a bed of sand or clay in arid regions cemented by calcium carbonate, sodium chloride, and other soluble minerals
2.
a surface layer of soil encrusted with calcium carbonate, occurring in arid regions
Also called: duricrust
Word origin
C20: from American Spanish, from Latin calx lime
caliche in American English
(kəˈlitʃi; kəlitʃə)
noun
1.
a hardened conglomeration of gravel, rock, and soil that contains sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, etc., found mainly in arid regions of Chile and Argentina
2.
a type of hardpan found in arid regions, as in the SW U.S., containing calcareous deposits, esp. of calcium carbonate
Word origin
AmSp < Sp cal, lime < L calx: see calcium
Examples of 'caliche' in a sentence
caliche
The soil here was typical of a sagebrush flat: loose, light, and with enough fine caliche particles to form a crust.