On the Structure and Flow Processes in the Capillary Fringe of Phreatic Aquifers

The water distribution in the capillary fringe (CF) reflects the interaction of a strongly wetting fluid in a heterogeneous porous medium. Field profiles of gravimetric water content of the CF for a 30m deep, sandy, phreatic aquifer in Israel are critically analyzed in the context of the possible wetting and drainage processes in these sediments. A highly plausible explanation of the profiles is based on the spatial configuration of the CF surface determined from a model of the movement of water within the porous medium. The structural types of CF that can arise from a number of competing pore-scale displacement mechanisms, in the presence of gravity, are characterized by the model. We differentiate between two generic types of CF structures: a tenuous invasion-percolation type and a compact type. Flow, in response to a horizontal pressure gradient, associated with each structure is analyzed. Our interpretation of the field data supports the compact structure with a spatial variation in the height of the CF surface, above the water table, on the order of 1m. In this compact structure horizontal flow is characterized by stagnant regions in the CF above a critical height h _c and flow only for regions below h _c . The field water content (at h _c ) may be used to predict the onset of lateral water flow in the CF.