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This aim of this paper is to describe a study of the combined effect of infiltration, capillary barrier and sloping layered soil on both flow and solute transport processes in a large, physical model (1 × 1 × 1.6 m³) called LUGH (Lysimeter for Urban Groundwater Hydrology) and a 3D numerical flow model. Sand and a soil composed of a bimodal sand-gravel mixture were placed in the lysimeter to simulate one of the basic structural and textural elements of the heterogeneity observed in the vadose zone under an infiltration basin of Lyon (France). Water and an inert tracer (KBr) were injected from the top of the lysimeter using a specific water sprinkler system and collected at 15 different outlets at the bottom. The outlet flows and the 15 breakthrough curves obtained presented high heterogeneity, emphasising the establishment of preferential flows resulting from both capillary barrier and soil layer dip effects. Numerical modelling led to better understanding of the mechanisms responsible for these heterogeneous transfers and it was also used to perform a sensitivity analysis of the effects of water velocity (water and solute flux fed by the sprinkler) and the slope interface. The results show that decreasing velocity and increasing the slope of the interface can lead to the development of preferential flows. In addition, the offset of the centre of gravity of the flow distribution at the output increases linearly as a function of the slope angle of the layered soil. This paper provides relevant information on the coupling between hydrodynamic processes and pollutant transfer in unsaturated heterogeneous soil and emphasizes the role of the geometry of the interfaces between materials and boundary conditions as key factors for preferential flow.

In recent years, many studies have been carried out on colloidal particle transfer in the unsaturated zone because they can be a risk to the environment either directly or as a vector of pollutants. A study was conducted on the influence of porous media structure in unsaturated conditions on colloidal particle transport. Three granular materials were set up in columns to replicate a fluvio-glacial soil from the unsaturated zone in the Lyon area (France). It is a sand, a bimodal mixture in equal proportion by weight of sand and gravel, and a fraction of bimodal mixture. Nanoparticles of silica (SiO2-Au-FluoNPs), having a hydrodynamic diameter between 50 and 60 nm, labeled by organic fluorescent molecules were used to simulate the transport of colloidal particles. A nonreactive tracer, bromide ion (Br − ) at a concentration of C0,s = 10 −2 M was used to determine the hydrodispersive properties of porous media. The tests were carried out first, with a solution of nanoparticles (C0,p = 0.2 g/L) and secondly, with a solution of nanoparticles and bromine. The transfer model based on fractionation of water into two phases, mobile and immobile, MIM, correctly fits the elution curves. The retention of colloidal particles is greater in the two media of bimodal particle size than that in the sand, which clearly demonstrates the role of textural heterogeneity in the retention mechanism. The increase in ionic strength produced by alimenting the columns with colloidal particle suspension in the presence of bromide, increases retention up to 25% in the sand. The total concentration profile of nanoparticles collected at the end of the experiment shows that the colloidal particles are retained primarily at the entrance of the columns. Hydrodispersive calculated parameters indicate that flow is more heterogeneous in bimodal media compared to sand. Keywords 697