SSC
The word 'laterite' in 'laterite soil' is derived from a Latin word meaning:
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Answer: Option C — Brick
Detailed Solution
The word "laterite" comes from the Latin "later" (genitive "lateris"), meaning "brick". The name was given because the soil, when freshly dug, is soft enough to be cut into blocks, but it hardens like brick on exposure to air and drying.
Origin of the name:
The term was introduced in 1807 by the Scottish physician and surveyor Francis Buchanan-Hamilton, after he observed local people in the Malabar region (at Angadipuram, Kerala) cutting the soft material into building blocks, which then hardened.
Laterite blocks are still used as a building material in Kerala, coastal Karnataka, Goa and Konkan, where many old houses, temples and forts are built of laterite.
How laterite soil forms:
- It forms in regions with high temperatures and heavy seasonal rainfall, with alternating wet and dry seasons.
- The heavy rain causes intense leaching: silica, lime and other soluble minerals are washed down, leaving behind insoluble oxides of metals, especially aluminium oxides.
- This process is called laterisation.
Characteristics:
- It is acidic, coarse and porous.
- It is poor in organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, potash and lime.
- It is generally low in fertility, but responds well to manure and fertilisers.
Where it is found in India:
- The summits of the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats.
- The hills of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Goa, Maharashtra and Meghalaya.
- The Rajmahal hills and parts of the Chota Nagpur plateau.
- It covers a relatively small share of India's area.
Crops:
- With proper manuring and terracing, laterite soils support cashew nuts, tea, coffee, rubber, coconut, areca nut and tapioca.
- Cashew is especially well suited to the red laterite soils of coastal Karnataka, Kerala and Goa.
Importance as ore:
Some laterites are rich in aluminium and form bauxite, the main ore of aluminium.
Why not the other options?
- ✗"Stone" in Latin is "lapis" (or "saxum").
- ✗"Hill" in Latin is "collis".
- ✗"Forest" in Latin is "silva".
Quick tip
Remember: Laterite = Latin "later" (brick), named by Buchanan in 1807 in Malabar; forms by intense leaching in hot, wet-dry climates; good for cashew.
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Climate, Soils & Vegetation of India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Climate, Soils & Vegetation of India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the climate of India and the monsoon, the seasons and the distribution of rainfall, the major soil types (alluvial, black, red, laterite, arid and mountain soils), and India's natural vegetation, including the types of forests and the states where they are found. Common questions ask which soil is best for cotton (black or regur soil), where laterite soil forms, which place receives the highest rainfall (Mawsynram in Meghalaya), and what 'mango showers' and the 'retreating monsoon' are. Questions on forest types usually link a forest type to its rainfall and to trees such as teak, sal and sundari. Practise the climate, soils and vegetation of India questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.