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Effect of Soil Moisture Hysteresis on the Water Table Profile Around a Gravity Well
Author(s) -
Guitjens J. C.,
Luthin James N.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr007i002p00334
Subject(s) - water table , water content , aquifer , hydraulic conductivity , drainage , soil science , hysteresis , geology , water retention curve , moisture , drawdown (hydrology) , geotechnical engineering , vadose zone , flow (mathematics) , mechanics , hydrology (agriculture) , soil water , materials science , groundwater , physics , quantum mechanics , ecology , biology , composite material
Gravity wells, pumped intermittently, can have different degrees of drainage in the unsaturated zone at the onset of water table recovery. Each part of the aquifer profile follows a specific scanning curve of rewetting. The measured hysteresis phenomenon of Oso Flaco fine sand and the hydraulic conductivity as a function of moisture content are incorporated in the finite difference form of the partial differential equations for steady and unsteady radial flow to solve for the soil moisture pressure distribution of one water table drawdown and three different kinds of recovery. The method of independent domains describes the hysteresis phenomenon and accounts for a gradual release and uptake of water rather than constant changes based on the concept of specific yield. Small differences between the computed values of the three water table recoveries, each one starting at a different degree of drainage in the zone above the water table, are probably due to the relatively small unsaturated portion of the aquifer profile.