HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hunt, A. G. Articles by Skinner, T. E. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Hunt, A. G. Articles by Skinner, T. E. GeoRef GeoRef Citation Agricola Articles by Hunt, A. G. Articles by Skinner, T. E. Related Collections Soil Hydrology Analytical Solutions Pore-Scale Modeling Soil Physics

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Hydraulic Conductivity Limited Equilibration

Effect on Water Retention Characteristics

^a Departments of Physics and Geology, Wright State University, Dayton, OH 45435
^b Department of Physics, Wright State University, Dayton, OH 45435
^* Corresponding author (allen.hunt{at}wright.edu)

Received 25 June 2004.

The effects of the percolation phase transition on equilibration of porous media during drainage are shown to set on at moisture contents, , somewhat larger than the critical moisture content for percolation, _t. An algorithm is developed, which yields the typical upward curvature of log[h()] curves at low moisture contents, where h is the hydraulic head, as well as a flattening of the curve of log[K(h)] for large h, where K is the hydraulic conductivity. Within certain approximations the procedure can be validated through solution of the associated differential equation. The procedure was tested against seven drainage curves from the USDOE Hanford site and found to be predictive. However, theoretical questions remain regarding, among other things, the implicit assumption that the interfacial tension measured is an equilibrium value, even though the moisture content is not. The motivation of the present research is to reduce ambiguities in the interpretation of dry-end pressure–saturation curves.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. A. Blank, A. G. Hunt, and T. E. Skinner A Numerical Procedure to Calculate Hydraulic Conductivity for an Arbitrary Pore Size Distribution Vadose Zone J., May 27, 2008; 7(2): 461 - 472. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. P. Ewing and A. G. Hunt Dependence of the Electrical Conductivity on Saturation in Real Porous Media Vadose Zone J., May 26, 2006; 5(2): 731 - 741. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]