The Term Laterite in Comparison to Geophysics and Other Disciplines

The term laterite is becoming an issue in the world of geophysics. People who argue against the term claim that laterite is interchangeable with other words that mean a soil substrate or substance. Other proponents state that the term laterite is a borrowed definition that is taken from another scientific source that does not have to do with the discipline.

There seems to be no clear definition though some state that it refers to the identification of the soil additives that make it more defined. Defenders of the term claim gives justice to its use in geophysics language though laterite is a very large class and cannot be grouped in any one homogenous class. 

The idea that laterite is a single term that cannot define a single entity or substance has not been substantiated. Even when considered in a clay or hard soil sample, there are two many mineral and chemical compounds that makes that sample unique. The term is used more when the soil referred to has large amounts of aluminum compounds or iron.

In the garden industry the term laterite refers to a soil that would have poor growth success because of the makeup of the soil and the number of metallic compounds found in it. This would mean that the metallic compounds were at such a level that the soil and dirt itself could not provide the organic material in sufficient amounts to grow new life.

This is true of most all soils that are considered laterite. The soils are never pure and contain materials that could be considered impurities such as sand, gravel, rocks, and organic materials. The materials are inert and non-reactive. This composition may be good to use in an aquatic environment that would not saturate itself with water or harm the organic resources for plant and animal growth.

This would backfire if the laterite contained large amounts of iron. Iron would stimulate growth or the organic materials but in an aquatic or semi-damp environment invite the growth of algae, mosses, and other water borne parasitic and symbiotic growth.

Laterite is used in determining long term changes in atmosphere and weather by several different disciplines. The iron and clay mixture can take on qualities on the climate that they experience and can be used in finding out what that ancient climate was like in terms of moisture, dryness, cold, or hot.

Once water has left the saturated laterite, fossil records can be studied to find out what life forms the era produced by matching the laterite with the flora or fauna fossilized within. This can be translated in the world of geology, geophysics, and other earth based sciences.

There are many different types of laterite. Though this article discussed iron, there are also nickel, aluminum, and other metallic components that can be infused in the clay or soil to be labeled as a laterite in geophysical terms. As the disciplines converge on this one term that means a different thing to each discipline, an understanding of the true meaning of laterite will arise and sub-categories of laterite may be used to explain the majority of the substance that makes the compound.