Regolith
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Regolith (Greek: "blanket rock") is a layer of loose, heterogeneous material covering solid rock. Regolith is present on Earth, the Moon, some asteroids, and other planets. The origins of regolith on Earth are weathering and biological processes; if it contains a significant proportion of biological compounds it is more conventionally referred to as soil. On bodies without an atmosphere, regolith is caused by the gravitational reaggregation of debris resulting from impact with other objects.
On Earth, the presence of regolith is one of the important factors for most life, since few plants can grow on or within solid rock, and animals would be unable to burrow or build shelter without loose material.
On the Moon, regolith has been formed by the action of micrometeoroids breaking down surface rocks into a powder. This powder is more reflective than the basalt that makes up the lunar maria, and therefore looks brighter when viewed from Earth. During the early phases of the Apollo Moon landing program there were concerns that the regolith would not support the weight of the lunar module and that the module might sink beneath the surface.
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