The transmission of pressure in artesian aquifers

The water in artesian aquifers is confined under pressure. Under ideal conditions in a perfectly rigid artesian reservoir a change of pressure in one part of the reservoir should produce a corresponding change of pressure in all other parts of the reservoir. Theoretically, the transmission of pressure should take place rapidly and without any movement of water other than the small amount resulting from the compressibility of water. However, observations under natural conditions show that the transmission of pressure is not always rapid and that the rate of transmission appears to be determined in great part by the distance traversed and the magnitude of the change of pressure. There are many reasons for believing that artesian aquifers and their confining beds are not perfectly rigid but that they are elastic and capable of compression and dilation (O. E. Meinzer, Compressibility and elasticity of artesian aquifers, Econ. Geol., v. 23, pp. 263–291, 1928). This appears to be the cause of the lack of rapidity of transmission of pressure in artesian aquifers.