Groundwater
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Water that percolates down into the earth through permeable layers and cracks until it encounters a layer that water cannot penetrate. There it collects and/or flows horizontally, filling the porous spaces in soil, sediment, and rocks. Groundwater originates from rain and from melting snow and ice and is the source of water for aquifers, springs, and wells. Adapted, in part, from The American Heritage Science Dictionary. 2005. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. As it flows, groundwater can re-surface. It often carries with it dissolved base minerals leached from soils and bedrock. See also groundwater discharge, groundwater recharge, water table.
