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Base Flow/Groundwater Flow

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Encyclopedia of Snow, Ice and Glaciers

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Synonyms

Drought flow; Groundwater recession flow; Low flow; Seepage flow; Infiltration; Deep percolation; Soil moisture redistribution

Definition

Base Flow: Between storms and runoff events, stream flow is maintained by groundwater discharge known as base flow, as long as the water table remains above the stream bottom (Delleur, 1999).

Groundwater: Groundwater is the liquid water flowing through aquifers. However, technically it includes soil moisture, permafrost, immobile water in very low permeability bedrock, and deep geothermal and oil formation water. It is the water (or ice) that resides beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of lithologic formations.

Aquifer: Aquifers are units of rock or an unconsolidated soil formation that can store and transmit a usable quantity of water.

Groundwater Flow: Groundwater flow occurs in soil and rock formations due to difference in hydraulic head or hydraulic potential within the unit or aquifer. The flow or...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Engineering, College of Engineering and Mines, University of Alaska Fairbanks, PO Box 755800, Fairbanks, AK, 99775-5800, USA

    Debasmita Misra

  2. Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, 903 Koyukuk Dr., Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775-7320, USA

    Ronald P. Daanen

  3. Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 230 Ag. Eng. Building, 460 Henry Mall, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Anita M. Thompson

Authors
  1. Debasmita Misra
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  2. Ronald P. Daanen
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  3. Anita M. Thompson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Debasmita Misra .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA

    Vijay P. Singh

  2. New Delhi, India

    Pratap Singh

  3. University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio, USA

    Umesh K. Haritashya

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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

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Misra, D., Daanen, R.P., Thompson, A.M. (2011). Base Flow/Groundwater Flow. In: Singh, V.P., Singh, P., Haritashya, U.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Snow, Ice and Glaciers. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2642-2_36

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