aquifer

Before entering fully into the clarification of the meaning of the term aquifer, it is necessary to know its etymological origin. In this case, we can say that it is a word that derives from Latin, since it is the result of the sum of two elements of that language:
-The noun “aqua”, which can be translated as “water”.
-The verb form "fero", which is equivalent to "I carry".

Aquifer is a notion that is used in the fields of geology and of the biology. In the first case, an aquifer is an underground structure that houses water.

Aquifers are reservoirs from Water that are located below the earth's surface. These aquifers allow the circulation of water through various cracks and the porosity of their structure.

In aquifers it is possible to differentiate between water table (the upper sector), the saturation zone (the space where the rocky pores fill with water) and the waterproof jacket. Above the water table, and before the surface, there is another sector known as the aeration zone.

Many classifications of aquifers can be made, since there are many modalities that exist. However, among the most frequent groups we can find the following:
-Based on their hydraulic behavior, we come across confined aquifers, which are those between two impermeable layers; the semi-confined; the underestimated or free, which are in direct contact with what is the undersaturated area of ​​the soil; and the coastal ones.
-According to their structure, they can be classified into two large groups: the free and the confined.
-Starting from the criterion of what their textures are, we find the fissile and the porous.
-If we rely on what is hydrodynamic behavior, there are aquifers, aquiccludes, aquitards and aquifuges.

It is important to bear in mind that aquifers allow a good part of the population of the entire world access the water. However, uncontrolled exploitation and pollution threaten this resource. Chemical fertilizers used by agriculture, waste from industrial activity and oil exploitation are some of the factors that can contaminate an aquifer.

Specifically, among the most polluting elements that exist and that seriously endanger aquifers are the waste generated in motor shops and gas stations, in paint shops, in dry cleaners, in manufacturing and in metallurgical industries. Not forgetting those derived from metal mines or oil extraction, among others.

A example aquifer is the Guaraní Aquifer, which occupies thousands of kilometers below Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay Y Paraguay. It is the largest planetary reservoir of fresh water that is below the surface.

In the field of biology, on the other hand, an aquifer is a conduit that allows the transport of liquids in certain organisms. Echinoderms, to cite one case, have an aquifer vascular system with multiple branches throughout the body.