Glossary:Laterite

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Laterite
A weathered red subsoil rich in secondary oxides of iron and/or aluminium. It develops in tropical climates where during wet season leaching occurs, and during the dry season the solution containing leached ions is drawn to the surface by capillary action, where it evaporates leaving salts to be washed away during the next dry season. The more easily leached elements are removed from the soil by this method leaving aluminium oxides or iron oxides. The dominant oxide remaining depends on the original rock type e.g. basic igneous rocks tend to yield laterite while granitic rocks and others low in iron yield bauxites.

Related Words: Bauxite''

Source
Whitten, D.G.A. & J.R.V. Brooks (1986) The Penguin Dictionary of Geology Penguin Books, Middlesex

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