saproliten.

1895 G. F. Becker in 16th Ann. Rep. U.S. Geol. Surv. 1894–5: Pt. 3 289 I propose the term saprolite.

1895 G. F. Becker in 16th Ann. Rep. U.S. Geol. Surv. 1894–5: Pt. 3 290 The deposits referred to..are gold-bearing saprolites.

1935 Jrnl. Geol. (Chicago) 43 745 In the Appalachian Piedmont of the southern states, weathering has reduced the granitic rocks to an extensive mantle of incoherent clay, or saprolite, that in places extends to a depth of over 100 feet.

1948 Prof. Papers U.S. Geol. Surv. No. 213. 125/2 The upper parts of the lodes were in the saprolite zone and were worked as residual placer deposits, but at the base of the saprolite these deposits graded into solid lodes.

1977 A. Hallam Planet Earth 48/1 Chemical weathering can produce a rotted rock-form known as a saprolite, which is the product of chemical changes which have taken place in situ.

1904 L. J. Spencer tr. M. Bauer Precious Stones 361 Several crystals of rhodolite were found..embedded in a decomposed saprolitic rock.

1970 D. Carroll Rock Weathering iii. 20 Extensive areas in arid Western Australia are underlain by saprolitic rocks on which lateritic profiles have developed (probably in the Pliocene).

1970 D. Carroll Rock Weathering iii. 20 Saprolitization also occurs in rocks that are covered by later deposits that protect them from erosion. An example is saprolitization under a cover of river gravel or sand through which water percolates.