ortsteinn.
/ˈɔːtstʌɪn/, U.S. /ˈɔrtˌstaɪn/ Soil Science.
A hardpan; (now) spec. one cemented with iron and organic matter, usually in the B horizon of a podzol.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > [noun] > subsoil > hard subsoil
pan1667
moor-band1800
hardpan1803
moor-band pan1844
moor pan1846
ortstein1903
1903 Bot. Gaz. 35 294 As already noted, the chemical nature of the soil is believed to be inimical to tree growth, and the Ortstein of the heath subsoil adds to the difficulty.
1932 G. W. Robinson Soils iii. 57 The most widely spread type of pan is that formed by deposition of hydrated ferric oxide, the so-called iron pan or ‘ortstein’.
1954 Econ. Geogr. 30 225/2 Morphologically, they are reddish colored latosols with little profile differentiation, though at the end of long gentle slopes ortstein development may be extreme.
1972 C. B. Hunt Geol. Soils x. 234 Some hardpans are formed by accumulations of organic matter..as in the well cemented, lower layers (ortstein) of a Ground Water Podzol Soil.
1997 Geoderma 78 37 The relative lack of ortstein in the nutrient-poor and droughty soils may therefore have been a factor in the origin of the stump prairie.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1903