<p>I have recently stumbled across <a href="https://youtu.be/_v9ssqsSwrE?t=30" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this video on Youtube</a>, where quite a magnificient building is carved into the soil with simple tools like a shovel and hoe. The location is somewhere in South America, according to the channel description.</p>
<p>The rock seems to be (easily) workable, but also stable enough to maintain smooth surfaces and carved shapes.</p>
<p>See this picture for reference:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/V4qsr.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/V4qsr.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>What kind of soil/rock is this?</p>
<p>Edit: There is no need to watch the whole video. The reference image pretty much sums up what is going on, and what's the basis of my question respectively, at least in my opinion.</p>
<p>Edit 2: As <em>John</em> pointed out in the comments, at one point the soil is mixed with water to make a clay plaster.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-12T19:48:50.427Z
Possibily [loess](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loess)
Fred
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-12T21:12:33.170Z
Plinthite can harden irreversibly into ironstone, and laterite has been cut into bricks and used for construction for a long time. There are definitely massive plinthite regions in South America.  I haven't figured out where they are, or found well attested  excavations into plinthite in South America, and I'm a little suspicious that their pool was downhill of a river but not below the water table, but very rigid reddish soils *do* definitely exist.
cphlewis
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-15T01:12:45.823Z
It is not rock, likely it is a well consolidated clay rich soil. in fact in one scene you can see them breaking it up and adding water to make a clay plaster to lock bamboo lats in place.
John
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-15T06:21:26.923Z
@a_donda: Thanks for the advice! The place seems to be somewhere in South America, I did not find anything more specific. I will nevertheless add this information to the question.
pat3d3r
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-15T18:27:56.620Z
Not only do we not know where they are on the continent, but we don't know if this construction will survive a year (or even a heavy rainstorm), and it isn't always clear what kind of soil they're using for each of the steps. I'm pretty puzzled by the ?termite mounds? being used under the latex to line the swimming-pool, although maybe it's like using cow dung to make water-resistant plaster. 

This is a great teaser video for soil science, but it raises questions instead of answering them!
cphlewis
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-16T07:22:36.727Z
I don't understand why this has been closed for lack of clarity. There is a video with a type of soil, the OP wants to know if it can be identified. Seems pretty clear to me...
Jean-Marie Prival
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-17T14:46:50.350Z
@a_donda: I summed up the video's actions with the following explanation: _... where quite a magnificient building is carved into the soil with simple tools like a shovel and hoe. The location is somewhere in South America ..._ - To me, this is really everything that is going on. I have also included a reference shot from the video, exactly to not have people have to watch the video. For those who might be interested in answering the question, the video is there for them to be able to dig deeper. In my opinion I am pretty clear, but advice is always welcome!
pat3d3r
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-19T19:21:27.567Z
Lots of people live very far from any soil that indurates! I don't think it's "of course" at all that this might be possible.
cphlewis
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-21T09:34:55.413Z
@John: I have added your hint about the clay plaster to the original question.
pat3d3r
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-21T11:13:06.650Z
@pat3d3r have you tried to contact the publisher of the video to get a location of the site,if one knows where the site is one can take a look at a geological map to find the type of soil/clay that is common in the area.
trond hansen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-22T03:40:03.893Z
your best bet is to try and find out where the video is shot, just from the images it is impossible to narrow it down to more than "clay rich soil" most of the identifying features of soils are not visible at this scale.
John
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-23T18:33:45.837Z
@trondhansen: This might also be an option, yes.
pat3d3r
<geology><sedimentology><soil>
What kind of soil is being worked in this video?
pat3d3r
# What kind of soil is being worked in this video?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-06-12)

I have recently stumbled across [this video on Youtube](https://youtu.be/_v9ssqsSwrE?t=30), where quite a magnificient building is carved into the soil with simple tools like a shovel and hoe. The location is somewhere in South America, according to the channel description.

The rock seems to be (easily) workable, but also stable enough to maintain smooth surfaces and carved shapes.

See this picture for reference:
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/V4qsr.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/V4qsr.jpg)

What kind of soil/rock is this?

Edit: There is no need to watch the whole video. The reference image pretty much sums up what is going on, and what's the basis of my question respectively, at least in my opinion.

Edit 2: As *username_3* pointed out in the comments, at one point the soil is mixed with water to make a clay plaster.

**Tags:** geology, sedimentology, soil

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Possibily [loess](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loess)  
> **username_2**: Plinthite can harden irreversibly into ironstone, and laterite has been cut into bricks and used for construction for a long time. There are definitely massive plinthite regions in South America.  I haven't figured out where they are, or found well attested  excavations into plinthite in South America, and I'm a little suspicious that their pool was downhill of a river but not below the water table, but very rigid reddish soils *do* definitely exist.  
> **username_3**: It is not rock, likely it is a well consolidated clay rich soil. in fact in one scene you can see them breaking it up and adding water to make a clay plaster to lock bamboo lats in place.  
> **username_0**: @a_donda: Thanks for the advice! The place seems to be somewhere in South America, I did not find anything more specific. I will nevertheless add this information to the question.  
> **username_2**: Not only do we not know where they are on the continent, but we don't know if this construction will survive a year (or even a heavy rainstorm), and it isn't always clear what kind of soil they're using for each of the steps. I'm pretty puzzled by the ?termite mounds? being used under the latex to line the swimming-pool, although maybe it's like using cow dung to make water-resistant plaster.   This is a great teaser video for soil science, but it raises questions instead of answering them!  
> **username_4**: I don't understand why this has been closed for lack of clarity. There is a video with a type of soil, the OP wants to know if it can be identified. Seems pretty clear to me...  
> **username_0**: @a_donda: I summed up the video's actions with the following explanation: _... where quite a magnificient building is carved into the soil with simple tools like a shovel and hoe. The location is somewhere in South America ..._ - To me, this is really everything that is going on. I have also included a reference shot from the video, exactly to not have people have to watch the video. For those who might be interested in answering the question, the video is there for them to be able to dig deeper. In my opinion I am pretty clear, but advice is always welcome!  
> **username_2**: Lots of people live very far from any soil that indurates! I don't think it's "of course" at all that this might be possible.  
> **username_0**: @username_3: I have added your hint about the clay plaster to the original question.  
> **username_5**: @username_0 have you tried to contact the publisher of the video to get a location of the site,if one knows where the site is one can take a look at a geological map to find the type of soil/clay that is common in the area.  
> **username_3**: your best bet is to try and find out where the video is shot, just from the images it is impossible to narrow it down to more than "clay rich soil" most of the identifying features of soils are not visible at this scale.  
> **username_0**: @username_5: This might also be an option, yes.  

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## 0 answers

