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Earth and Space Sciences · Glossary

What is Permeability?

Also known as: permeable · impermeable

Definition 17.3 Primary & Middle School Earth and Space Sciences · Chapter 17 — Water Underground

A rock is permeable when water can flow through it, because its pores are large enough and connected to one another. It is impermeable when water cannot flow through it. Permeability is how easily water flows through a rock.

The pores (in blue) between the grains of a sand and between the flakes of a clay, much enlarged. Water finds a way through the sand; in the clay, it stays stuck.
The pores (in blue) between the grains of a sand and between the flakes of a clay, much enlarged. Water finds a way through the sand; in the clay, it stays stuck.
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