A MANUAL OF FIELD HYDROGEOLOGY

• Main Author: Sanders, Laura L.
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: New Jersey Prentice Hall 1998
• Subjects: Hydrogeology > Field work
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.

 The study of ground water is like the study of any other geologic field: It requires one to go outside and get dirty, observing firsthand the processes at work in and on the earth. As with most geologic specialties, most of the action takes place underground, out of sight. Successfully piecing together the puzzle of what is happening depends on the geologist's ability to think in four dimensions, to use imagination, and to extract the maximum amount of information possible from the skimpiest of clues, In hydrogeology, as with other geologic specialties, we get some information by relying on "outcrops." Outcrops of water are springs, streams, lakes, and oceans. We also use test borings, geophysical studies, chemistry, physics, and loads of common sense to determine what is going on underground. But unlike most other geologic fields, in hydrogeology, the object of our study moves about,even as we study it. This presents a different set of challenges. It is made all the more compelling because of the environmental and social costs of ignorance of ground water movement. And as a young field, hydrogeology is only now defining its standard practice. Although standard texts exist that define the practice of field geology (notably Compton's Geology in the Field), few describe the practice of field hydrogeology. This book attempts to do so.