6 Summary

The objective of this book is to introduce the most basic and essential concepts in groundwater science. In particular, the fundamentals of Darcy’s law under steady, saturated, and isotropic conditions. Concepts of hydraulic head, hydraulic gradient, potentiometric contours, and flow of water on a laboratory scale that are analogs to flow in aquifers and aquitards is presented, along with representation of these concepts at the field scale. The material is presented in a conceptual manner by explaining phenomena with minimal mathematical detail and numerous sketches with imbedded narrative that highlight key features and phenomena. Figure 29 summarizes some of the key elements presented in this book. References to a limited set figures that present more detail are indicated in Figure 29. It is most useful to read the book from start to finish and study all figures, because they are presented in an iterative manner and rely on previous figures to provide deeper understanding of the fundamentals and their manifestation in groundwater systems.

Figure showing summary of concepts presented in this book

Figure 29Summary of concepts presented in this book (Cohen and Cherry, 2020).

License

Conceptual and Visual Understanding of Hydraulic Head and Groundwater Flow Copyright © 2020 by Andrew J.B. Cohen and John A. Cherry. All Rights Reserved.