caliche clay

    Article

    Also called hardpan, this is a hardened layer of soil formed by calcium deposits. Caliche develops over thousands of years in arid and semi-arid regions when calcium from groundwater collects as the water evaporates.

    Photo Credit

     
    "Typic Petrocalcid (loamy-skeletal, mixed, thermic)" by Soil Science is licensed under CC BY.

    References

     
    Encyclopædia Britannica Online
         N.d.   Calcrete. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/89145/calcrete, accessed
             November 17, 2014.