Artesian aquifer
- See Great Artesian Basin for the water source in Australia.
An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. This causes the water level in a well to rise to a point where hydrostatic equilibrium has been reached. This type of well is called an artesian well. Water may even reach the ground surface if the natural pressure is high enough, in which case the well is called a flowing artesian well.
An aquifer is a geologic layer of porous and permeable material such as sand and gravel, limestone, or sandstone, through which water flows and is stored. An artesian aquifer is confined between impermeable rocks or clay which causes this positive pressure. The recharging of aquifers happens when the water table at its recharge zone is at a higher elevation than the head of the well.
Fossil water aquifers can also be artesian if they are under sufficient pressure from the surrounding rocks. This is similar to how many newly tapped oil wells are pressurized.
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[edit] Origin
Artesian wells were named after the former province of Artois in France, where many artesian wells were drilled by Carthusian monks from 1126.[1]
[edit] Examples of artesian wells
[edit] Australia
- The Great Artesian Basin is the largest and deepest artesian basin in the world, occupying 23% of the Australian continent.
[edit] United States
Some towns in the United States were named Artesia after the artesian wells in the vicinity. Other artesian well sites include:
- Ashland, Wisconsin
- Beaver Creek Park, Hill County, Havre, Montana
- Black Belt (region), Alabama
- Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania
- Brown Palace Hotel, Denver, Colorado
- Camp Lewis, New Jersey
- Carmel, Indiana
- Chatawa, Mississippi
- Chestertown, New York
- Dallas, Oregon
- Doe Run, Missouri
- Evamor, Goodbee, Louisiana
- Fountain of Youth, St. Augustine, Florida
- Fountain Point, Michigan
- Fountain Valley, California[2]
- Gage, Oklahoma
- Gillis Springs, Treutlen County, Georgia
- Hicksville, Ohio
- Jacob's Well, Wimberley, Texas
- Jerome, Missouri
- Kentwood, Louisiana
- La Crosse, Wisconsin
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Lexington, Kentucky
- Long Island, New York
- Lynnwood, Washington
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Monument Valley, Utah
- Olympia, Washington
- Pahrump, Nevada
- Palm Springs, California
- Potomac, Illinois
- Prattville, Alabama
- Sandwich, Massachusetts
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Sierra Madre, California
- Silver Springs, Florida, site of one of the largest artesian spring formations in the world
- Sitka, Alaska
- Smoke Hole Caverns, Seneca Rocks, West Virginia
- South Dakota (most of the area east of the Missouri River)
- Telfair County, Georgia (at least 50 wells)
- Washburn, Wisconsin
- Watervliet Michigan
- Williamstown, Massachusetts
- Woodward, Oklahoma
- Pisgah, Arkansas
[edit] Canada
- White Rock, British Columbia
- Watershed Park, British Columbia
- Pemberton, British Columbia
- Arnes, Manitoba
- Gimli, Manitoba
- Oak Hammock Marsh, Manitoba
- Tiny, Ontario
- Wasaga Beach, Ontario
- Brockton, Ontario the current much safer source of Walkerton's water, following the Walkerton Tragedy.
- Teeswater, Ontario
- Stratford, Ontario
- Ardoise, Nova Scotia
- Weymouth, Nova Scotia
- Creemore, Ontario used by Creemore Springs Brewery
[edit] Croatia
[edit] Italy
- Aquileia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia
[edit] Fiji
[edit] Spain
- Cella, Teruel, Aragón
[edit] United Kingdom
- Trafalgar Square fountains, London (1844 to about 1890) The wells were about 130 m deep.
[edit] France
- Grenelle Well in Paris (opened in 1841) which was almost 600 m deep.
- Passy Well, France (opened in 1860)
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Frances Gies and Joseph Gies, Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel subtitled "Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages". Harper Perennial, 1995 ISBN 0-06-016590-1, page 112.
- ^ http://www.fountainvalley.org/visitors/facts/history.php
- ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131656523
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