Mighty Quinn wrote to share this little tidbit, the label from a bottle of Fiji water (thank you for your patience with the blurry image):
Mighty Quinn observes, “Read the story and then look at the picture. The picture says the ‘artesian’ water is protected by ‘impermeable rock’; yet the story says the water flows through the volcanic rock . . . really? Would you think, perhaps, permeable might have been a better
word choice?”
On the face of it, it seems that Mighty Quinn has a good question here. Looking at the diagram, it seems that the water flows through the volcanic rock and then magically appears in the aquifer which is, as MQ notes, surrounded by impermeable rock.
Although MRP took geology to satisfy an undergraduate science requirement, we are word nerds here and not rock scientists. So from that point of view, I would say MQ has a good point about the copy and illustration: The water cannot flow through impermeable rock as shown. I have a sneaking suspicion that the problem is a matter of representation (for example, it once was volcanic and it is now impermeable. As a for instance). But if there is anyone better versed in geology out there who could chime in (anyone? anyone?), please do.
Mighty Red Pen 