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Role of Vertical Shafts in the Movement of Ground Water in Carbonate Aquifers
Author(s) -
Brucker Roger W.,
Hess John W.,
White William B.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
groundwater
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1745-6584
pISSN - 0017-467X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6584.1972.tb02943.x
Subject(s) - geology , aquifer , groundwater , clastic rock , carbonate , carbonate rock , vadose zone , water table , geotechnical engineering , geomorphology , hydrology (agriculture) , geochemistry , sedimentary rock , materials science , metallurgy
Vertical shafts are roughly cylindrical voids in carbonate rocks. They range in diameter from inches to tens of feet and in height from inches to hundreds of feet. They are produced by vertically descending ground water from perched ground‐water reservoirs or surface water. These features are common throughout the Interior Lowlands and Appalachian Plateaus Provinces. Vertical shafts form the headwater termini of complex drainage networks that aggregate the waters into master drains which carry the water to big springs. The drains evolve through time as base level is lowered but retain a dendritic pattern. Shafts are very short lived and occur only near the edge of the clastic caprock in the study area in south central Kentucky. Shafts are formed by free flowing sheets or films of vadose water streaming down the walls in supercritical flow. These waters are undersaturated with respect to calcite at both top and bottom of the shaft, although there is a measurable uptake of CaCO 3 as the water traverses the shaft walls. The shafts act as aeration chambers, and there is much loss of carbon dioxide from the ground water during movement through this segment of the underground route.