Formation of the landform
What is an aquifer?
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be extracted using a water well. The upper surface of groundwater is known as the water table. Porous rocks hold water and allow water to move through holes within the rock. Freshwater generally fills the uppermost part of aquifers while salt water is present at greater depths. In North America, the principal water-yielding aquifers are grouped into five types: unconsolidated and semiconsolidated sand and gravel aquifers, sandstone aquifers, carbonate-rock aquifers, aquifers in interbedded sandstone and carbonate rocks, and aquifers in igneous and metamorphic rocks. Aquifers form when precipitation and water from rivers, lakes, and streams seeps through porous surface rock and collects underground. After years and years of accumulation enough water can accumulate to be welled and provide a water source. The Floridan aquifer developed millions of years ago during the late Paleocene to early Miocene periods, when Florida was underwater. The Floridan Aquifer is a carbonate-rock aquifer, consisting mostly of limestones and dolomites, middle Eocene to middle Miocene in age. The water-yielding properties of carbonate rocks vary widely, where the Floridan is one of the most productive aquifers known. The aquifer acts as a hydrologic unit in most of Florida, in Southeastern Georgia, and in parts of Alabama and South Carolina. Most carbonate rocks originate as sedimentary deposits in marine environments. Compaction, cementation, and dolomization processes can act upon the deposits as they lithify and change their porosity and permeability. The Floridan aquifer system can be generally divided into an Upper Floridan aquifer and a Lower Aquifer, separated by a less-permeable unit in most places and bounded above and below by confining units that are much less permeable. The Lower Floridan aquifer locally contains zones that are extremely permeable. |