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caliche (n.)

sodium nitrate deposits in Chile and Peru, 1858, from South American Spanish, from Spanish caliche "pebble accidentally enclosed in a brick; flake of lime," from Latin calx "limestone, pebble" (see chalk (n.)).

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Definitions of caliche from WordNet

caliche (n.)
crust or layer of hard subsoil encrusted with calcium-carbonate occurring in arid or semiarid regions;
Synonyms: hardpan
caliche (n.)
nitrate-bearing rock or gravel of the sodium nitrate deposits of Chile and Peru;
From wordnet.princeton.edu