Subsurface layer in which groundwater seeps up from a water table by capillary action
Cross-section of a hillslope depicting the vadose zone, capillary fringe, water table, and saturated zone
The capillary fringe is the subsurface layer in which groundwater seeps up from a water table by capillary action to fill pores. Pores at the base of the capillary fringe are filled with water due to tension saturation. This saturated portion of the capillary fringe is less than the total capillary rise because of the presence of a mix in pore size. If the pore size is small and relatively uniform, it is possible that soils can be completely saturated with water for several feet above the water table. Alternately, when the pore size is large, the saturated portion will extend only a few inches above the water table. Capillary action supports a vadose zone above the saturated base, within which water content decreases with distance above the water table. In soils with a wide range in pore size, the unsaturated zone can be several times thicker than the saturated zone.
Some workers restrict their definition of the capillary fringe only to the tension-saturated base portion and exclude it wholly from the vadose zone. [1][2]
This is more common among workers addressing solute transport and water flow. Others define the capillary fringe as including both the tension-saturated and unsaturated portions. [3][4] This is the preferred definition among workers dealing with the remediation of salt affected soils as well as those dealing with the vapor phase of soil processes and bioremediation. It is not uncommon to see the capillary fringe treated as a boundary condition separating the water table from the unsaturated zone, without defining it as a significant part of either. [5]
^"Glossary of Hydrogeologic Terms". Ground-Water Remediation Technologies Analysis Center GWRTAC. Archived from the original on 2005-09-07. Retrieved 2019-01-12. ...saturated with water...held within pores...by capillary forces.
^"Origin, Occurrence and Movement of Ground Water". Groundwater Resources of British Columbia. Chapter 2: Origin, Occurrence, and Movement of Groundwater. Archived from the original on 2004-05-19. Retrieved 2019-01-12. ...thin saturated layer...
^"Introduction to Basic Ground-Water Flow". earthDRx. At the top of the capillary fringe, saturation by water is now limited to only the micropores
^"Definitions of Selected Ground-Water Terms - Revisions and Conceptual Refinements" (PDF). Geological Survey Water Supply Paper. US Department of Interior. 1988. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2019-01-12. The capillary fringe is the zone immediately above the water table in which all or some of the interstices are filled with water...
^"Unsaturated Zone". Archived from the original on 2015-09-08. Retrieved 2019-01-12. The boundary between the unsaturated zone and the saturated zone....
The capillaryfringe is the subsurface layer in which groundwater seeps up from a water table by capillary action to fill pores. Pores at the base of the...
is still saturated above the water table, often referred to as the capillaryfringe. Movement of water within the vadose zone is studied within soil physics...
Capillary action (sometimes called capillarity, capillary motion, capillary rise, capillary effect, or wicking) is the process of a liquid flowing in...
phreatic zone boundaries. Capillaryfringe – Subsurface layer in which groundwater seeps up from a water table by capillary action Epiphreatic zone –...
rarely horizontal, but reflects the surface relief due to the capillary effect (capillaryfringe) in soils, sediments and other porous media. In the aquifer...
zero-gauge-pressure isobar) by capillary action to saturate a small zone above the phreatic surface (the capillaryfringe) at less than atmospheric pressure...
The capillaryfringe of the water table is the dividing line between saturated and unsaturated conditions. Water content in the capillaryfringe decreases...
water that it needs from the phreatic zone (zone of saturation) or the capillaryfringe above the phreatic zone. Phreatophytes are plants that are supplied...
water table and from the capillaryfringe (i.e., an area just above the saturated zone, where water is held in place by capillary forces). The LNAPL is brought...
oil reserve, the oil may migrate to the surface. This is possible by capillaryfringe and because oil is less dense than water. Tar pits are pools of asphalt...
the third stage is post-depositional alteration above or below the capillaryfringe. Most gypcrust is formed either as a result of soil-forming processes...
groundwater and the transport of oxygen from underlying groundwater or the capillaryfringe of the groundwater surface, to micro-organisms capable of catabolizing...
chott surface is controlled by the position of the water table and capillaryfringe, with sediment deflation occurring when the water table falls and sediment...
table. Rapid salination occurs when the land surface is within the capillaryfringe of saline groundwater. Soil salinity control involves watertable control...
potential for cave formation. Capillaryfringe – Subsurface layer in which groundwater seeps up from a water table by capillary action Infiltration (hydrology) –...
example of this, with the evaporation of water occurring from the capillaryfringe - a subsurface layer where groundwater seeps up from a water table...
In groundwater, this oxic-anoxic environment is referred to as the capillaryfringe, where the water table meets soil and fills empty pores. Because this...
drawn into a capillary point, until the diameter of the capillary is .005 of a millimetre. The tube is filled with mercury, and the capillary point is immersed...
terminally on anterior margin of prostomium. Notochaetae are capillary-type and thicker than the capillary Neurochaetae. Read, G.; Fauchald, K. "World Polychaeta...
scientists using actual shroud material, and are thus considered to be fringe theories. The Holy See received custody of the shroud in 1983, and as with...
evaporated. A capillary action-based water pump functions using small ambient temperature gradients and vapour pressure differences. With the "capillary bowl"...
The Sphinx water erosion hypothesis is a fringe claim, contending that the Great Sphinx of Giza and its enclosing walls eroded primarily due to ancient...
moving in the capillaries in front of the retina. White cells are larger than red blood cells and can be larger than the diameter of a capillary, so must deform...
Global Information