![]() ![]() Therefore, it is commonly used for public water supplies. Groundwater is often cheaper, more convenient and less vulnerable to pollution than surface water. It is likely that much of Earth's subsurface contains some water, which may be mixed with other fluids in some instances. Groundwater is hypothesized to provide lubrication that can possibly influence the movement of faults. Typically, groundwater is thought of as water flowing through shallow aquifers, but, in the technical sense, it can also contain soil moisture, permafrost (frozen soil), immobile water in very low permeability bedrock, and deep geothermal or oil formation water. The study of the distribution and movement of groundwater is hydrogeology, also called groundwater hydrology. Groundwater is also often withdrawn for agricultural, municipal, and industrial use by constructing and operating extraction wells. Groundwater is recharged from the surface it may discharge from the surface naturally at springs and seeps, and can form oases or wetlands. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock become completely saturated with water is called the water table. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. ![]() Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. Water located beneath the ground surface An illustration showing groundwater in aquifers (in blue) (1, 5 and 6) below the water table (4), and three different wells (7, 8 and 9) dug to reach it. ![]()
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