leaching

/ lē′chĭng /

1. The removal of soluble material from a substance, such as soil or rock, through the percolation of water. Organic matter is typically removed from a soil horizon and soluble metals or salts from a rock by leaching. Leaching differs from eluviation in that it affects soluble, not suspended, material and often results in the complete removal of the material from the soil or rock.

Example Sentences

All along the central path through the village, houses lay demolished; piles of rubble leaching glimpses of family life.

From BBC

According to a recent study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, iron and other toxic metals are leaching into the water supply for 75 streams in Alaska’s Brooks Range.

From Salon

His research team has also used strontium isotopes to trace environmental contamination in landfill leaching, coal mining, coal ash, fracking fluids, and groundwater that is pulled to the surface with oil and natural gas extraction.

From Science Daily

Avila offers an example of how this approach to informed stewardship could help prevent the leaching of metals into drinking water supplies.

From Science Daily

"Although we found more symbiotic fungi and a lower risk of nitrogen leaching in such areas, conventionally and organically farmed grassland performs roughly equally well in terms of all ecosystem services," Klaus says.

From Science Daily