caliche

/kuh-lee-chee/US // kəˈli tʃi //UK // (kæˈliːtʃɪ) //

石灰岩,石灰石,生石灰,生硝石

Definitions

n.名词 noun

1
Geology.
- : a surface deposit consisting of sand or clay impregnated with crystalline salts such as sodium nitrate or sodium chloride.
- : a zone of calcium carbonate or other carbonates in soils of semiarid regions.

Magnificent language, a luminous, fevered dream of obsessive caliche-hued desert love.
All this is the result of digging for caliche, and blasting it out of the sandy bed in which it has lain God only knows how long.
Hence, roads are referred to as clay, gumbo, sandy or caliche roads as local custom may elect.
The caliche varies in thickness from a few inches to 10 or 12 feet, and rests on a soft stratum of earth called cova.
The caliche, or raw nitrate of soda, is not equally distributed over the pampas.
The caliche is then separated by means of picks from the overlying costra and carried to the refinery.