Author: W. S. Auchincloss

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2016-11-06

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13: 9781539960676

From the introductory. An abundant supply of fresh water is so essential to all the activities of life, that everywhere the question of rainfall is regarded -with the keenest interest, and stations have been established throughout the world for keeping accurate records of the times and amounts of downpour. These observations, however, go no further than the surface of the ground. They tell us nothing about the subsequent history of the water as it journeys onward through the dark recesses of the earth! How much of it is taken up by evaporation? How much is needed to satisfy the demands of plant-life? Much less do they give the faintest idea of what quantity reappears in lake or stream after months of unseen flow? Our research has the two-fold object of supplying the missing history and developing the laws of subterranean flow, or, more concisely, rainflow. The standard for measure and comparison will be the household well, because it is found in every country and affords a ready access for underground study. Let us trace the progress of a summer storm!- The first drops that fall simply moisten the ground. Gradually the surface becomes saturated, after which water can no longer enter the soil as fast as the rain falls. The excess, therefore, must glide away over the surface to the lowlands. When the storm ceases a portion of the water will evaporate, but a larger portion will be taken up by vegetation. It is generally conceded among agricultural authorities that grasses and herbs require for perfect growth a daily supply of water equal to their own weight. Possessed of so great capacity, we can readily understand how the midsummer demand seizes all that escapes evaporation, and for the time being stops all further descent of the water. With the disappearance of vegetation during the winter months this demand ceases and the water continues its descent as rapidly as the nature of the soil permits. Finally, it falls into what may properly be called the great subterranean lake, or, more concisely, the sublake. This body of diffused water underlies the earth's surface and is almost coextensive with its area. Its universal character is evidenced by the fact that wherever a well is sunk to a sufficient depth one is sure to find the sublake, and its water will fill the cavity only to the level of the sublake. We have described it as a body of diffused water', because its globules fill the interstices of the soil, sand, or disintegrated rock among whose particles it exists. Furthermore, it fills all fissures and openings in subjacent rock to which it has access....