We estimated the height of the capillary fringe (CF) in the soil using a 90-cm long, clear plastic cylinder (4.
RESULTS--Four independent trials indicated the height of the capillary fringe in the pots of soil likely reached the surface of the soil in the treatments [D.
The capillary fringe (CF), the zone immediately above the water table, is nearly saturated even though it is considered to be part of the vadose (unsaturated) zone.
Solute transport in the capillary fringe and shallow groundwater: Field evaluation.
The capillary fringe of the watertable must be close enough to the surface of the playa such that evaporation will cause water to discharge to the surface.
The latter observation is crucial in the interpretation of ancient sedimentary sequences, because, if the capillary fringe is too deep during very dry periods (3-4 metres), surface evaporation will not take place and evaporites will be not formed, as it is usually assumed for these periods.
However, salt build-up in the capillary fringe means that the salinity of the groundwater needs to be relatively low (<5 dS/m), or uptake rate from the watertable low, unless leaching takes place.
The level to which a tree can depress a watertable will depend on the ability of the tree to remove water from that capillary fringe and the rate at which the watertable can respond to this loss.
The two most common classes are a) NAPLs composed of fuel hydrocarbons that are lighter (LNAPLs) than water and, thus, more easily detected, because they tend to remain within the unsaturated zone or
capillary fringe areas of an aquifer; and b) organic solvent or dense NAPLs (DNAPLs) that tend to migrate deep into formations, becoming entrapped in irregular finger-like structures or pooled on low permeability strata.
Tree whips were placed immediately above the
capillary fringe of the water table (at six to nine ft below ground surface) with 0.
Extending above the water table is a wet zone created by capillary rise called the
capillary fringe.
In periods when salt accumulates in the root zone between the
capillary fringe and the soil surface, the tree drops its leaf water potential, a mechanism which increases its ability to extract water from the soil.
