Throughflow

In [[hydrology]], '''throughflow''', a subtype of [[interflow]] (percolation), is the lateral unsaturated flow of [[water]] in the [[soil]] zone, typically through a highly permeable geologic unit overlying a less permeable one. Water thus returns to the surface, as [[return flow]], before or on entering a stream or groundwater.<ref name="Fetter, 2009">{{cite book|last=Fetter|first=C.|title=Applied Hydrogeology|year=2001|publisher=Prentice-Hall|location=New Jersey|isbn=0130882399|page=41}}</ref><ref name="Selby, 2005">{{cite book|last=Selby|first=M.|title=Hillslope Materials and Processes|year=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=0198741839|page=216}}</ref> Once water infiltrates into the soil, it is still affected by [[gravity]] and infiltrates to the [[water table]] or if permeability varies laterally travels downslope.<ref name="Fetter, 2009"/> Throughflow usually occurs during peak hydrologic events (such as high precipitation). Flow rates are dependent on the [[hydraulic conductivity]] of the geologic medium.<ref name="Fetter, 2009"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Hydrology]] [[Category:Physical geography]] [[Category:Soil science]] [[Category:Hydrogeology]]