialpollutantsremoved.Bytheway,no,this
manisnotgettingadrinkfromthistemptingspring.HeisaUSGShydrologistsamplingthe
nearboilingwaterfromaspringinWyoming.

Thermalsprings
Thermalspringsareordinaryspringsexcept
thatthewateriswarmand,insomeplaces,
hot,suchasinthebubblingmudspringsin
YellowstoneNationalPark,Wyoming.Many
thermalspringsoccurinregionsofrecent
volcanicactivityandarefedbywater
heatedbycontactwithhotrocksfarbelow
thesurface.Evenwheretherehasbeenno
recentvolcanicaction,rocksbecome
warmerwithincreasingdepth.Insuch
areaswatermaymigrateslowlyto
considerabledepth,warmingasitdescends
throughrocksdeepintheEarth.Ifitthen
reachesalargecrevicethatoffersapathof
lessresistance,itmayrisemorequickly
thanitdescended.Waterthatdoesnothave
timetocoolbeforeitemergesformsathermalspring.ThefamousWarmSpringsof
GeorgiaandHotSpringsofArkansasareofthistype.And,yes,warmspringscaneven
coexistwithicebergs,asthesehappyGreenlanderscantellyou.

Sourcesandmoreinformation
Howgroundwateroccurs,GroundWater,U.S.GeologicalSurveyGeneralInterest
Publication.
SpringsofFlorida,U.S.GeologicalSurveyFactSheetFS15195bySpechler,R.M.and
Schiffer,D.M.Availableonlineat
http://fl.water.usgs.gov/Abstracts/fs151_95_spechler.html.

Chooseawatercycletopic
AStorageiniceand
snow
BPrecipitation
CSnowmeltrunoffto
streams
DInfiltration
EGroundwater
discharge
FGroundwaterstorage
GWaterstoragein
oceans
HEvaporation

ICondensation
JWaterstorageinthe
atmosphere
KEvapotranspiration
LSurfacerunoff
MStreamflow
NSprings
OFreshwaterstorage
PSublimation

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isneeded.

U.S.DepartmentoftheInterior|U.S.GeologicalSurvey
URL:http://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclesprings.html
PageContactInformation:HowardPerlman
PageLastModified:Wednesday,12Aug201514:31:43EDT

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