Talk:Caliche

Missing accent: caliché?

Every time I've seen this word used in an official capacity, there is an accent on the 'e'. I do not have a way to prove the current spelling is wrong, but a quick Google search confirms the alternate spelling and interestingly enough, most of these are on official-ish documents (government proposals, theses, etc) that would have been sufficiently proofed by experts. The page should be renamed. In the interim I've added a redirect for Caliché → Caliche_(mineral). --SamatJain (talk) 10:42, 6 October 2010 (UTC)

In the north coastal areas of Venezuela the construction sites are located in areas of caliche soil which is pronounced in venezuelan spanish with the accented spanish e which sounds like a short e..WFPM (talk) 22:23, 4 July 2012 (UTC) Remember the spanush vowels do not have dipthongs.WFPM (talk) 04:23, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

Folks in central Texas have been pronouncing it klee'-chee (accent on the shortened first syllable, as per regular English) for decades. This could have been a long-standing mispronunciation caused by mis-hearing the original spoken word, though. Presence of the accent mark is probably dependent upon whether you're discussing the (original) Spanish word or the anglicized American word. — Loadmaster (talk) 19:02, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

Composition

As a chemistry nerd, I have to say that there is no way that the nitre version of caliche contains sodium iodate. Sodium iodide, perhaps, but not soium iodate. Sodium iodate is a powerful oxidizer, and to the best of my knowledge not present anywhere in nature. Sodium iodide is prevalent in sources like seawater and could most easily be found in a mineral source. The mention of iodate is probably a misquote. I will change this unless documentation can be found supporting the presence of iodate. Dormroomchemist 20:21, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

I just found something about it in literature. In the book "Mineral tolerance of animals, second revised edition, 2005" the author says, that nitrate rock contains iodine in form of iodate salts. I could also find some german books saying that iodate and not iodine is found in the nitrate rocks. why is this not possible? I always thought iodates are more stable than iodides. by the way, it might perhabs be a any form of iodate without sodium. no one in these books I read talks about "sodium" iodate. do there exist forms of iodate, which are present in nature and not so strong oxidizers? [silvermirror] 24 April 2008

So, in the following abstract from a sci-article you can see, that in chile iodate minerals are found. "In descending order, Chile, Japan and the United States have the largest iodine reserves. Chile produces iodine from iodate minerals while Japan and the United States produce it from sodium iodide solutions found in underground iodide solutions. Iodine is also produced from subterranean brines in Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkmenista, Indonesia and Uzbekistan. In 2005, iodine prices increased sharply to US$19 to US$23 then leveled off at US$23 to US$25." Krukowski, S.T. (2006): Iodine, Mining Engineering 58 (6), pp. 38-40 [silvermirror] 08 Mai 2008 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.244.60.75 (talk) 07:37, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Nitrate: False assertion

The article said (prior to my removal):

"In northern Chile and Peru, caliche refers to the nitrate salt deposits of the Atacama Desert."

Absolutely false. The name for the vast naturally-ocurring deposits of nitrate in Chile and Peru is Salitre, which is completely absent from Wikipedia as of today, despite its historical importance. --AVM (talk) 04:12, 13 November 2008 (UTC)

Requested move

Caliche (mineral) → Caliche — Main meaning. Disambig page redundant. Lovok Sovok (talk) 17:16, 8 November 2010 (UTC)

Done. Vsmith (talk) 21:21, 8 November 2010 (UTC)

British calcretes

Neither Wales nor Scotland are renowned for their arid environments though in both countries, within the Devonian Old Red Sandstone, calcretes (the term used in the literature here) are widespread. They represent relatively long periods of non-deposition and of course soil development within a generally thick succession of sandstones laid down on arid coastal plains around 400 million years ago. I'm unclear as to the extent of similar horizons in other successions around the world but the article would warrant a section on these besides the modern day formations. I'll assemble some words but others' knowledge could flesh the section out usefully. cheers Geopersona (talk) 05:39, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Wrong category

Putting caliche under "Carbonate" category is misleading exactly because the large caliche deposits of this rock known from Chile are nitrate-bearing and not carbonate-bearing. Also, caliche is a type of sedimentary rock.94.254.137.191 (talk) 16:44, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

Formation - Rainfall

In the first line of 'Formation' it says: "Caliche forms where annual precipitation is less than 65 centimeters (26 in) per year ..." Then near the end it says: "When rainfall is around 75 centimeters (30 in) per year, the caliche layer will be at a depth of around 125 centimeters (49 in). The caliche layer disappears complete in temperate climates if annual rainfall exceeds 100 centimeters (39 in)." The first statement is not referenced while the second one is, indicating the first is inaccurate. I haven't changed anything as this is not a topic I know, but it would be great if a chemistry nerd could sort out those figures. Armuluk (talk) 15:25, 21 October 2023 (UTC)