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What is the importance of laterite?
Economic importance Laterites are economically most important for ore deposits, such as bauxite. In addition, strong, hardened varieties of laterite are sometimes cut into blocks and used as brickstones for building houses.
What is the importance of laterite soil in India?
Crops in Laterite – Lateritic Soils Laterite soils lack fertility due to intensive leaching. When manured and irrigated, some laterites are suitable for growing plantation crops like tea, coffee, rubber, cinchona, coconut, arecanut, etc. In some areas, these soils support grazing grounds and scrub forests.
Why is laterite soil used for construction?
(i) Laterite soils are used as a building material because they become hard like iron when exposed to air. So, they are used as a building material. These soils are generally coarse in texture and friable and porous in nature.
What is called laterite soil?
laterite, soil layer that is rich in iron oxide and derived from a wide variety of rocks weathering under strongly oxidizing and leaching conditions. Lateritic soils may contain clay minerals; but they tend to be silica-poor, for silica is leached out by waters passing through the soil.
What are the five features of laterite soil?
The laterite soil is a result of intense leaching owing to heavy tropical rains. Features : (i) The soils are acidic in nature, coarser and crumbly in texture. (ii) Due to lack of nitrogen, potassium and organic elements, the laterite soils lack fertility, and are not suitable for cultivation.
Where is laterite soil found in India?
In India, laterite soil is widespread, covering over 10% of the total geographical area, namely on the summits of the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats (Rajamahal Hills, Vindhyas, Satpuras, and Malwa Plateau), southern parts of Maharashtra, parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal Orissa, Jharkhand, Kerala, Assam.
What is laterite soil geography?
laterite, soil layer that is rich in iron oxide and derived from a wide variety of rocks weathering under strongly oxidizing and leaching conditions. It forms in tropical and subtropical regions where the climate is humid.
What are some properties of laterite soil?
Laterite soils have a high clay content, which means they have higher cation exchange capacity and water-holding capacity than sandy soils. It is because the particles are so small, the water is trapped between them. After the rain, the water moves into the soil slowly.
What are the crops grown in laterite soil?
Laterite soils lack fertility due to intensive leaching.
What does laterite mean?
Laterite. Laterite is a soil and rock 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.
Is laterite a sedimentary rock?
Laterite is a type of sedimentary rock which is generally a reddish weathering product of basalt. Along with Laterite Formation, also learn about Laterite composition and transformation in the next section.