in hydrology, rock layer that contains water and releases it in appreciable
amounts. The rock contains water-filled pore spaces, and, when the spaces are
connected, the water is able to flow through the matrix of the rock. An aquifer
also may be called a water-bearing stratum, lens, or zone.
A confined aquifer is a water-bearing stratum that is confined or
overlain by a rock layer that does not transmit water in any appreciable amount
or that is impermeable. There probably are few truly confined aquifers,
because tests have shown that the confining strata, or layers, although they do
not readily transmit water, over a period of time contribute large quantities of
water by slow leakage to supplement production from the principal aquifer.
A groundwater aquifer is said to be unconfined when its upper surface
(water table) is open to the atmosphere through permeable material. As opposed
to a confined aquifer, the water table in an unconfined aquifer
system has no overlying impervious rock layer to separate it from the
atmosphere.