Liquid Flow through Porous Sands

We have considered so far those aspects of fluid statics and fluid dynamics that are essential for an understanding of the main theme of this book — pore water and geology — and we have seen that the topics can barely be considered without some mathematics, but that the mathematics could be done by a High School student. Mathematics is a language that more geologists understand nowadays, but it is worth remembering that much of applied mathematics in the natural sciences is either trivial or intractable. It is not our purpose here to derive the laws of flow through porous solids from the Navier-Stokes equation, but rather to express them in terms of the measurable and useful parameters of sedimentary rocks. Our purpose is to understand the processes rather than to develop predictive equations or formulae. Those who seek a higher goal may find the note at the end of the chapter a useful starting point