deep weathering

The creation of a thick weathered layer (regolith) through strong and/or sustained chemical weathering. It is particularly associated with gentle slopes in the warm, moist tropics, where it can extend to a depth of more than 50 m, and where transport of the weathered layer is restricted by the lack of gradient and the binding effect of vegetation. Deep weathered layers are also found in desert and temperate regions, but may be relict features; one school of thought suggests that tors are an exhumed form of deep weathering. Others suggest that the deep weathering of the tropics does not reflect higher rates of chemical weathering resulting from high temperatures and humidity, and ample humic acid in those regions; rather, that chemical weathering has been active for longer in the tropics.