regoliths

Noun

regolith (countable and uncountable, plural regoliths)

1. The layer of loose rock, dust, sand, and soil, resting on the bedrock, that constitutes the surface layer of most dry land on Earth, the Moon, and other large solid aggregated celestial objects. Submarine regolith also exists.
   • The structures on the surface were gone from normal view, pulverized into regolith across a span of aeons.2020 [1992], Vernor Vinge, chapter 1, in A Fire Upon the Deep, 1st edition, New York: Tor Essentials, →ISBN, page 19