Product of rock weathering in wet tropical climates rich in iron and aluminium
Traditional laterite temple in KeralaMonument of laterite brickstones at Angadipuram, Kerala, India, which commemorates where laterite was first described and discussed by Buchanan-Hamilton in 1807
Laterite is a soil type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by intensive and prolonged weathering of the underlying parent rock, usually when there are conditions of high temperatures and heavy rainfall with alternate wet and dry periods.[1] The process of formation is called laterization.[2] Tropical weathering is a prolonged process of chemical weathering which produces a wide variety in the thickness, grade, chemistry and ore mineralogy of the resulting soils. The majority of the land area containing laterites is between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
Laterite has commonly been referred to as a soil type as well as being a rock type. This, and further variation in the modes of conceptualizing about laterite (e.g. also as a complete weathering profile or theory about weathering), has led to calls for the term to be abandoned altogether. At least a few researchers [who?] specializing in regolith development have considered that hopeless confusion has evolved around the name. Material that looks highly similar to the Indian laterite occurs abundantly worldwide.
Historically, laterite was cut into brick-like shapes and used in monument-building. After 1000 CE, construction at Angkor Wat and other southeast Asian sites changed to rectangular temple enclosures made of laterite, brick, and stone. Since the mid-1970s, some trial sections of bituminous-surfaced, low-volume roads have used laterite in place of stone as a base course. Thick laterite layers are porous and slightly permeable, so the layers can function as aquifers in rural areas. Locally available laterites have been used in an acid solution, followed by precipitation to remove phosphorus and heavy metals at sewage-treatment facilities.
Laterites are a source of aluminum ore; the ore exists largely in clay minerals and the hydroxides, gibbsite, boehmite, and diaspore, which resembles the composition of bauxite. In Northern Ireland they once provided a major source of iron and aluminum ores. Laterite ores also were the early major source of nickel.
^Veena, Bhargava. Textbook of Geography – Grade 10.
^Bonnet, Juan Amedée (1939). "The nature of laterization as revealed by chemical, physical, and mineralogical- studies of a lateritic soil profile from Puerto Rico". Soil Science. 48 (1): 25–40. Bibcode:1939SoilS..48...25B. doi:10.1097/00010694-193907000-00003. ISSN 0038-075X. S2CID 96178825.
Laterite is a soil type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of...
Microhyla laterite or laterite narrow-mouthed frog is a species of frog discovered in Karnataka, India in 2016. It is known from ephemeral ponds forming...
Angadippuram Laterite is a notified National Geo-heritage Monument in Angadippuram town in Malappuram district in the southern Indian state of Kerala,...
in humid conditions causes nickel resources to form inside nickel laterites. Laterites are formed by the breakdown of minerals which then leach into groundwater...
Africa and parts of Asia and South America, laterite soils are used to build dirt roads. However laterite, called murram in East Africa, varies considerably...
soil deposits in India. They are alluvial soil, black soil, red soil, laterite soil, or arid soil, and forest and mountainous soil, marsh soil. These...
intense weathering results in a continuous transition from saprolite to laterite. Saprolites form in the lower zones of soil horizons and represent deep...
The West-coast laterite ctenotus (Ctenotus fallens) is a species of skink found in Western Australia. Craig, M.; Lloyd, R.; Gaikhorst, G.; Sanderson, C...
artefacts are found.[citation needed] Laterite, sandstone and brick were used as construction materials in Koh Ker. Laterite and sandstone of excellent quality...
Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India. The tank is enclosed by embankments made of dressed laterite blocks. The tank is a natural spring with an outlet channel leading into...
Santhal Family (Bengali: সাঁওতাল পরিবার) is a cement and laterite mortar sculpture by Indian sculptor and painter, Ramkinkar Baij. Often cited as his magnum...
Eucalyptus lateritica, commonly known as laterite mallee, is a species of mallee that is endemic to a small area in the south-west of Western Australia...
colonial architecture is preserved in Matheran. The roads are made of red laterite earth. Matheran was identified by Hugh Poyntz Malet, the then district...
famous for the unique terracotta temples made from the locally available laterite stones. The Malla rulers were Vaishnavites and built the famous terracotta...
The important soil types found in the basin are black soils, red soils, laterite and lateritic soils, alluvium, mixed soils, red and black soils and saline...
on top like a table. The predominant soils of Tamil Nadu are red loam, laterite, black, alluvial and saline. Red soil with a higher iron content, occupies...
India Parent range Western Ghats Geology Age of rock Cenozoic Mountain type Flood basalt Type of rock Basalt and Laterite Climbing Easiest route Hiking...
the kings palace, laterite and clay were the main raw material used in its construction. One of the places from which the laterite blocks were mined can...
built in the 10th century in laterite and stone, 45 kilometres south of Tbaeng Meanchey Kork Beng temple: a ruined laterite and sandstone temple built between...
the residual components of the ore. The hydrometallurgical process for laterite ore can use sulfuric acid or ammonia leach solutions. Arsenic containing...
rainforests and Marsh Geology Age of rock Cenozoic Type of rock Basalt, Laterite and Limestone UNESCO World Heritage Site Criteria Natural: ix, x Reference...
Retrieved 24 October 2020. Overstreet, William Courtney (1977). Tertiary laterite of the As Sarat Mountains, Asir Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Vol...
kaolinite or gibbsite. This produces the distinctive tropical soil known as laterite. The ultimate weathering product is bauxite, the principal ore of aluminium...
area in Birbhum is covered by laterite, the areas where the laterite is exposed is termed as Khoai. In some areas the laterite is covered by a layer of ordinary...
and intertrappean deposits and the tertiary and recent laterites and alluvial deposits. Laterite cappings that are found in many districts over the Deccan...
the flood plains. In the Gangetic plains, it has a low upland covered by laterite deposits. The Khadar belt lies in lowland areas after the Bangar belt....
itself in the large scale of the construction, in the widespread use of laterite, in the face-towers at each of the entrances to the city and in the naga-carrying...
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