USGS Multimedia Gallery for Video Tag: GroundWater

Scanning Earth's Subsurface for Groundwater

rmcleod - at - usgs.gov (Rachael McLeod) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST

USGS scientists use heliborne electromagnetic (HEM) survey to scan the Earth's subsurface in search of groundwater.

Transcript available soon.

The Mississippi embayment — Where Does the Water Come From?

brclark - at - usgs.gov (Brian Clark) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST

As the animation begins, the land surface of the Mississippi embayment fades away to reveal underground geologic formations (shown as shades of blue, brown, and gray surfaces). A slice deep into the earth cuts off the eastern half of the embayment so we can peer into the formations (aquifers) beneath the surface. The lower portion of different colored water wells (orange, light blue, and dark blue lines) come into view as the formations rotate. Each color of the wells represents a different layer of sand (aquifer) from which water is pumped. The wells are drilled from tens of feet deep to over 1,000 feet below land surface. There are thousands of wells represented here, but there are many thousands more that are not shown. All together, these wells pump, on average, enough water out of the ground to cover an average size county in about six inches of water -- everyday. This animation is another piece of the 3D computer model puzzle used to help manage the valuable water resource.

The Mississippi embayment — a look underground

brclark - at - usgs.gov (Brian Clark) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

Water, oil, and gas wells (shown as green lines) are drilled to hundreds or thousands of feet below land surface in an area known as the Mississippi embayment. Information gathered from these wells was used to create a 3D computer model of underground formations. Many of these formations (shown as shades of grey, blue, brown, or tan surfaces) consist of layers of sand and clay. These formations are important because they contain ground water that can be pumped out of the ground and used for anything from drinking water for public supplies to irrigation water for crops to washing, cooling, or transporting products in industrial settings. With the ever increasing demand for water and concerns about availability and sustainability, visual tools such as this are important and helpful.