While the formation of other caliches is relatively well understood, the origin of Chilean caliche is not clearly known. One possibility is that the deposits were formed when a prehistoric inland sea evaporated. Another theory is that it was deposited due to weathering of the Andes.
One of the world's largest deposits of calcrete is in the Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana, where surface calcretes occur at the location of a now-desiccated prehistoric lake.
Highly indurated (hardened)  caliche is known as calcrete, and it gives rise to characteristic landforms in arid environments. Calcrete is found throughout the geologic record, forming a record of past climate. Examples include Mississippian calcretes in South Wales and Pliocene to Pleistocene caprock of the Llano Estacado of Texas, US, and Mormon Mesa, Nevada, US.
Caliches can store significant amounts of carbon, making them of significance to the overall global carbon cycle.
In Jurassic geological settings, the caliche is often indicator of warm climate with well marked wet-dry seasonality  that could indicate seasonal monsoons.