Abstract
It is quite unfeasible to travel far in India without observing the remarkable ferruginous hardcrust to which Buchanan in 1807 gave the name of laterite . The reddish brown colour regolith (used as brick) with concentration of Fe–Al oxides has fascinated many researchers of earth sciences about its classification, evolution and variable occurrences on different geological formations. In Indian peninsula, laterite is a post-cretaceous stratigraphic succession with a polycyclic nature of evolution and it marks the unconformity with Late Quaternary alluvium. Before going into main discussion, it is necessary to understand the specific features and importance of laterite as a whole. The place of laterite in regolith science, definitions, ideas, profile and characterization of laterite and imperative terminology related to laterite study are discussed in this chapter.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aleva GJJ (1994) Laterites—concepts, geology, morphology and chemistry. ISRIC, Wageningen
Alexander LT, Cady JG (1962) Genesis and hardening of laterite in soils. Tech Bull (United States Department of Agriculture) 1281:1–90
Bates RL, Jackson JA (1980) Glossary of geology. American Geological Institute, Virginia
Bourman RP (1993) Perennial problems in the study of laterite: a review. Aust J Earth Sci 40(4):387–401
Buchanan F (1807) A journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Kanara and Malabar (3 volumes). East India Company, London
de Swardt AMJ (1964) Lateritization and landscape development in parts of equatorial Africa. Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie 8:313–333
Eggleton RA (2001) The regolith glossary. CRC Australia CRC LEME, Canberra
Fermor LL (1911) What is laterite? Geological Magazine 8:454–462
Fox CS (1932) Bauxite and aluminous laterite. Crosby Lockwood & Son, London
Fox CS (1936) Buchanan’s laterite of Malabar and Kanara. Records of the Geological Survey of India 69:389–422
Ghosh S, Guchhait S (2015) Characterization and evolution of primary and secondary laterites in northwestern Bengal Basin, West Bengal, India. J Palaeogeogr 4(2):203–230
Gidigasu MD (1976) Laterite soil engineering: pedogenesis and engineering principles. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Gutierrez M (2005) Climatic geomorphology. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Herbillon AJ, Nahon D (1988) Laterites and lateritization processes. In: Stucki JW, Goodman BA, Schwertmann U (eds.) Iron in soils and clay minerals. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 779–796
Jackson JA (1997) Glossary of geology. American Geology Institute, Alexandria
Karunakaran C, Sinha Roy C (1981) Laterite profile development linked with polycyclic geomorphic surfaces in South Kerala. In: Proceedings of the international seminar on lateritisation processes, Trivandum, India
Maignien R (1966) Review of research on laterites. UNESCO, Paris
McFarlane MJ (1976) Laterite and landscape. Academic Press, London
Merrill GP (1897) Rocks: rock-weathering and soil. MacMillan Company, New York
Newbold TJ (1844) Summary of the geology of Southern India. J R Asiat Soc 8:138–171
Ollier CD, Rajaguru SN (1989) Laterite of Kerala (India). Geogr Fis Dinam Quat 12:27–33
Paton TR, Williams MAJ (1972) The concept of laterite. Ann Assoc Am Geogr 62(1):42–56
Pedro G (1968) Distribution des principaux types d’alteration chimique a la surface du globe. Presentation d’une esquisse geographique. Rev Geogr Phys Geol Dyn 2(10):457–470
Persons BS (1970) Laterite—genesis, location, use. Plenum Press, New York
Pullan RA (1967) A morphological classification of lateritic ironstones and ferruginized rocks in Northern Nigeria. Niger J Sci 1:161–174
Schellmann W (1982) Eine neue laterite definition. Geol jahrb D 58:31–41
Scott KM, Pain CF (2009) Regolith science. Springer, Dordrecht
Sivarajasingham S, Alexander LT, Cady JG, Cline MG (1962) Laterite. Agronomy 14:1–56
Tardy Y (1992) Diversity and terminology of laterite profile. In: Martini IP, Chesworth W (eds) Weathering, soils and paleosols. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 379–405
Taylor G, Eggleton RA (2001) Regolith geology and geomorphology. Wiley, Chichester
Taylor G, Eggleton RA (2011) Regolith geology and geomorphology. Wiley, New York
Thiry M, Schmitt JM, Simon-Coincon R (1999) Problems, progress and future research concerning palaeoweathering and palaeosurfaces. In: Thiry M, Schmitt JM, Simon-Coincon R (eds) Palaeoweathering, palaeosurfaces and related continental deposits. Blackwell Science, Oxford, pp 3–17
Woolnough WG (1930) The influence of climate and topography in the formation and distribution of products of weathering. Geol Mag 67:123–132
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ghosh, S., Guchhait, S.K. (2020). Introduction to Laterite Study. In: Laterites of the Bengal Basin. SpringerBriefs in Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22937-5_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22937-5_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-22936-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-22937-5
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)