Surface water

“ The sun is changing the surface water into steam which rises into the sky to form a part of another bank of clouds. The earth has soaked up quantities of the water that fell. If we followed the racing currents in the gullies we should find them pouring into sewer mains at various points, and from these underground pipes the water is conducted to some outlet like a river. All of the streams are swollen by the hundreds of brooks and rivulets that are carrying the surface water to the lowest level. ”

“ Geologic activity.—Of all geological agencies water is the most obvious and apparently the greatest, though its efficiency is conditioned upon the presence of the atmosphere, upon the relief of the land, and upon the radiant energy of the sun. Through the agency of rainfall, of surface streams, of underground waters, and of wave action, the hydrosphere is constantly modifying the surface of the lithosphere, while at the same time it is bearing into the various basins the wash of the land and depositing it in stratified beds. ”

“ Where surface waters are not readily available, the subterranean water is of first importance. It is generally known that, underlying the earth's surface at various depths, there is a large quantity of free water. ”

“ Between them, the surface waters, laden with carbonic acid obtained from the atmosphere and from [5] vegetation, have for ages made their way, enlarging them by both chemical and mechanical action, till they have become fissures capable of giving passage to an enormous quantity of water. So from one joint to another, from one bedding plane to another, the water percolates downwards until it meets with some impermeable rock beneath, or until it finds an outlet at the level of the Secondary rocks forming the valley below. ”

“ Surface water may be obtained from brooks flowing through uninhabited upland or from mountain streams. Such water is very pure and limpid, particularly where the stream in its downward course tumbles over rocks or forms waterfalls. ”

“ The rainfall may be divided into three parts: the first DRIES UP, being discharged into the air by evaporation either directly from the soil or through vegetation; the second RUNS OFF over the surface to flood the streams; the third SOAKS IN the ground and is henceforth known as GROUND or UNDERGROUND WATER.
THE DESCENT OF GROUND WATER. Seeping through the mantle of waste, ground water soaks into the pores and crevices of the underlying rock. All rocks of the upper crust of the earth are more or less porous, and all drink in water. ”

“ During alterations at the surface water is added to the mineral constitution of the rocks, and by alterations deep below the surface it may be subtracted. Water is the agent through which most mineral and chemical changes of rocks are accomplished. It is the agent also which is mainly responsible for the segregation of mineral deposits. Water, both as running water and in the solid form of ice, plays an important part in determining the configuration of the earth's surface. Water is the medium in which most sedimentary rocks are formed. ”

“ Water covers such a large proportion of the earth's surface and is such an important factor in the economy of nature that it becomes a matter of interest to study the process of its distribution. Water is to our globe what blood is to our bodies. A constant circulation must be kept up or all animal and vegetable life would suffer. Here, as in every other operation of nature, the sun is the great heart and motive power that is active in the distribution of moisture over the face of the globe. ”

“ Water is never found pure in nature; it is nearly pure when gathered in an open field, after a heavy rainfall, or from springs. For town and city supply, surface-water is furnished by some adjacent pond or lake. ”

“ After evaporation, the surface water becomes impregnated with a slight excess of salt, and its specific gravity being thus increased, it instantly falls to the bottom, while lighter water rises to the top, or flows in laterally, being always supplied by rivers and the current from the Atlantic. ”

“ Why is the water in some wells much warmer than in others?
In wells where the water is warm, the streams flowing into them are near the surface of the earth, and are heated by the sun; but in the wells of cold water, the streams are much deeper in the earth. ”

“ The whole surface of the earth is divided into drainage areas that lead either directly through rivulets and rivers to the ocean, or into some land-locked basin, where it either finds an outlet under ground or is kept within bounds through the process of evaporation, the same as is the case with our great oceans. ”

“ The vapor is taken from the surface water; the surface water thereby becomes more salt, and, under certain conditions, heavier; when it becomes heavier, it sinks; and hence we have, due to the salts of the sea, a vertical circulation, viz., a descent of heavier — because salter and cooler water from the surface, and an ascent of water that is lighter — because it is not so salty from the depths below. ”

“ Besides the ocean, the hydrosphere includes all the water which constitutes the surface streams and lakes, together with that which permeates the pores and fissures of the outer part of the solid earth ”

“ The chief source of supply for water which falls on the earth is from the ocean. The heat of the sun raises a vapour from its surface. This vapour condenses and falls as rain or snow, either on sea or land. Rain after falling for some time is almost pure and for that reason is called soft. Hard water contains various minerals. ”

“ The water, which displaces and transports to a distance these heavy masses, does [449] not abrade the surface when it acts by itself. We see this surface, on rocks and the sides of piers and dikes, perpetually beaten by the waves, covered with fuci, confervæ, byssi, and other delicate vegetables, without roots, which the waves have not prevented from contracting a first and feeble adherence, and which they do not hinder from growing. But, if the waves carry with them pebbles, or even sand, it is those hard bodies which act; the surface of the rocks is abraded, and all vegetation ceases. ”

“ Now, the power of this moving water is a mighty wide-spread agent of change in the physical condition of the globe. For wherever water is in motion over the surface of the land, whether it be a rippling stream, or a mountain torrent, or a majestic river, it is surely wearing away the channel through which it flows, and carrying along in its course particles of clay, or sand, or gravel. ”

“ In this way the sun-waves and the air carry off water everyday, and all day long, from the top of lakes, rivers, pools, springs, and seas, and even from the surface of ice and snow. Without any fuss or noise or sign of any kind, the water of our earth is being drawn up invisibly into the sky. ”

“ Those who admit design among terrestrial adaptations, or have studied the economy of cosmical arrangements, will not be loth to grant that by design the atmosphere keeps in circulation a certain amount of moisture; that the water of which this moisture is made is supplied by the aqueous surface of the earth, and that it is to be returned to the seas again through rivers and the process of precipitation ”

“ This drains off from the surface, forming rills, which collect as they descend, by their own weight, into the lowest channels of the ground, and form into streams and rivers, and back into the sea comes the water which the air had taken away, with this difference, that it is free from salt and fit for the many uses to which fresh water alone can be applied; when the vapour rises from the sea, none of the saline matters rise with it, for, although the water is volatile, yet they are not, and this is the whole source of fresh water. ”

“ Rain-water is seen to sink beneath the surface with every shower, and since this source seems altogether adequate for ground-water, and since no other source is known whence any considerable amount of ground-water might come, it is concluded that atmospheric precipitation is its chief source. ”

“ When well water is used for drinking some knowledge of the geology of the home grounds is essential. Thus, because the top of a well is on higher ground than the cess-pool is no reason for assuming that the contents of the latter may not seep into the water, for the inclination of the strata of the rocks may be in a contrary direction to that of the surface of the ground. ”

“ Every school-boy is aware that water, in the act of freezing, expands, and that in the crystal condition fresh water occupies about one tenth more space than when in a fluid state; and hence, when ice floats in the fresh water from which it was formed, one tenth of it is exposed above, while the remaining nine tenths are beneath the surface. ”

“ In nature, the inclination and exposure of the ground, the degree of freedom or obstruction of the flow of water over the surface, the composition and density of the soil, the presence or absence of perforations by worms and small burrowing quadrupeds—upon which the permeability of the ground by water and its power of absorbing and retaining or transmitting moisture depend—its temperature, the dryness or saturation of the subsoil, vary at comparatively short distances ”

“ Water rises to the surface in natural springs at points where the pressure or head, due to its entrance into the ground at a higher level, is sufficient to force it to the surface after a longer or shorter underground course. ”

“ As the layers of earth or rock, of which the {82}crust of the earth is made up, do not run level, or horizontal, but are tilted and tipped in all directions, this rain water soaks down until it reaches one of these sloping layers that is so hard, or tough, as to be waterproof, and then runs along over its surface in a sort of underground stream. ”

“ Water of good quality is readily found in it by digging a few feet below the surface at the angles where the stream forms the deepest hollows, and in some places the stony sides give out bubbling springs. ”

“ In fact, its operators are successful only in regions in which ground water occurs in definite sheets in porous material, or in more or less clayey deposits, such as pebbly clay or till. In such regions (which are extremely common) few failures can occur, for wells can get water almost anywhere. Ground water occurs under certain definite conditions, and just as surface streams may be expected wherever there is a valley, so ground water may be found where certain rocks and conditions exist. ”

“ To give a recipe for getting a rough idea, in case you want to, I recommend the following procedure. Select a flat ten-acre ploughed field, so sited that all the surface water of the surrounding country drains into it. Now cut a zig-zag slot about four feet deep and three feet wide diagonally across, dam off as much water as you can so as to leave about a hundred yards of squelchy mud; ”

“ A permanently high ground water, that is, within 5 feet of the surface, is bad, while a permanently low ground water, that is, more than 15 feet from the surface, is good; and (2) violent fluctuations are bad, even with an average low ground water; a comparatively high ground water with moderate and slow fluctuations may be healthful. ”

“ If this highest point of the waterproof layer be many miles away, up in the hills above the surface of the ground where the well is dug, then the water will rise to the surface and sometimes even spout twenty, thirty, or fifty feet above it. ”

“ At such depths water is nearly always found. Often the geological conditions are such as to force the water up above the surface as artesian wells, though more often the pressure is simply sufficient to bring the water within easy pumping distance of the surface. ”

“ In dry climates permanent ground water may be found only at depths of hundreds of feet. Ground water is held at its height by the fact that its circulation is constantly impeded by capillarity and friction. If it were as free to drain away as are surface streams, it would sink soon after a rain to the level of the deepest valleys of the region. ”

“ The same kind of rolling cylinders of water obtain in rivers owing to the friction of the water against the earth at their bottoms; as is known by bodies having been observed to float upon their surfaces quicker than when immersed to a certain depth. These vertical eddies of air probably exist all over the earth's surface, but particularly at the bottom or sides of mountains; and more so probably in the course of the south-west than of the north-east winds ”

“ It was as when you lift a wreck from the tranquil sea and let it fall again to the depths, useless to wave or shore; the black and ghastly hulk is covered; it is seen no more; but the water palpitates with circling rings, trembles above the grave, dashes quick and apprehensive billows upon the sand, and is long in regaining its quiet surface.
"I wonder if there ever was a perfect man," said Jo, at length, drawing a deep sigh. ”

“ The bottom of a lake we cannot see, because its surface is covered with ripples. It is only possible for us to catch a glimpse of the bottom, when the ripples have subsided, and the water is calm. ”

“ In connection with the question of absorption and filtration, it is interesting to investigate the movements of water in the ground. The natural tendency of water, in the soil as well as out of it, is to descend perpendicularly toward the center of the earth. ”

“ Others taunt me with having knelt at well-curbs
Always wrong to the light, so never seeing
Deeper down in the well than where the water
Gives me back in a shining surface picture
My myself in the summer heaven, godlike
Looking out of a wreath of fern and cloud puffs.
Once, when trying with chin against a well-curb,
I discerned, as I thought, beyond the picture,
Through the picture, a something white, uncertain,
Something more of the depths—and then I lost it.
Water came to rebuke the too clear water.
One drop fell from a fern, and lo, a ripple
Shook whatever it was lay there at bottom, ”