|
|
Article: Earth's Interior, Water in the
- Article from:
- Water:Science and Issues
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Earth's Interior, Water in the
Water is found in different physical states at different levels below the Earth's surface. At shallower depths, it is a liquid occurring in
fractures
and in the pore spaces of rocks and
unconsolidated
materials. At greater depths, it is found as a gas within pore spaces, at minerals boundaries, and even locked within a part of the
crystalline
structure of the minerals themselves.
Water States
The major source of trapped water at shallow depths is rain and melted snow that infiltrates the ground and moves through the interconnected pore spaces as
groundwater
. Groundwater found at greater depths, about 300 meters (approximately 1,100 feet), ...