panspot

English

Etymology

From pan +‎ spot.

Noun

panspot (plural panspots)

1. (soil science) An area where hard clay or similar material lies close to the surface in a shallow depression, limiting the ability of the ground to absorb water.
   • 1968, Frank Rauzi, Claude Lee Fly, E. J. Dyksterhuis, Water Intake on Midcontinental Rangelands as Influenced by Soil and Plant Cover:

     The landscape of a panspot range site is undulating and made up of not less than two unlike soils. Soils occupying the panspot have a dispersed surface, and rate of water intake is very low.

   • 1971, United States, “ARS”, in Agricultural Research, volume 41, number 176, Service, page 51:

     Two-acre watersheds are constructed on three representative research sites, each characteristic of one main soil-vegetation complex found in saline upland and panspot ranges.

Anagrams

• pan pots, panpots