Confined Aquifer

{
  "id": "MLC-T-ENV-006134",
  "term": "Confined Aquifer",
  "field": "Environment",
  "definition": "1. An aquifer in which ground water is confined under pressure which is significantly greater than atmospheric pressure.\n\n2. An aquifer bounded on the top by confining materials such as rock formations.\n\n3. Soil or rock below the land surface that is saturated with water. There are layers of impermeable material both above and below it and it is under pressure so that when the aquifer is penetrated by a well, the water will rise above the top of the aquifer [Original source: https://water.usgs.gov/edu/dictionary.html#S].\n\n4. A term used to describe an aquifer containing water between two relatively impermeable boundaries. The water level in a well tapping a confined aquifer stands above the top of the confined aquifer and can be higher or lower than the water table that may be present in the material above it. In some cases, the water level can rise above the ground surface, yielding a flowing well.\n\n5. An aquifer bounded above and below by impermeable beds or by beds of distinctly lower permeability than that of the aquifer itself; an aquifer containing confined ground water. [40 CFR 260.10 (CFR 2013)]\n\n6. A fully saturated aquifer overlain by a confining layer. The potentiometric surface (hydraulic head) of the water in a confined aquifer is at an elevation that is equal to or higher than the base of the overlying confining layer. Discharging wells in a confined aquifer lower the potentiometric surface which forms a cone of depression, but the saturated media is not dewatered.",
  "subject": "Land, waste and cleanup",
  "references": [
    "Drinking Water Technical & Legal Terms; Terms of Environment",
    "Superfund for Students and Teachers Glossary",
    "Federal LCA Commons Elementary Flow List for Life Cycle Assessment",
    "USGS Water Resources Data State, 2005 Definition of Terms",
    "40 CFR 260.10 (CFR 2020)",
    "Office of Underground Storage Tanks Technical Terms; Glossary of Technical Terms: Office of Underground Storage Tanks"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/environment/confined-aquifer/"
}