Noun: caliche ku'lee-chee
- Crust or layer of hard subsoil encrusted with calcium-carbonate occurring in arid or semiarid regions
"The farmer's plough couldn't penetrate the caliche beneath the topsoil";
- hardpan
- Nitrate-bearing rock or gravel of the sodium nitrate deposits of Chile and Peru
"The mining company extracted valuable nitrates from the caliche deposits"
Derived forms: caliches
Type of: dirt, rock, soil, stone
Encyclopedia: Caliche