Duricrust refers to a thin hard layer on or near the surface of soil, Usually a few millimeters to a few centimeters thick.
It is a general term (not to be confused with duripan) for a zone of chemical precipitation and hardening formed at or near the surface of sedimentary bodies through pedogenic and (or) non-pedogenic processes.
It is typically formed by the accumulation of soluble minerals deposited by mineral-bearing waters that move upward, downward, or laterally by capillary action, commonly assisted in arid settings by evaporation. (Dixon, 1994; Woolnough, 1930; NADMSC SLTT, 2004)
Duricrust is one of the things studied during Mars (planet) missions, because it may help prove the planet once had more water. Minerals often found in duricrust include silica, iron, calcium, and gypsum.
They illustrate and discuss solution holes, solution depressions, solution joints, symmetrical concentric cross-cutting diffusion fronts, and other dissolution features found on the body of the Sphinx and walls of thesurrounding ditch.
El Aref and Refai (1987, 376) note that "The karstic rocks are mantled by soil material and/or surficial calcareous duricrust.
The solution features are partially or completely filled with clay precipitates together with concretions of iron and manganese oxides and collapse breccia fragments." (As a side note, these iron and manganese oxides often take on a red or ocher color.
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