Flow Through the Capillary Fringe

The capillary fringe (CE), which is the region where saturation increases quickly, near the water table, deserves special consideration. How through the vadose zone commonly is characterized by a mean vertical flow, with substantial temporal and 

The dynamics of water flow therefore are a combination of those governing flow in the partially saturated zone (essentially vertical, downward flow) and flow in saturated zones (aquifers), which can be fnlly three-dimensional. In general, the modeling approaches mentioned in Sect. 9.1 are applicable here—continnnm models and pore-scale network models—althongh detailed qnantification of flow and transport in the CF has received only limited attention. 

1-100 m. The calculated percentages of total horizontal flux in the CF, relative to the region below the water, were as high as 6% for a 1-m-thick loam aquifer and as low as -0.04% for a 100-m-thick sand aquifer. However, lateral flow in the CF can be significant at local scales and in the presence of aquifer heterogeneities. Moreover, even a relatively minimal contribution to flow in the CF can translate into significant transport processes within the CF. 

---