Laterite is an iron-rich, sub-aerial, weathering product, commonly believed to evolve as a result of intense, in situ substrate alteration under tropical or sub-tropical climatic conditions. It comprises an important subset of a wider range of ferruginous and related aluminous (i.e., bauxitic) weathering products, which include ferricretes and various iron-rich paleosols. Laterite weathering profiles often develop an indurated surface layer of resistant duricrust, forming laterally extensive sheets ca. 1–20 m in thickness (Figure L16). These lateritized surfaces are both chemically and physically resistant and may extend over areas of a few, to hundreds, or even thousands, of square kilometers.
Laterite profile (ca. 40 m) exposed at the edge of a mesa (i.e., table-land) at Panchgani (17°55′N, 73°48′E), Maharashtra, India. Mechanically resistant upper layers of the laterite profile typically form a protective capping overlying less altered materials below, producing a...
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Widdowson, M. (2009). Laterite. In: Gornitz, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Paleoclimatology and Ancient Environments. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4411-3_127
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