eluviation

[ ih-loo-vee-ey-shuhn ]

noun

1. the movement through the soil of materials brought into suspension or dissolved by the action of water.

eluviation

/ ɪˌluːvɪˈeɪʃən /

noun

1. the process by which material suspended in water is removed from one layer of soil to another by the action of rainfall or chemical decomposition

eluviation

/ ĭ-lo̅o̅′vē-ā′shən /

1. The lateral or downward movement of the suspended material in soil through the percolation of water. Eluviation differs from leaching in that it affects suspended, not dissolved, material and usually results only in the movement of the material from one soil horizon to another.

Word History and Origins

Origin of eluviation¹

First recorded in 1925–30; eluviate + -ion

Word History and Origins

Origin of eluviation¹

C20: from eluvium