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Definition
The condition in which all available pore space in soil or rock is occupied by water (or, in some circumstances, by another liquid).
Soil moisture beneath the ground surface occurs in two zones: the unsaturated and saturated zones. The unsaturated zone has pores, between soil grains and cavities that are either partly or not filled by water. The underlying saturated (or phreatic) zone has spaces that are completely filled with water. The interface between the two zones is the groundwater table.
Precipitation or melt water enters the ground and percolates downwards under the influence of gravity until it reaches either an impermeable layer or a preexisting saturated layer leading to a rise in the water table. In the saturated zone, the water then moves laterally with the groundwater. Movement in sandy or gravelly soils may be of the order of millimeters per day but in clay soils movement may be slower (Alley et al. 1999).
Soil water patterns...
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References
Alley WM, Reilly TE, Franke OL (1999) Sustainability of groundwater resources. USGS circular 1186. United States Geological Survey, Denver
Ball J (2001) Soil and water relationships. Noble Research Institute. https://www.noble.org/news/publications/ag-news-and-views/2001/september/soil-and-water/relationships
BIO Intelligence Service (2014) Soil and water in a changing environment: final report prepared for the European Commission (DG-ENV) with support from HydroLogic. BIO Intelligence Service, Paris
Gómez Plaza A, Martinez Mena M, Albaladejo J, Castillo VM (2001) Factors regulating spatial distribution of soil water content in semi-arid catchments. J Hydrol 253(1):211–226
Snyder DT (2008) Estimated depth to ground water and configuration of the water table in the Portland, Oregon area USGS scientific investigations report 2008-5059. United States Geological Survey, Reston
Tarboten DG (2003) Chapter 3: Rainfall run-off processes. In: Soil properties. Utah State University, Logan. http://hydrology.usu.edu/RRP/userdata/4/87/RainfallRunoffProcesses.pdfUniversity
UK Groundwater Forum (1998) Industrial and urban pollution of groundwater. In: Downing RA Groundwater – our hidden asset. Report IPR/47/4 British Geological Survey (Keyworth). http://www.groundwateruk.org/downloads/industrial_and_urban_pollution_of_groundwater.pdf
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Eslamian, S., Sayahi, M., Ostad-Ali-Askari, K., Basirat, S., Ghane, M., Matouq, M. (2018). Saturation. In: Bobrowsky, P., Marker, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Engineering Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12127-7_251-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12127-7_251-1
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