An aquifer provides the water source for this artesian well. Porous
stone is sandwiched between a top and bottom layer of an
impermeable substance like clay or rock. The artesian water
pressure is kept high due to porous stone being crushed between
impermeable rocks along with the water’s density, and
elevation of recharge zone (gravity). When you get to a point below
the entryway of the flow, there is enough pressure (artesian
pressure) to bring the water up. The water in the aquifer is also
under enough pressure that, when the aquifer is tapped by a well
such as this, the water rises up the well bore to a level that is
above the top of the aquifer called the potentiometric
surface.
Beneath Iowa's land surface is a vast, natural storage and
distribution system for groundwater, a resource that supplies over
80% of Iowans with their drinking water supplies. This resource is
available through wells drilled into river valley sands and
gravels, into other sand and gravel bodies buried within glacial
deposits, and into the deeper limestone and sandstone strata
beneath the state.
To receive credit for this
EarthCache:
In an e-mail to me-
1. Please tell me the depth of the cement container the artesian
well empties in.
2. Please tell me this water's temperature.
3. Starting where the water empties out from the well, if you place
a stick in the water where it empties out in the cement "guide",
how long does it take a stick to reach the river where it empites
into?
And
When you log this EarthCache, please upload a
picture of yourself with you GPS clearly visible with the well
in
the background.
(See the example below.)
