Also called hardpan, this is a hardened layer of soil formed by calcium deposits. Caliche develops over thousands of years in arid and semi-arid regions when calcium from groundwater collects as the water evaporates.
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"Typic Petrocalcid (loamy-skeletal, mixed, thermic)" by Soil Science is licensed under CC BY.
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Encyclopædia Britannica Online
N.d. Calcrete. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/89145/calcrete, accessed
November 17, 2014.