The weight of undisturbed overlying fresh water also manages to keep the salty groundwater from moving inland. This happened in Brooklyn, New York during the 1930's. The fresh groundwater table dropped by 15 meters as part of a cone of depression and seawater migrated into the wells. Potential and Kinetic Energy Energy is the ability to do work or to move or manipulate objects, including water. If water is released from the tank and moves down the hill, the potential energy is converted into heat and kinetic energy.
Heat energy is produced by friction between the flowing water and the surface of the hill.
The finer the particles, the longer it takes for the water to move around the numerous particles and the slower the flow. In the late 1850's, Henry Darcy, a French engineer, recognized what aquifer and fluid properties are needed to describe the flow of groundwater through an aquifer. The mathematics of Darcy's Law is explained on p. 149. Don't worry about memorizing the formula. Hydrologists use the law to predict how far groundwater or groundwater contaminants may flow in the subsurface over time.