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Artesian well

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Artesian aquifer scheme:
  1. Aquifer
  2. Impervious strata
  3. Infiltration area
  4. Artesian well
  5. Saturation level
  6. Subartesian well
  7. Artesian spring
Geologicalstratagiving rise to an artesian well
Schematic of an artesian well
U.S. NavySeabeestapping an artesian well inHelmand Province,Afghanistan

Anartesian wellis awellthat bringsgroundwaterto the surface without pumping because it is under pressure within a body of rock and/or sediment known as anaquifer.[1]When trapped water in an aquifer is surrounded by layers ofimpermeablerock or clay, which apply positive pressure to the water, it is known as anartesian aquifer.[1]If a well were to be sunk into an artesian aquifer, water in the well-pipe would rise to a height corresponding to the point wherehydrostatic equilibriumis reached.[1]

A well drilled into such an aquifer is called anartesian well.[1]If water reaches the ground surface under the natural pressure of the aquifer, the well is termed aflowing artesian well.[2][3]

Fossil wateraquifers can also be artesian if they are under sufficient pressure from the surrounding rocks, similar to how many newly tappedoil wellsare pressurized.

Artesian well near the Myllylähde spring inAlastaro,Finland

Not all aquifers are artesian (i.e., water table aquifers occur where the groundwater level at the top of the aquifer is at equilibrium with atmospheric pressure). Aquifers recharge when the water table at its recharge zone is at a higherelevationthan the head of the well.

History

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The first mechanically accurate explanation for artesian wells was given byAl-Biruni.[4]Artesian wells were named afterArtoisinFrance,where many artesian wells were drilled byCarthusianmonks from 1126.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcd"Artesian Water and Artesian Wells".www.usgs.gov.United States Geological Survey.Retrieved2020-12-18.
  2. ^Wheeler, H. W (1980),Artesian bores of South Australia: an annotated photographic record, 1939-1948,Pioneer Books,ISBN978-0-908065-06-6
  3. ^Federal Water Resources Assistance Program (Australia); New South Wales. Department of Water Resources. Technical Services Division; Australian Water Resources Council. Interstate Working Group on the Great Artesian Basin (1990),Specification for construction, reconditioning or plugging of bores tapping recognised aquifers of the Great Artesian Basin in New South Wales(1st ed.), Dept. of Water Resources, Technical Services Division,retrieved19 January2014
  4. ^Davis and De Wiest, Hydrogeolagy, 1966, pp.9-10
  5. ^Frances Gies and Joseph Gies,Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheelsubtitled "Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages". Harper Perennial, 1995ISBN0-06-016590-1,page 112.
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