In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth; and the windows of the heavens were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
Genesis 7 vs 11-12
For this activity we decided to look into natural springs which led us to Florida where the springs are the largest by volume in the world...
Spring Formation
Springs form where groundwater is forced up and onto the surface through openings in the ground. This is caused by the differences in the slope or "hydraulic gradient" in the aquifer. As rain falls and percolates underground, it exerts pressure on the water already in the aquifer, forcing some to the surface through natural openings. The highest concentration of springs in Florida lies in the north-central part of the state where the aquifer is closest to the surface. Springs are classified or categorized based on the amount water discharge. The largest springs like Wakulla and Silver Springs are classified as "magnitude 1" springs which means they each discharges more than 65 million gallons of water a day - the equivalent of about 1.3 million bathtubs full!
Spring Flow
The volume of water flowing from a spring is dependent upon a variety of factors: the water pressure in the aquifer beneath it, the number of caves leading to the spring vent or opening, and the size of the vent itself. Florida's springs are the largest by volume in the world, giving birth to and supporting entire river eco-systems like the Suwannee and the Santa Fe. Collectively, Florida's springs discharge over 19 billion gallons of freshwater each day.
Activity:
In Florida, most communities get their drinking water from the underground water source called the Floridan Aquifer. The aquifer is comprised primarily of limestone that holds and stores water in small holes and spaces much like a sponge. The Floridan Aquifer extends underground for hundreds of miles and it's estimated that it stores more than two quadrillion gallons of water!
Water in the aquifer flows underground and some of it is pumped out for drinking and in some places it comes up from the ground to form springs. The same water that we pump up from the ground to use for drinking water is the same water that comes out of springs.