caliche.

1. A soil or sediment layer hardened by accumulated calcium carbonate.

2. A nitrate-bearing mineral deposit associated especially with parts of northern Chile.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• caliche crust
• caliche layer

On the page

The shovel struck a caliche layer beneath the sand.

A caliche crust resisted the first rain.

Usage notes

Primary category: environment. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.