Abstract
Fresh-water on continents is made up by two-third of ice and one-third of nonsolid water. Groundwater accounts for 96.3% of all non-solid fresh-water resources (8,000,000 km3), followed by lake water (2.7%), soil water (0.8%), and river water (0.01%); the rest belongs to atmospheric water vapor. Most lakes are interrelated with groundwater; more than 45% of the surface discharge of rivers in humid and semi-arid climates originates from groundwater, whereas in arid (dry-land) and cold climates surface discharge contributes to groundwater.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Seiler, KP., Gat, J. (2007). Introduction. In: Groundwater Recharge from Run-Off, Infiltration and Percolation. Water Science and Technology Library, vol 55. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5306-1_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5306-1_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-5305-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-5306-1
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)