The Water Table: A hole at the beach illustrates the "water table".

A hole dug at the beach is a great way to illustrate the concept of how, below a certain depth, the ground, if it is permeable enough to hold water, is saturated with water. The upper surface of this zone of saturation is called the water table. The saturated zone beneath the water table is called an aquifer, and aquifers are huge storehouses of water. What you are looking at in this picture is a "well" that exposes the water table, with an aquifer beneath it. Of course, I am cheating here, as at the beach, the level of the water table is always at the same level as the ocean, which is just below the surface of the beach.

Learn more about aquifers and the water table:

• Aquifers and groundwater
• Groundwater wells
• What is groundwater?

Pictures and diagrams about groundwater:

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