Definition and History of Hydrogeology - Hydrogeology: Objectives, Methods, Applications - page 4

among the great apes. Chimpanzees and baboons, when faced with muddy
water, know to dig holes into riverbanks to obtain fi ltered water. This fi rst
step in hydrogeology, which goes back to pre-human times, allows us to
presume that our ancestors were certainly concerned with ensuring a good
drinking water supply for themselves. The frequent presence of springs near
prehistoric settlements might be linked to this search for quality.
1.2.1 First relationships
Just as healers preceded medicine and alchemists preceded chemistry,
the art of the water diviner, ever-present ancestor to the hydrogeologist,
is lost in the beginnings of time (see chap. B6). The Bible describes Moses
striking a rock to bring forth a spring; could this be a religious example of
the diviner's dowsing rod?
A few ancient texts describe water below ground. Homer's Styx, as
visited by Ulysses a thousand years before our time, resembles a classic
underground river. A cuneiform text, carved in 800 B.C. at the entrance to
the Tigris Tunnel grotto (Lice, Turkey), tells of the Assyrian king Shulman
Asharid III's visit to the underground segment, a few hundreds of meters
long, of the Tigris river. A bronze plaque, discovered in the king's palace
and currently at the British Museum in London, describes this excursion
and shows the role of percolating water in the formation of a stalagmite
(Hill & Forti, 1997).
1.2.2 Greek models
Scholars in Greek and Roman antiquity interpreted numerous hydrogeologic
phenomena without coming to a satisfying conclusion (Ellenberger, 1988).
The Mediterranean world was rich in major karst structures, with important
springs used to supply cities with water. The ancient Greeks and Romans,
faced with such complex systems, strayed from simple explanations, and, as
a result, delayed the discovery of hydrogeology's fundamental principles.
They also wished to defi ne a universal mechanism relating various natural
occurrences, ranging from volcanoes, to ocean currents, to major springs.
Despite the presence of known loss-resurgence systems, such as the
Reka (Slovenia) and its resurgence at the Timavo spring, near Trieste (Italy),
described by Strabo (1st century B.C.); surface water and groundwater
were considered two distinct domains. Having observed that, despite
the infl ow of numerous rivers, sea level did not rise, ancient scholars
imagined the existence of marine drains absorbing a continuous fl ow of
water, a hypothesis perhaps supported by the example of the Kathavotres