Tepetate

{{Short description|Mexican geological term}}

{{for|the community in Louisiana|Tepetate, Louisiana}}

Tepetate (Spanish tepetate; Nahuatl tepetlatl) is a Mexican term for a geological horizon, hardened by compaction or cementation, found in Mexican volcanic regions.{{cite journal |author=Gama-Castro, Jorge| journal=Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=133–145 |date=2007 |title=Los tepetates y su dinámica sobre la degradación y el riesgo ambiental: el caso del Glacis de Buenavista, Morelos |language=Spanish |display-authors=etal|doi=10.18268/BSGM2007v59n1a11|doi-access=free }} Tepetates at the surface are problematic for agriculture, because of their hardness, poor drainage, and poor fertility. When tepetates lie under the soil, they present a risk for erosion and landslides, because water runs off laterally, rather than being absorbed.