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The
phreatic zone, or
zone of saturation, is the area in an
aquiferAn aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
, below the
water tableThe water table is the level at which the submarine pressure is far from atmospheric pressure. It may be conveniently visualized as the 'surface' of the subsurface materials that are saturated with groundwater in a given vicinity. However, saturated conditions may extend above the water table as...
, in which relatively all pores and fractures are saturated with water. The phreatic zone may fluctuate with changes of season and during wet and dry periods.