claypan

[kley-pan]

noun

1. hardpan.

2. Australian.,  a shallow, normally dry depression in the ground that holds water after a heavy rain.

claypan

/ ˈkleɪˌpæn /

noun

1. a layer of stiff impervious clay situated just below the surface of the ground, which holds water after heavy rain

Word History and Origins

Origin of claypan¹

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40; clay + pan ¹

Example Sentences

And the claypan, as it’s called, has to be carefully engineered so that it will drain properly and also keep the plants submerged at the optimum level.

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A colleague had mistakenly taken them to a site they'd never visited before, a nondescript-looking claypan lost among the pale dunes in the Willandra Lakes region of far western New South Wales.

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Sometimes they found a sufficiency in a natural well or claypan; or again they struck for some creek towards the west or north, whose irregular curves were outlined on the plain by the gum-trees growing closely on its banks.

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Camped on claypan with little and bad water.

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SEE     Upfield, Arthur W.   Wings above the claypan.

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