GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Clay usually acts as an aquitard, impeding the flow of water. Gravel and sand are both porous and permeable, making them good aquifer materials. Gravel has the highest permeability.

Detailed explanation-2: -Sand allows water to drain through it more easily than silt and clay so more water should have drained through the sandy soil than the potting soil.

Detailed explanation-3: -Physical characteristics of soil par-ticles, such as size and shape, influence the porosity and permeability of soils and rocks. Coarse materials, like gravel and sand, tend to be both porous (they have large pore spaces that can fill with water) and permeable (water passes easily between the large particles).

Detailed explanation-4: -Soils arranged from most porous to least porous are potting soil, gravel, sand, silt, and clay. Dry soils arranged from fastest to slowest permeabilities are gravel, potting soil, sand, silt, and clay.