Lee, Thanks for clarifying, this is a very common misperception about groundwater. Interesting that most lay people think that water occurs in flowing rivers or lakes. Most hydrologist perceive groundwater in porous rock (such as the area between sand grains) with velocities measured in cm or inches per year. Then there is karst which drives many traditionally trained hydrologists nuts as they try and apply the porous rock model to groundwater flow in conduits which may better fit (but not perfectly), the common public perception. They can't rationalize from their experience and education that groundwater velocities may average more than a mile per day in some karst aquifers.
Most karst hydrologists have been dealing with educating the public (as well as professionals) on the differences. Interesting, I remember Jim Quinlan, former park geologist saying, "with some exceptions, cavers know more about the movement of groundwater in karst than your classically trained hydrogeologist." There is nothing greater than taking a classically trained hydrologist into Honey Creek Cave and letting them swim through an aquifer. Talk about an epiphany (and some near nervous breakdowns). LOL Geary -----Original Message----- From: Lee H. Skinner [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2011 12:40 PM To: texascavers list Subject: [Texascavers] Subterranean Amazon River from BBC News: A subterranean river said to be flowing beneath the Amazon region of Brazil is not a river in the conventional sense, even if its existence is confirmed. The "river" has been widely reported, after a study on it was presented to a Brazilian science meeting last week. But the researchers involved told BBC News that water was moving through porous rock at speeds measured in cm, or inches, per year - not flowing. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14693637 Lee Skinner --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
