Relationship between hydraulic properties and material features in a heterogeneous vadose zone of a vulnerable limestone aquifer

International audienceLimestone aquifers constitute important drinking water resources but are vulnerable to groundwater contaminations. They are also known to be often heterogeneous. However, the hydraulic properties of their entire vadose zone and the relationship of these hydraulic properties with their mineralogical and geochemical characteristics remain rarely studied. The hydraulic properties of soft (soil, powdery limestone, and calcareous sand) and hard (limestone rock) materials sampled throughout the entire vadose zone profile of the Beauce limestone aquifer (France) were determined with This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited