Laterization:

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The term laterite is derived from the word later meaning brick or tile and was originally applied to a group of high clay Indian soils found in Malabar hills of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

♤ It refers specifically to a particular cemented horizon in certain soils which when dried, become very hard, like a brick.

♤ Laterization is the process that removes silica, instead of sesquioxides from the upper layers and thereby leaving sesquioxides to concentrate in the solum.