Soil larger soil particles, and their mineralogy is often inherited from the parent material of the soil, but may include products of weathering (such as concretions of calcium carbonate or iron oxide), or residues of plant and animal life (such as silica phytoliths). Quartz is the most common mineral in the sand or silt fraction as it is resistant to chemical weathering, except under hot climate; other common minerals are feldspars, micas and ferromagnesian minerals such as pyroxenes, amphiboles and olivines, which are dissolved or transformed in clay under the combined influence of physico-chemical and biological processes. Due to its high
Geology of Great Britain is a varied distribution of unconsolidated material of more recent origin. It includes material deposited by glaciers (boulder clay, and other forms of glacial drift such as sand and gravel). "Drift" geology is often more important than "solid" geology when considering building works, drainage, siting water boreholes, sand and gravel resources and soil fertility. Although "drift" strictly refers to glacial and fluvio-glacial deposits, the term on geological maps has traditionally included other material including alluvium, river terraces, etc. Recent maps use the terms "bedrock" and "superficial" in place of "solid" and "drift". This description of the geological history of Great