GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Water that seeps into an aquifer is known as recharge. Recharge comes from a variety of sources, including seepage from rain and snow melt, streams, and groundwater flow from other areas. Recharge occurs where permeable soil allows water to seep into the ground. Areas in which this occurs are called recharge areas.

Detailed explanation-2: -A recharge area is the place where water is able to seep into the ground and refill an aquifer because no confining layer is present. Recharge areas are necessary for a healthy aquifer.

Detailed explanation-3: -Groundwater is found in two zones. The unsaturated zone, immediately below the land surface, contains water and air in the open spaces, or pores. The saturated zone, a zone in which all the pores and rock fractures are filled with water, underlies the unsaturated zone.

Detailed explanation-4: -Recharge zones refer to those areas where water infiltrates through the permeable rock and sediment but the saturated zone is at a depth where surface ecosystems (e.g. palustrine, lacustrine and riverine wetlands, riverine water bodies and terrestrial vegetation) are unable to access the groundwater.

Detailed explanation-5: -The vadose water is further subdivided into three zones, i.e., soil water zone, intermediate zone and capillary zone.