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aquifer — English
Another name for an aquifer is a “water carrier”. It is a water bearing or water containing layer or layers of rock. These rocks contain spaces between their particles and water could occupy these interstices. Such rocks are called permeable. Rocks that are permeable contain spaces (called interstices, interstitial spaces or pores) between the solid particles and water may seep into these spaces, which makes the rock a water carrier or an aquifer. Should a borehole be drilled into such a rockbed, the interstitial water (that is, the water in the pore spaces between the particles) may be extracted. Some aquifers may contain enormous volumes of water, and the Ogallala Aquifer in Kansas and Nebraska, USA, is probably the most well-known one in the world as it provides irrigation water for one of the world’s most productive agricultural regions. Underneath the sands of the Sahara desert an enormous aquifer is said to exist. But it does not mean the whole Sahara could be irrigated for crop cultivation since salinisation of the soil might occur (see “salinisation”). Some rocks are not permeable (called impermeable rocks or aquicludes), that is, the particles that constitute the rock are so densely arranged that there are no spaces between them for water to occupy; these rocks are not aquifers, that is, they carry no or very little extractable water and will never serve as significant underground water sources. (See “drainage basin”.)
