GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Movement of water and dispersion within the aquifer spreads the pollutant over a wider area. Its advancing boundary, often called a plume edge, can intersect with groundwater wells and surface water, such as seeps and springs, making the water supplies unsafe for humans and wildlife.

Detailed explanation-2: -In general, liquid contaminants aren’t dispersed and diluted in groundwater as much as they are in surface water and, like groundwater itself, they move slowly. A concentrated form of liquid contaminants is called a contamination plume.

Detailed explanation-3: -Groundwater contamination occurs when man-made products such as gasoline, oil, road salts and chemicals get into the groundwater and cause it to become unsafe and unfit for human use. Materials from the land’s surface can move through the soil and end up in the groundwater.

Detailed explanation-4: -Pollutant Plume When the pollutant enters the aquifer, contamination spreads in the water outward from the source and travels in the direction that the water is moving. This pollutant plume may travel very slowly, only a few inches a day, but over time can contaminate a large portion of the aquifer.

Detailed explanation-5: -The part of the aquifer that becomes contaminated is called a plume. Knowing this, you decide to find out more about how contaminants move once they have been released onto the earth’s surface.