Basic Hydrogeology An Introduction to the Fundamentals of Groundwater Science

Abstract

A number of excellent textbooks on hydrogeology are available to students and practitioners of the science, including several classic manuscripts available for free download through this website. Comprehensive textbooks such as these, however, may not be best for guiding an introductory level course for undergraduate students who intend to work in the industry. Like other sciences, hydrogeology is an extensive and complex field of study that is governed by a much smaller number of underlying concepts; e.g., flow is driven by a hydraulic head gradient, properties of subsurface formations control groundwater velocities and volumetric flow rates in response to a gradient, pumping water wells represent a specific type of flow system, etc. Students preparing for work in hydrogeology consulting or regulatory compliance need to be educated with a focus on those concepts and on applying those concepts to the types of problems that working hydrogeologists face on a regular basis. This book is not intended to replace or substitute for the many existing textbooks on groundwater hydrology. Rather, the intent is to provide an educational resource that can be directly used by hydrogeology teachers to support an undergraduate course in groundwater hydrology. The fundamentals of the science, including hydraulic head and head gradients, the properties of porous media, the equations governing flow in groundwater systems, flow to pumping water wells, and groundwater modeling are included, along with other related topics (e.g., geochemistry, the unsaturated zone, consolidation and subsidence, and surface water hydrology). A number of exercises are included, along with solutions.