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Regolith identification and geology

The layer of loose, heterogeneous material covering solid bedrock, including soil, weathered rock fragments, alluvium, glacial deposits, volcanic ash, and other superficial materials. Regolith forms through weathering, erosion, and deposition and varies in thickness from zero exposed bedrock to hundreds of meters. The term is also applied to the fragmental surface layer on the Moon, Mars, and other rocky bodies. Field: geomorphology. Example: The lunar regolith, up to 15 m thick in the highlands, consists of rock fragments, glass beads, and fine dust produced by billions of years of meteorite bombardment on the Moon's airless surface.. Related terms: Bedrock, Saprolite, Soil, Weathering.

Sources, scope & corrections

These authoritative resources support category-level nomenclature, terminology, identification methods, and safety. When a specimen-specific safety warning appears, the public-health source listed here directly supports that precaution. They are not line-by-line citations for every other property on this entry, and natural specimens vary.

Editorial owner
GeoMiner
Last updated
2026-03-30T15:19:42.055955+00:00
Review status
Published; not independently peer-reviewed
  • USGS Thesaurus — U.S. Geological Survey. Controlled earth-science terminology used to describe USGS information resources.
  • Glossary of Geologic Terms — U.S. National Park Service. Geologic definitions prepared by the NPS Geologic Resources Inventory.

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Common questions

What does Regolith mean in geology?
The layer of loose, heterogeneous material covering solid bedrock, including soil, weathered rock fragments, alluvium, glacial deposits, volcanic ash, and other superficial materials. Regolith forms through weathering, erosion, and deposition and varies in thickness from zero exposed bedrock to hundreds of meters. The term is also applied to the fragmental surface layer on the Moon, Mars, and other rocky bodies.
What is an example of Regolith?
The lunar regolith, up to 15 m thick in the highlands, consists of rock fragments, glass beads, and fine dust produced by billions of years of meteorite bombardment on the Moon's airless surface.
Which earth-science field uses the term Regolith?
Regolith is used in geomorphology.
Which terms are related to Regolith?
Related terms in this reference are Bedrock, Saprolite, Soil, Weathering.

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