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Re: Laterite
> Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1999 07:16:57 -0400
> From: "Christopher Coleman" <christopher.coleman at worldnet_att.net>
> Subject: re: Laterite
>
> Robert H wrote a lot of stuff on laterite:
>
> Mostly your post hasn't added anything new to what laterite is.
> Laterite is inherently old so there isn't anything inherently new to
> add. But your post had enough inaccuracies to add to the
> confusion. Will that be fair to anyone new on the list not knowing
> anything about this old thing?
Well Chris, I think you need to relax your tone a bit here. I am not
trying to make headline breaking news here, but to only have a better
understanding of it myself.
>
> > have always thought the term was over used to describe
> > just about any type of clay.
> It is not clay. This is a misnomer. Laterite is a soil containing
> a mixture of minerals. Understanding laterite is possible by
> understanding what clay is and than realising laterite lacks any of the
> properties.
There have been numerous refrences to laterite as clay on this list,
rec.aquaria and many other forums. Laterite does NOT contain a mixture
of minerals to any extent. Most has been leeched out and laterite is
formed by weathered basalt. Did you visit the site I quoted on basic 101
geology which you must have taken in high school by your own words?
> [snip]
>
> > One professor told me the concentrations of unusable
> > Fe3+ are so high that the soil is incapable of holding any
> > other nutrients and has no CEC.
> I am not sure it is what you are trying to imply but to be clear, there
> is no relationship between Fe3+ and CEC. That laterite has no inherent
> CEC supports that it is not a clay.
I a not inferring anything only repeating was I was told. I would love
someone to explain it further.
> > Laterite soil happens only where there is both tropical
> > heat and heavy tropical rains. South America, carribian,
> > and tropical asia. All three profesors stated to me that
> > the only place in north america where this could occur
> > is in Florida
> Everyone on this list learned in high school ( or was it junior high )
> that just as day to day earthquackes move the earth a little bit, so
> have cataclismic events moved whole continents. In fact it is my
> understanding that parts of North America have deposits of
> prehistoric laterite from parts of the world that are not part of
> current day North America.
Well apparently I didnt, and others who have said they have dug up
laterite in their back yard. I dont know if there is such a thing as
prehistoric laterite or not, but I would certainly be interested in
learning more about it. Why dont you share your knowledge with me?
>
> > Soils from outside the USA are supposedly banned from import
> > into the USA.
> This has never been true. Do you have a reference?
Well ask Karl at Substrate Gold. He makes this statement. Mr. Gore past
a law restricting import of foreign soils, according to Karl. Someone
else who responded to this to me off list who lives in Hawaii said that
no soil from Hawaii can even be brought to the mainland.
>
> > "If you would like a response from a whole group of clay minerals
> > scientists
> Again. It is not clay.
Well then maybe you should pose a question to this server of "clay
mineral scientists", who according to you arent clay mineral scientists.
So can I infer from all your rambling that you think laterite is found
in the USA? Can you tell me where?
Regards,
Robert H
>
> Christopher Coleman
> christopher.coleman at worldnet_att.net
>