How does water seep through Earth's surface and get stored as groundwater?

Last updated at May 22, 2026 by

Q 9
Question

Explain how water seeps through the surface of the Earth and gets stored as groundwater.

๐Ÿ”— Concepts: 7.4.1 Seepage of Water beneath the Earth  |  7.4 Water Cycle

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Rainwater seeps through soil by infiltration and stores underground as groundwater in aquifers

Explanation

  • Rainwater seeps into ground through infiltration .
  • It moves through pore spaces in soil and rock.
  • Wider spaces (gravel) → faster seepage; narrow spaces (clay) → very slow seepage.
  • Water collects in pore spaces of underground sediments → called groundwater .
  • Underground rock/sediment layers storing groundwater → called aquifers .
  • We extract groundwater by digging wells .
  • Drilling bore wells into aquifers also works.
Rainwater → infiltration → fills pore spaces underground → stored as groundwater in aquifers → extracted via wells.
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