Landforms Made By Groundwater

Landforms Made By Groundwater The water that occurs below the surface of the earth is called subsurface water. Ground water is that part of subsurface water which fully saturates the pore spaces of the rock or its overburden and which behaves in response to the gravitational force. It is contained in the soil and underlying rock. Ground water may be derived from rain water that has percolated down or from water that has been trapped within the rock during its formation.

The water percolates down to collect above the impermeable layers of rocks, and eventually all the pore spaces above this layer become saturated with water forming the ground water zone. The underground water and the run-off water on the surface mutually affect each other. Underground water may be meteoric water, from precipitation; primary or juvenile water having its source in chemical changes deep inside the earth; connate water, remnant of ancient seas; and magmatic water, from the action of volcanic heat or water-containing rocks at great depths. Water from surface sources cannot be as naturally suitable and as economically exploitable as ground­water.

Compared to surface water supplies, ground water in most cases has a constant composition and temperature and is free from turbidity, objectionable colours and patho­genic organisms. Thus it requires very little treatment.
The rain-water or snow-melt that neither runs off along the surface nor evaporates but sinks into the ground is known as underground water. Springs, artesian wells, geysers, oasis, swamp, marsh, bogs, karst, sink hole, and caves (stalactites and stalagmites) are examples of land­forms made by groundwater.