This document discusses the classification of springs based on hydrogeology. It defines different types of springs that form due to specific geological conditions: depression springs form in low-lying areas where the water table intersects land surface; contact springs occur at boundaries between permeable and impermeable rock layers; fracture springs form where joints or fractures intersect the surface; fault springs can develop along fault zones; and karst springs are commonly seen in limestone areas where solution features have formed. Spring discharge varies seasonally and by spring type, with factors like aquifer properties, catchment conditions, and recharge areas influencing output. A typology of springs is proposed considering geological setting and factors like discharge quantity and variability.

1. Spring Hydrogeology and its classification
PRASARI

2. What is the difference between a well and a spring?
What is common between a well and a spring?

4. Lez Spring – water
supply for the city
of Montpellier,
France
Big Spring for the city of
Huntsville, Alabama
Karst spring systems that supply
water 10 villages and communities
of the Swabian Alb in Germany.

5. Jack Daniel advertises its whiskey as being made
with iron-free water from a Tennessee cave spring
Single source of pure natural water, from a spring
on the hillside above the Glenfiddich distillery, and this gives it its
unique purity of taste. Glenfiddich has bought 200 acres of
surrounding hillside just to protect that small spring.
LaMoreaux, P. and Tanner, J. (2011). Springs and Bottled Waters of the
World Ancient History, Source, Occurrence, Quality and Use.

6. Gurpreet Singh Nibber | Hindustan Times, May 20, 2019
Radheshyam Jadhav | TNN | Times Of India, Updated: Jun 9, 2018,
More about wells and borewells……

7. Time
Quantity
of
water
Drivers of source
depletion: changes –
climate, land-cover,
land-use, seismicity,
etc.
More than 60% of low-
discharge springs reported
decline in the last 20 years
– sampled across the
Himalayan Region…
ACWADAM, in partnership with various
organisations – 2007 - 2016

8. Water scarcity in Kathmandu
Photo credit: Himalayan Times
Drudgery caused to women's in rural areas
Chapakharka village, Kathmandu

9. Dependency on spring water for
domestic purposes
Tanker services across many parts of the
Himalayan regions
Pudung village, Kalimpong Kalimpong town

10. Regional spring-scapes
Western Ghats Eastern Ghats
Himalayan region
Groundwater – blind
spot - sparse data on
groundwater in general
and springs in
particular…

11. What is behind a spring?

12. A system of rocks (Aquifers) feeding into the spring…….

13. Understanding the
resource that supports
sources
..and the aquifer
feeding this spring???

14. …to a typology: based on hydrogeology

15. Classification of Springs
• Geology
• Magnitude, variation, and permanence of flow
• Quality and mineralization of the spring water
• Temperature of the spring water.
(Fetter, 1980; Tolman, 1937; Meinzer, 1923)

16. Gravity Springs
Gravity springs emerge under unconfined conditions where water table intersects land surface. They
are also called descending springs.
Artesian Springs
Artesian springs discharge under pressure due to confined conditions in the underlying aquifer. They
are also called ascending or rising springs.
Classification based on nature of the hydraulic head in the underlying aquifer at the
point of discharge

17. Types of Springs
It is necessary to identify the type of spring
in order to understand how they behave
over time and space
- Depression spring
- Contact spring
- Fracture spring
- Fault spring
- Karst spring
Modified after Tolman, 1937

18. Depression spring

19. Depression spring
• Formed at topographic lows.
• Formed when water table reaches the surface due to topographic
undulations.

20. Fracture spring

21. • Fracture spring occur due to the existence of jointed or permeable
fractures (usually in the form of ‘fracture zones’)
• Springs are formed where these fractures intersect the land surface.
Fracture Spring

22. Karst spring

23. Karst Spring

24. Karst spring
Limestones host many springs.
Springs in limestone terrains can be
interconnected to topographic
depressions caused by sinkholes –
depressions in the ground surface
cause due to the dissolving
of limestones below.
Large quantities of water move
through the cavities, channels,
conduits and other openings
developed in limestones.

25. Contact spring

26. Contact Spring
• Formed at places where relatively permeable rocks overlie rocks of
low permeability.
• A lithological contact is usually marked by a line of springs.

27. Contact spring
In Horizontal layered rocks

28. Fault spring
Faulting may also give rise to
conditions favorable for spring
formation as groundwater
(at depth) under hydrostatic
pressure (such as in confined
aquifers) can move up
along such fault zones.
An impermeable rock unit may be
brought in contact with an
unconfined aquifer due to faulting.

29. Fault spring
Faults may play one of the following three roles
• Conduit for groundwater flow
• Storage of groundwater due to increased porosity within the fault zone
• Barrier to groundwater flow due to decrease in porosity within the
fault
Neven Kresic
MACTEC Engineering and Consulting Inc., Ashbuurn, Virginia

30. Summer
Monsoon
Winter
Time
Discharge
D
A typical behaviour of a spring………

31. 0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Apr-15 May-15 Jul-15 Sep-15 Oct-15 Dec-15 Jan-16 Mar-16 May-16 Jun-16
Discharge
in
volume
per
time
Time
Spring Discharge Hydrograph

32. 0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Apr-15 May-15 Jul-15 Sep-15 Oct-15 Dec-15 Jan-16 Mar-16 May-16 Jun-16
Discharge
in
volume
per
time
High Discharge- Perennial
High Discharge- Seasonal
Consistent Discharge- Perennial
Low Discharge- Seasonal
Represents spring
typology, diversity in
aquifers, catchment
conditions, size and
distance of recharge
zones etc.

33. 0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Apr-15 May-15 Jul-15 Sep-15 Oct-15 Dec-15 Jan-16 Mar-16 May-16 Jun-16
Discharge
in
volume
per
time
Karstic / Depression
Depression / Karstic / Fracture
Contact / Fracture
Fracture / Contact
Indicating spring typology and aquifer conditions

34. Typology of Springs
• Sedimentary, Metamorphic &
Igneous
• Geological structure, Dip slope
• Escarpment slope issue
• All spring types, Fracture springs
dominate
• Wide ranging discharge, 0-30,
30-100, >100, even >1000 lpm
• Elevation 500m to 5000m
• Igneous
• Geological structure
• Contact , fracture and few
depression
• Moderate discharge range
0-20, 20-100, few >100
lpm
• Elevation 200m to 2200m
• Metamorphic, sedimentary
• Geological structure
• Fracture
• Low discharge range 0-15, 15-
50, > 50 lpm
• Elevation 200m to 1000m
Himalayas Western Ghats Eastern Ghats

36. Advanced Center for Water Resources Development And Management