ABSTRACTFactor analysis is useful for interpreting commonly collected ground‐water quality data and relating those data to specific hydrogeologic processes. One hundred nine ground‐water quality samples from wells completed in the upper Floridan Aquifer near Live Oak, Florida were analyzed for major dissolved constituents. R‐mode factor analysis was used to separate those chemical variables that reflect areally‐significant recharge processes from those related strictly to the dissolution of aquifer materials. Areas impacted by direct, rapid, artificial recharge through drainage wells and sinkholes, as well as by slow, natural recharge into the Floridan Aquifer, were delineated. Four factors which represent different chemical processes were identified and their relative areal impact determined. These processes are: (1) regional dissolution of the aquifer limestone, (2) dissolution and ion exchange in the discontinuous, semipermeable layer that overlies portions of the aquifer, (3) and (4) recharge from local, urban and agricultural
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