Sunday, November 04, 2007

Laterite rock

I find the habit of collecting rocks and minerals a hard one to get rid of, but it helps to live in this part of the Amazon when trying. Except for laterite rock, we don't have a great variety available. This kind of rock, as depicted in the attached image, is the result of water percolating through the soils for millions of years. The end result is that of deposits of rock which have a high content in the oxides of iron and hydroxide of aluminum. Some of it is as soft as sandstone but much of it is as hard as iron. It's used for construction of foundations for houses and buildings, as well as roadbeds, or anything else requiring rock.

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