Which property describes the volume fraction of voids in rock that can store water?

Which property describes the volume fraction of voids in rock that can store water?

• A. Porosity
• B. Permeability
• C. Water table
• D. Hortonian flow

Answer: (A)

Porosity. Porosity is the fraction of a rock’s total volume that consists of void spaces or pore spaces, which can be filled with water. It sets the amount of water a rock can store when it becomes saturated. The basic idea is porosity = volume of voids divided by total rock volume. In practice, whether water can actually move or be readily drained also depends on whether those voids are connected, which relates to permeability. Permeability is about how easily water can flow through the rock, not how much water the rock can store. The water table is the depth at which the ground becomes saturated, and Hortonian flow refers to runoff caused by rainfall that exceeds infiltration. So the property describing how much water a rock can hold is porosity.

Porosity.

Porosity is the fraction of a rock’s total volume that consists of void spaces or pore spaces, which can be filled with water. It sets the amount of water a rock can store when it becomes saturated. The basic idea is porosity = volume of voids divided by total rock volume. In practice, whether water can actually move or be readily drained also depends on whether those voids are connected, which relates to permeability. Permeability is about how easily water can flow through the rock, not how much water the rock can store. The water table is the depth at which the ground becomes saturated, and Hortonian flow refers to runoff caused by rainfall that exceeds infiltration. So the property describing how much water a rock can hold is porosity.