silcrust

geology

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Last updated

July 19, 2026

Quick Summary

Silcrete is a hardened layer in or on soil, rich in silica. It forms in hot, arid climates where infrequent waterlogging causes silica to dissolve and then redeposit, cementing soil grains together. This process creates an extremely hard and weather-resistant layer. Silcrete can cap residual hills like inselbergs. In Western Australia, a significant silcrete deposit developed from granite-gneiss parent material. Silcrete is essentially a superficial quartzite formed by the cementation of rock fragments like soil, sand, or gravel by silica.12

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duricrust
Factors involved in duricrust formation
Silcrust formation requires the selective concentration of silica, a fact that has led some experts to consider silcrusts as the lower parts of ferricrust profiles. The distributional contrast between silcrusts and ferricrusts is clear, however, and the transition between the types is well documented. Silcrusts…
Read More
Silcrust formation requires the selective concentration of silica, a fact that has led some experts to consider silcrusts as the lower parts of ferricrust profiles. The distributional contrast between silcrusts and ferricrusts is clear, however, and the transition between the types is well documented. Silcrusts…
Read More